TA Loeffler's Adventures that Move

TA
Latitude:69.84703
Longitude:-26.57001
GPS location Date/Time:04/23/2012 14:51:10 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7gUuN/69.84703N/26.57001W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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Fun Fact of the Day 

DID YOU KNOW?
That Greenland is actually apart of Denmark which is a small country in Northern Europe close to Norway and Sweden!

Today’s Activity

Today our activity is to find how far you live from Gunnbjørn Fjeld, the mountain TA and her team are climbing! If you click here you will be linked to a user friendly website that will help you calculate the distance.  On the website, you simply insert the location in Newfoundland and then Gunnbjørn Fjeld Greenland in the other for the end location. The website will show the results in both kilometers and miles.  See how many kilometers away we all live from Gunnbjørn Fjeld and also think about other places that are this far away from Newfoundland!

Teacher Note: If you do not have time near computers for the whole class today, you can do it as a class activity instead and use the school address as the beginning point.

P.S. Also go check out TA’s Audio Post – Camp #6 and for some cool facts about the map they are using on their Greenland trip

TA
Latitude:69.92326
Longitude:-26.34348
GPS location Date/Time:04/22/2012 15:27:31 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7fwhW/69.92326N/26.34348W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
Greenland has attracted pioneers for more than 4,500 years!

TA
Latitude:69.90739
Longitude:-26.06787
GPS location Date/Time:04/21/2012 15:27:40 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7fIqc/69.90739N/26.06787W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
That about 2 million seals live in Greenland waters

TA
Latitude:69.89958
Longitude:-25.79428
GPS location Date/Time:04/20/2012 14:59:58 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7edgP/69.89958N/25.79428W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
Did you ever see icebergs around Newfoundland and Labrador? Well about 10,000-15,000 icebergs breaks off of Greenland’s glaciers each year!

Today’s Activity

Ski Course

In this activity, a teacher can set up a “ski” obstacle course or the students can set it up themselves with help from the teacher.  Once the course is set up, the students must navigate all around the course in as many ways as possible.  During this entire activity students glide around the course with a piece of paper under their shoes or pieces of carpet or cloth (if you have them).  Stress to the students these are their skis and their feet must not lose contact with their skis at any point.  This allows students to experience a ski like movement indoors with minimal risk of slipping, sliding, or falling over.

TA
Latitude:69.9147
Longitude:-25.49899
GPS location Date/Time:04/19/2012 14:53:39 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7d-Jg/69.9147N/25.49899W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
Do you think Greenland gets its name for how green the island is? Actual fact that it isn’t green! Over 80% of the island is covered with ice! This adds up to be about 1.8 million square kilometers

Today’s Activity

Eric the Red – Explored Greenland in A.D. 982

Today, we are going to learn a little about one of the first explorers of Greenland, Eric the Red. Eric the Red was a Viking and got his nickname from his red hair and beard and also his bad temper.  After being kicked out of almost everywhere he lived including Iceland, Eric and his men set sail for the island a man they knew called Gunnbjarnar Skerries.  Once they reached the east coast, they found a glacier so they started sailing towards the south hoping for a more promising area to settle in. They sailed into warm waters on the southwest side of the island and they then spent 3 years living there. During each summer they would go and explore the island and on the third summer they sailed back to Iceland. Eric tried to convince the people to immigrate to the land he had explored and he renamed the island as “Greenland” because he thought that more people would go and settle there if the name sounded attractive and nice. Eric recruited 25 ships to sail to Greenland with him in the year A.D. 986 but only 14 reached there. The others were either lost at sea or returned back to Iceland.

Math Brain Thinker of the Day:

Out of 25, how many ships did not make it to Greenland in the year A.D. 986 with Eric the Red?

TA
Latitude:69.94555
Longitude:-25.24744
GPS location Date/Time:04/18/2012 14:15:41 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7dK6K/69.94555N/25.24744W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
That the only month in the year in which Greenland’s average temperature is above freezing is July! Brrrrr

Today’s Activity

Everyone has dreams about exploring a new place somewhere in the world, where they can see and do new things they never did before. Some people, like TA, are able to go and explore places that are really cold.  Others like to explore tropical places with rainforests and hot weather. For our first Worldly Writing Wednesday, write about your exploration dreams and where in the world you would like to go and explore! Describe all the different things you would see, the different animals, and what you would do when you first got there.

TA
Latitude:69.99859
Longitude:-25.13458
GPS location Date/Time:04/17/2012 16:28:40 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7cn2v/69.99859N/25.13458W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

TA
Latitude:70.02048
Longitude:-25.01456
GPS location Date/Time:04/17/2012 10:05:10 NDT

Message:This is a cool spot on TA’s Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition…Listen to her update for details

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7caS9/70.02048N/25.01456W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
If you are only allowed to stay outside with your friends until its dark out, ask your parents to move to Greenland! During the Arctic summer, the sun never sets!

Today’s Activity

For Today’s Totally Artistic Tuesday, we are going to draw the flag of Greenland! Greenland’s flag is simple and is also the same two colours as our Canadian flag. The meaning of Greenland’s flag is “the large white part in the flag symbolises the ice cap and our fjords are represented by the red part in the circle. The white part of the circle symbolises the ice bergs and the pack ice, and the large red part in the flag represents the ocean.”

Draw Greenland’s flag on one half of a piece of paper and on the other half draw the flag of your favorite country! If you click here you will be linked to a website all about flags of the world. The website shows you what the countries flag looks like and also information about the flag.

Teacher Note: You can get some string and hang all the pictures together around your classroom to show off the bright and beautiful drawings!

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
Greenland is the largest island in the world!

Today’s Activity

Our first Marvelous Map Monday activity is to locate on a map, Gunnbjørn Fjeld, the mountain TA and her team are climbing in Greenland.  Gunnbjørn Fjeld is the highest peak in Greenland and is 3694m or 12, 118 feet high!  After finding Gunnbjørn Fjeld, the second thing to locate on the map is the capital city of Greenland.  The capital city is Nuuk and approximately 14, 700 people live there.

Teacher Note: If you click here you will be lead to a website that has a few maps of Greenland that can be used for this activity. There is one with all the answers on it and also a blank one that can be used for the students to label. This link will be used again in another map activity later!

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
That reindeer live all over Greenland in areas that are not covered with ice. Maybe this is where Santa gets his recruitments for his sled

TA
Latitude:70.74443
Longitude:-22.64444
GPS location Date/Time:04/14/2012 12:16:42 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7asdO/70.74443N/22.64444W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com

Fun Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW?
That musk-oxen’s live in Greenland! These shaggy animals stand about four feet tall and are a smaller relative of the  prehistoric giant musk-ox

TA
Latitude:64.13927
Longitude:-21.91986
GPS location Date/Time:04/12/2012 12:44:11 NDT

Message:TA’s location on her Go for Greenland Ice Cap to Gunnbjørn Fjeld Expedition. Inspiring Big Dreams & Big Goals!

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/7Zfmr/64.13927N/21.91986W

If the above link does not work, try this link:

TA

You have received this message because TA has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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Preparations for my Go for Greenland expedition are almost complete.  I would love to have you along.

I received a logistics briefing for the first part of the expedition today…it’s getting real and moving into the “Hurry Up and Wait” phase. In 17 hours from now, I begin my travels by flying west to fly east to Toronto. A few hours later, if all flights cooperate, I fly overnight to Iceland arriving the morning of April 12. Later that day, I will meet Simon, one of my teammates arriving from the UK. The next day, the other two teammates, Martin from Germany and Paul from the UK will arrive and our small team will be all together for the first time. Patrik from Sweden will join us halfway through the expedition.

Saturday, April 14, we will fly to Constable Point Airport on the east coast of Greenland. Sunday, April 15, will be a staging day at Constable Point. Monday or Tuesday depending on snow and weather conditions we will be delivered to the Brede Glacier, our expedition starting spot, by either snowmobile or helicopter or both. So… it’s likely we’ll begin skiing in a week or so around April 17. We get picked up in the Watkins Mountains on May 15, hopefully having covered the 250 km in good and safe style having climbed Gunnbjørn Fjeld and a few previously unclimbed peaks along the way.

If all goes according to plan, there will be three expedition dispatches or updates per day: an audio call from me detailing the day’s adventure, a SPOT messenger check-in with map location and GPS coordinates, and a Go for Greenland virtual expedition activity. Currently, we have four schools signed up to participate in the expedition from their classrooms. Any other schools or classrooms that would like to participate are more than welcome. Please email the expedition communications coordinator, Taylor Marsh, by clicking here to let her know you are tagging along. She’ll let me know so I can do a shout out to you from the ice!

So that’s the plan for now…when setting out to a remote location, it’s always good to remember, “life’s short, things change” and what my Oma always says, “What comes, comes.”

Hot off the sewing machine…Marian is amazing…parkas for my feet. Now I’m feeling totally OK about minus 27!

These base camps are where our Greenland expedition will come to a close…those coordinates will become magical entities as we hone in on our final challenge of Gunnbjørn Fjeld but at the moment, there are other more pressing challenges. Like, getting all my gear to fit in the duffel and having it make weight. Like finishing off all my grading and submissions from this semester while at the same time getting ready for the next. Like, saying good-bye to friends and family and managing all the emotions up and down that come from exiting one’s regular existence for expedition existence. It’s all good-rich and full…and all the preparation phase will be done soon…can’t wait…I begin travelling Wednesday afternoon.