Weekly Challenge Answer

The Yukon River is approximately 2,300 miles long. It runs through Alaska and part of Canada. It ranks at number twenty for the longest rivers in the world.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Challenge

The Yukon River runs through a large part of the state of Alaska (and in Canada). How long is the Yukon River?

A Little Chillier

The temperatures are definitely starting to feel more like fall. The evenings still warm up to the high forties/low fifties, but the days have been cloudy and cool.

Over the next few weeks, we should start to see cooler temperatures more often and maybe even some snow by the middle of September. I always look forward to the first snow. I also like when things freeze up because it is easier to walk around on the ice than on the mud!

The whales have been seen by a few people (of course, we didn't get to see them!). Fall whaling season will start soon. I will post more information on that when the time comes.

Today is a cloudy day, one that is perfect for snuggling up with a good movie on the couch. We don't have any movie theaters here in town, so we have a subscription to Ne*fl*x to get movies up here. There are some places around town that you can rent movies, but the selection is not huge. Sometimes the high school will show movies on Friday evenings as a fundraiser for the school band.

Weekly Challenge Answered

Secretary of State William H. Seward arranged for the United States to purchase Alaska from Russia in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, or 2 cents per acre. However, it did not become a state until January 3, 1959. It was the 49th state.

Whales

Yesterday, some teachers at our school spotted several bowhead whales out in the ocean. They were supposedly quite close to shore. Fall whaling season will begin in a few weeks, so this is definitely the time of year to start seeing them.

The Bowhead whale was named for its distinctive bow-shaped skull, which is quite large; about 40% of total body length. It is the only large whale living exclusively in the Arctic. Its blubber can be up to 28 inches thick, helping it to withstand the extreme cold.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Challenge

This weekend, our Barrow High football team had their season opener and they won! It was very exciting for everyone. The football field is new this year. You can read several articles about the team on the ESPN website.

This week's challenge is:

When did Alaska become a state?

Have a great week!

Weekly Challenge Answers

1. Juneau is the capital of Alaska.

2. Depending on which source you use, the population of Juneau is approximately 31,000 people.

3. The governor of Alaska is Sarah Palin.

Muddy Season

This is the time of summer when the rain starts up in Barrow. The roads are dirty, not paved, so during most of the summer we need trucks to come around and dump water on the roads so that it isn't too dusty.

Once the rain starts, this isn't a problem. There is mud everywhere! It's about this time that we start wishing for the first snow and freeze up just so walking around is a bit easier.

The temperatures are still quite mild--mid fifties this whole week.

We are getting about four hours of darkness each night now, and are gaining about twenty minutes each day. Soon enough, we will start to have a more "normal" daylight/darkness cycle.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Challenge

1. What is the capital city of Alaska?

2. What is the population of the capital?

3. Who is the governor of Alaska?

Another feature we are starting this week is to introduce an Inupiaq word of the week. Inupiaq is the traditional language that is spoken here in Barrow. Many of the elders still speak a lot of Inupiaq, and the kids know some. The schools have Inupiat Studies teachers as well.

Weekly Challenge Answer

The latitude of Barrow is 71.290N. The longitude is -156.788W.

Wordless Wednesday

WEEKLY CHALLENGE

We are going to start a regular feature on the blog called "Weekly Challenge". This is geared for the students who read the site. Each Monday, we will post a question or some other activity for students to complete throughout the week. On Friday, we will post the answer.

The K-3 site will sometimes have the same question, but will often have a different one.

This week's challenge:

What is the latitude and longitude of Barrow, Alaska?

Sunset at Last!

This morning at approximately 1:49 am we had our first sunset since the middle of May. Each day, the sun will continue to set for a slightly longer period of time. Eventually, our days and nights will be much like the lower 48. Then in November, our sun will rise for a final time until January.
The reason for this is that in the summer, the top of the earth is tilted toward the sun. During the winter, the opposite is true, and the top of the earth is pointed away from the sun.



Photo from blaketrask.com.

Wordless Wednesday: UPDATED

UPDATE: This is a picture of a snowy owl. "Ukpaigvik" is an Inupiaq Eskimo word for t Barrow. Roughly translated, it means, "the place to hunt snowy owls."