News Flash: Ice-out at Lake Minnetonka April 16, 2002 Tuesday, April 16 at 2:46 AM is the official ice-out date and time for Lake Minnetonka near the Journey North headquarters in Wayzata, Minnesota. This compares with April 19 last year, and we have a bulls-eye WINNER! CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN to. . . the perfect predictors (this is their second win in this contest!) in Mrs. Nunnally's class, grade 2, Peter Woodbury School in Bedford, NH with a prediction of April 16! Incredible! Try This! Analyzing Ice-Out Records Since 1887 For a while we thought the contest was on thin ice here in Minnesota. The period from December through February was the second warmest for Minnesota since modern record keeping began in 1891, but this April has been the snowiest in 18 years! We've made a "scattergram" that includes all the ice-out dates for Lake Minnetonka from 1887 to now. Our step-by-step directions make this easy and fun! Scattergram After you see the scattergram, come back and discuss as a class: 1. People concerned about global warming use ice-out dates as one measure of climate. Do you see a warming trend, based on data from this lake? 2. How else might you display the data? Four More to Go! Next in line to thaw should be the River Teno in Utsjoki, Finland (Lapland). This still-frozen river is the border between Norway and Finland. 2002 Official Ice-out Observation Posts (click on the map's locations) Remember to check the Winners Page for official contest results, which will be posted here as they happen! Ice-Out Contest Winners We said the contest deadline was February 28, but there are four official observation posts yet to go. There's still time to send us your answers to this question: Challenge Question #4: "What's your prediction for ice-out dates in each of Journey North's six (now four!) official observation posts?" What About Lake Minnetonka's Ice Houses? Ice-fishing Houses on Lake Minnetonka. Students in Utsjoke were astonished to see the photo (see Web) of ice houses on Lake Minnetonka. Utsjoki students Anni and Maria wrote to ask: "Why do you have cottages on ice? Do you do ice-fishing in the cottages? What do you have in the cottages? Bed or something? What are the cottages made of? When do you take them to the ice? Do you sleep in them? Or eat? WHAT DO YOU DO IN THEM??? Why do you have them? Is it too cold otherwise? We donít have such things on ice. It is nice to catch few sun rays while ice-fishing and get a nice tan. How big are the cottages? Can you for example stand there? How many people fit in one cottage? How do you take them on ice? With car? Helicopter? Airplane? Bikes?" We thought other students might be interested in the answers, which you'll find here: All About Lake Minnetonka's Ice Houses How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question: Please answer ONLY ONE question in each e-mail message! 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org 2. IMPORTANT: In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #4. #4. 3. In the body of the message, give your answer to today's question. Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form