Caribou Caribou
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Caribou Migration Update: February 26, 2003

Today's Report Includes:

Caribou, Caribou, Where Are You?

Caribou Migration Map
Click on Map to Enlarge

With a migration range that can approach 1,100 kilometers (almost 700 miles) each year in an area about 266,000 square kilometers (over 100,000 square miles) in size, satellite technology helps us mark the spot where our caribou cows are spending their winter.

How far have they traveled in the past 2 weeks? What habitat is best for surviving the incredibly cold and blustery winter weather? These are some of the questions to think about when you review this weeks' data and map.

Satellite Collar News from Martin Kienzler
Martin Kienzler (with Dorothy Cooley) wrestles collared caribou

Martin Kienzler is a wildlife technician for the Northern Region of the Yukon based in Dawson City. He is responsible for most of the work necessary for collaring and data collection for the caribou cows we are tracking in the Arctic. This week he sends this information about the satellite collars and news about our gals:

After reading the news, see if you can answer this:

Challenge Question #5:
“All things considered, there will be 6 new collars purchased this year. Given the price information above, how much will 6 collars cost?”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Name the Caribou: Contest Open Now
caribou_IsabellaAA
The Porcupine caribou satellite collar project announced recently that they are offering Journey North students the opportunity to name 2 new caribou cows this spring. Pull out all stops to be the one to give these gals new names!
Nominations can be submitted to Journey North. Judges will chose names that meet the following criteria:
  • Descriptive names
  • Clever names
  • Names that reflect something in the habitat or biology of the caribou
  • Names from literature

Remember, two new caribou will be satellite collared in March, 2003. You have a chance to name them! Answer this challenge question to place your nomination:

Challenge Question #6:
“I think one of the new caribou cows should be named __________. Here is why I think this is a name fit for a satellite collared caribou: ___________________.”

With each name submitted, be sure to include your name, school and grade level.

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Cupid Cutting Her Course: How Far Did She Go?
When you study the map this week you will notice that Cupid isn’t happy to be in one place for long. How far has she traveled since our last update? This turns out to be a fun and challenging problem to solve.

Here’s the information:
Cupid’s location on 01/26/03 (65.36, -138.57)
Cupid’s location on 02/09/03 (65.91, -138.45)

Looking closer at these latitude/longitude numbers we know:

  • the latitude represents North latitude
  • the longitude is “minus” which represents degrees West
  • the numbers are in decimal form (fraction of a whole)

Remember we want to find out how far she has traveled. We can calculate this a number of ways. We could use the scale of miles on the Caribou map. This would give us a rough idea of the distance.
Or, for a challenge, we could get a more accurate measurement by doing a few calculations then let the U.S. Geological Survey do the rest of the work.

For a challenge, try this:

1. Convert the latitude/longitude data from degrees decimal to degrees, minutes and seconds.

2. Re-write the new readings to this format [00:00:00N] for Degrees:minutes:secondsLatitude. Do this for Longitude [00:00:00W], too.

Now try this:

Challenge Question #7:
“How far did Cupid travel between 01/26/03 and 02/09/03? How did you calculate the distance?”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Caribou Survival Adaptations
caribouNWTp128
While we sit in our comfortable and heated homes during these cold winter months all the wild creatures must cope with these winter extremes with only what Mother Nature has provided them. There are no fireplaces or extra logs for the fire in their daily routine. So how do they do it? Some like bears or ground squirrels hibernate and yet others, like many species of birds, migrate south toward much warmer climates. But what of our most northern caribou herd? How do they survive or adapt to the extremes of our northern winters?

Compact bodies and crinkly underfur; these are just some of the physical adaptations you will learn about when you read and study:

Organize the information using a Concept Map or Attribute Chart, and then make a class-sized caribou showing all the details you have learned about caribou adaptation survival.

Adaptation Puzzle
You can learn a lot about caribou adaptations in today’s Update. Print and try this fun puzzle to expand your increasing knowledge on this important topic!
Arctic Trekking with Scott Hed
Here I am with my backpack deep in the Brooks Range
Credit Scott Hed
Scott Hed’s job with the Alaska Coalition is to help educate the public about Alaska public land issues in the Midwestern U.S. We met up with Scott at one of his lectures about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). After his incredible experience visiting ANWR, in the land where the Porcupine caribou live he offered to share some of his adventure with Journey North.
This week Scott introduces his trip, talks about his 8-day backpack trek through the mountains of the Brooks Range and shares some of the feelings about the vast wilderness and having the opportunity to experience it on foot. Read his notes, view the pictures and think what it would be like to follow along on this adventure.

Now get involved with these kinds of questions:

1. If you were planning a trip to the Arctic in June what are some of the things you would want to include in your backpack (remember- you have to carry everything!)?
2. Can you find the outline of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Can you locate Fairbanks, Fort Yukon, Arctic Village and the Kongakut River?
3. Do you know which species of birds from your home state migrate to the wild lands in ANWR each year? Look them up on this neat Web site:

Temperatures in the Land of the Caribou: Discussing CQ #4
Last update, we looked at the temperatures near Old Crow where the caribou are grazing in the snow. The high temperature was -14 C., and the low was -20 C. We asked what those temperatures were in Fahrenheit. Jameel, Michael and Lashawn from Iselin Middle School did their calculations correctly! Here is what they wrote, “We calculated the high temperature to be 67 degrees Fahrenheit and the low -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Our temperatures, in New Jersey, are a lot warmer both in the winter and the summer.”
Good work!
Teacher Tip: Building Students’ Vocabulary With JN
Vocabulary is essential to comprehension. Students need to apply strategies before, during, and after reading to understand texts. Journey North provides a wealth of informational texts to help students learn about words in meaningful contexts. Brush up on some helpful ways for understanding
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-caribou@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #5 (or #6 or #7).
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Caribou Migration Update Will Be Posted on March 12, 2003.

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