6 July 2014 Finding Fish Fossils is Fun! ... by Puisi Group

This morning we woke up to the wonderful rendition of Vuffeli-vov by the Danish students. It was new experience for the American students but a relatable experience for the Greenlandic students.

Have you ever gotten the chance to look for real fossils? Well, we got that chance to look for fossils! We drove over to the Greenlandic dogs, and traveled to the fossil plain. It was located on a small incline with drained rivers. Some of the fossils that were found were made from fish and clams and were found in the drained rivers where there was some wind erosion. Since there was a competition, everyone was very competitive trying to find the nicest fossil. In the competition, people would be a vote for the prettiest fossil and the fossil with most votes would win. We were all down on our knees, looking for fossils at the fossil plain. We all wanted to find the winning fossil! After 1-2 hours of digging and looking, we went back to the school to observe the fossils that we had found and mostly everyone was able to find at least one fossil. I was very intrigued to see the various best fossils that everyone had entered into our competition.

After lunch, we got the opportunity to visit the DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute). We learned about the different tasks that they have to complete in order for the pilots to land safety. At DMI, they look at the weather conditions and one way that they standardize these conditions is through the METAR system. After the meteorologists had presented themselves and their job, we had a little exercise/game. Each of the groups got a test, with questions about meteorology. Everyone became very, very competitive when ICE CREAM was put into the competition as a prize. Although some of us were guessing a part of the answers, we all did very well.

When we returned back, Erica presented a presentation all about SAND! It made Hope miss the beaches that she visits back in Hawaii. She talked to us about the different sand and what we can learn from sand. Through the different particles and the size, the history of that sand could be figured out. Then, Lynn led an activity about the Arctic Sea Ice and mathematical modeling. She presented information about the rate of the sea ice disappearing over a set time. Did you know that the linear model we used predicts all the sea ice will melt away in the year 2068 in the Arctic Sea if the same trend continues in the same way? I hope that I am still alive by then but I am deeply scared about how that will affect the environment that I live in.

For the evening part of the day, everyone got to enjoy a wonderful Danish meal. For dinner, the Danish students prepared meatballs, bacon, leverpostej (liver pate), and fish curry. The Danish then prepared activities for the rest of us like Viking/King Game (Kongespillet), Magrethe Bowl, and Roundball (Danish version of baseball). The activities were very fun and very intriguing.

Word of the Day

English: Fossil

Greenlandic: Fossiler

Danish: Fossiler

Spanish: Fosil