Antarctica Expedition Includes PASCO Equipment

Tina King, a fourth grade teacher from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, recently completed a once-in-a-lifetime experience by traveling to Antarctica. She was part of a National Science Foundation program titled "Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic" program. The research program is "Seasonal Dynamics of Giant Agglutinated Foraminifera" and is led by Dr. Samuel S. Bowser from Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York.

Dr. Bowser has participated in a series of on-going investigations and research at Explorers Cove since 1984.

The focus of the research was a seasonal study of the large, single-celled organisms known as agglutinated foraminifera ("forams") found at the bottom of Explorers Cove, a shallow-water embayment on the western side of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.This area is one of the few places on Earth where scuba divers have access to a region that resembles the deep ocean floor.

PASCO provided equipment to assist Tina's efforts in Antarctica. By using the Xplorer datalogger and sensors, Tina collected information on temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and salinity and hopes to determine how the organisms that live within this marsh respond to seasonal changes.

Tina's comments: "This was an amazing program, which gives me the opportunity to bring real science research into classrooms. The PASCO Xplorer datalogger was very easy to use, especially during those times when my fingertips were freezing as I took the water temperature. The temperature probe held up very well in the cold. I also think it will be great for teachers to know that if the PASPORT can withstand the harshness of Antarctica, then it can work as well with their students."