Subject: History Day Project
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 20:49:40 -0800
From: miggiecramblit miggiecramblit@uswest.net
To: sjfeld@erols.comDear Mr. Feld:
My name is Mackenzie Cramblit and I am a seventh grader at Capitol Hill Magnet School for the Gifted and Talented in St. Paul, Minnesota. I am doing a History Day Project on Ann Bancroft and my thesis is how Ann Bancroft through her Artic explorations has influenced elementary children and woman. Your project looks very interesting and I am wondering if you could tell me more about what you are doing and whether it would be possible to send interview questions to some of your students. I could expand my thesis to "students," because it's not final yet. At the time I wrote my thesis, I didn't realize even High School students were following Ann's expeditions!
Thank you very much!
Hope to hear from you soon,
Sincerely,
Mackenzie Cramblit :-)
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 14:08:39 -0800
To: sjfeld@erols.com
miggiecramblit wrote: >
Dear Steve:
I am so sorry that I didn't send these questions to you sooner,
but I was at the History Center for a while on Thursday; I had an
appointment with Claudia Nicholson and Adam Shaar, who had some "Ann
Bancroft Merchandise" to show me.
This is very exciting (the CNN Broadcast and all)! I have a few
questions for you, and then several for your students:
1. Why did you decide to have your students follow the Ann Bancroft/Liv Arnessen Expedition?
I first learned about the Expedition through the December issue of a Newsletter published by John Halse and his team at SchoolWorld, Australia.
The story of Ann and Liv's courageous journey had a natural tie-in to my students' study of Leonardo. In particular the journey, with its online explorers' journals, offered daily reflective writing that could be compared with those of Leonardo.
When I introduced the yourexpedition.com web site to my students, Alfy assumed the role of our team leader, following the mission. While Alfy reported progress to the team during the day, Cruz would check at home at night to mark the explorers' progress on a map. Some of the students wrote poetry. Others drew Artic inspired graphics. Cruz collected pictures of the South Pole he found on the web. He then shared them with the team.
As they worked together they drew parallels between their collaborative efforts and those of Ann and Liv. Teamwork is an integral part of both missions.
There were many students who contributed art work and animations. They prepared these as a tribute to Ann and Liv's mission which represented the fulfillment of the 21st Century Explorers' dreams.
The students were very excited to learn about the phone call from the South Pole. CNN came by to "inspect our classroom" for the suitability for a live broadcast. They determined that the broadcast could be made by Satellite.
2. What have you learned about yourself while following the expedition?
I learned that in my teaching in my own personal life, I possess many of the same qualities shared by Ann, Liv and Leonardo.
I am a problem solver. I tackle every crises with patience, intelligence, reflection, research and invention. I can endure hardships in service of meeting key future goals.
I maintain sight of my ultimate goals in teaching, learning and my personal life, and use these goals to support me in dealing with momentary obstacles and setbacks.
3. What about the expedition inspires you?
Among the many inspiring strands are: will and determination of the women explorers; their endurance in face of dangerous elemental hazards; climate controlled schedule and navigation; rations management; and online school global community networking.
4. What kinds of things did your students do while following the expedition, and how have those things taught them more important things about life?
My students expressed themselves in a variety of ways to demonstrate their strong support for Ann and Liv. They built a webpage and posed questions to the explorers. They also created a PowerPoint presentation of the Artic Themed Computer Graphics.
When we heard the news that they needed to be rescued, we knew they were in trouble. Later, we were very relieved to learn from Liz that Liv's sled had torn from the treacherous terrain of the Shackleton Glacier. However this would only necessitate a delay, not total the mission.
For the Students:
1. What kinds of things did you do in class to learn about the expedition?
As soon as I came in the classroom I would go to "yourexpedition.com" to learn more about Ann and Liv's journey. "Today's News" was like the morning coffee I needed every morning. If for any reason I wasn't able to follow their expedition I would ask my teammates on the updates.
2. What did you learn about the expedition, through the things you did in class?
I learned many things about their expedition. The inspiring stories were excellent! When I found out about the sled problem they had, and wondered what the Shackleton Glacier was all about, until a video was shown about who Shackleton was. I learned how Shackleton saved all his men after being stuck on the glacier for eleven months, which I think it means that if he was able to do it with 27 men 2 women would be able to do it also.
3. What do you enjoy about following the Ann Bancroft/Liv Arnessen Expedition?
What i mostly enjoyed about following the expedition was how they never gave up, no matter how bad things got they were patient enough to wait to accomplish their dream. I also enjoyed reading about the inspiring stories they had on their site.
4. How have you been inspired by what they've been doing on the ice?
Yes, I have been inspired with Ann and Liv's expedition because they are women going after their dream and goal. I consider that to be one of a kind to even try to accomplish what they want. Its inspiring to know that if you set your mind to something you are able to do it. It only takes a little bit of effort.
I hope these questions aren't too late to be answered. Again, I am sorry for the delay in sending them to you.
Thank you very much for taking the time to look them over. I hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Mackenzie Cramblit :-)
miggiecramblit