Interact:  Q & A

Connect with me! - You can anonymously submit questions about me, my teaching career, my classroom, something you saw on this Google Site, the Grosvenor Fellowship, or my Edge of the Arctic Expedition.

Google Form **

As of 9-4-23, the Google Form is no longer accepting questions as I have returned from my expedition. 

Send any questions directly to rhonda.okeefe@fhsdschools.org

Q1: Does any of your family get to go with you on the expedition? - Student, Weldon Spring, MO

A1: No. This expedition was a result of me meeting certain qualifications, completing a detailed application process, and being selected among hundreds of applicants. It is a professional development opportunity to enhance the education of my students. 

Q2: What is one thing you are looking forward to? - Student, Weldon Spring, MO

A2: It is hard to choose just one as so much of this expedition will be new learning experiences for me. My top three - Kayaking in the fjords, learning the culture of people, and photographing animals in natural habitats I have never seen before! 

Q3: What are some of the "challenges" your current sixth-graders came up with for you to do on your expedition after they finished researching? - Friend, St. Charles, MO

A3: I will post updates about the challenges students created for me as they come up on the expedition, but here are a few of their ideas: 

• If you see a narwhal, video yourself yelling "unicorn of the sea" 

• Visit the ship library and find a book that in some way connects to Missouri

• Recreate the Titanic scene on the front of the ship 

• Identify and photograph four wildflowers on the tundra

• Hike and walk behind the 5th tier of the Dynjandi Waterfall touching the water

Q4: How have you been preparing for the expedition? - Family Member, St. Charles, MO

A4: I have been doing research and reading on the areas we will be visiting. My travel partner and I have Zoomed and texted to talk about what to pack, and yes, there has been lots of shopping!!! Luckily, I was able to score some winter gear on clearance here in Missouri. My husband and I went kayaking for the FIRST TIME to help me prepare for that aspect of the expedition, and I have plans to go several more times in the month ahead of departure. I use my camera often, but I have been experimenting more with my Lightroom and Photoshop applications for editing purposes. There has also been a lot of paperwork to complete - passport renewal, medical forms, waterproof gear rental forms, etc. 

Q5: What will the weather be like when you are there? - Literally everyone has asked. ;) 

A5: Average temperatures for Iceland in August are 50°F while in Greenland the average is 42°F. Like anywhere, there could be swings up or down from average. The biggest factor will be the wind and rain at these temperatures. 

Q6: How will you be intentional in looking for classroom geography connections on your expedition? - Me!

A6: They sent us an itinerary which gave us a glimpse of sights and experiences we will have. From this list, I was able to do some pre-thinking about how these experiences will connect to Geography for my students. One simple thing I will be doing is adding the latitude and longitude of each day's location to my posts. Another is looking at the ship's electronic maps and noticing the natural landforms. Connecting with the on board naturalists, historians, and culturalists will be vital to bring a full experience back to my students. One specific location that I want to make some Geography classroom connections with is the visit to a family's sustainable eider down farm. Sustainable business practices connect to the economic unit in our Geography curriculum, and I believe this could be a great topic for our classroom Geo Inquiry Project. 

Q7: Has the time change been much of an adjustment? What time is sun rise and sunset? I’m curious if the days are long and there isn’t much darkness. What season is this in Iceland - the same as in Missouri? Thank you again for sharing this adventure. - Kim, St. Charles, MO

A7: The first two days were rough. I was awake between 30-40 hours with no sleep and the stress of lost luggage. I struggled to fall asleep the first night on the ship despite being utterly exhausted. Sunrise and sunset has changed with movement to different locations, but it is daylight nearly 20 hours a day. It is weird to be eating dinner at 8:30 - 9:00 and still see full light. This morning I woke at 3:45 AM to the moon shining on an iceberg. When I went to the bow for photos, the sun was rising on the other side of the ship before 5 AM. This is Iceland and Greenland's summer. Today, our first day in Greenland (Aug 4), was the only day so far I added multiple layers of coats while outside. Mostly temperatures have stayed in the low to mid 50s, but winds make it feel a little cooler. We have been extremely fortunate with dry days thus far.

Q8: I'm curious why the young Icelandic woman feels that their language is at risk. Is English spoken more in the homes/schools/businesses? Or is another Scandinavian language spoken? Is Icelandic taught/supported in the schools? - Sue, St. Peters, MO

A8: After hearing from both her and her mother, there are several factors. First, there is not as much access to content in Icelandic as there is in English (books, videos, tv, movies, YouTube, etc). Only 400,000 people are estimated to speak Icelandic compared to over a billion that speak English. It is too small a number to produce as much content in the language. The mother mentioned that many young kids will be speaking Icelandic and interchange pieces of English in as they come to words they do not know. About 50% of Icelanders now are immigrants though she was clear to say this is not a negative. Immigration enriches their culture; it does not diminish from it. The issue more is a result of globalization than immigration. Teaching the language to newcomers has been difficult. They are working on incentives with businesses to give people time off to learn and master the Icelandic language. The reason the language is so important to her is that it is based on the sagas. They were written in Icelandic, and they are over a thousand years old; preserving those is important. Thora, the mother, finished by saying, "When we lose that connection, I am afraid we will kind of lose a sense of what binds us together in a way."

Q9: You mentioned a glacier that was considered "dead". What is the criteria for that designation? Completely gone, a certain percentage gone, etc? - Sue, St. Peters, MO

A9: Andreas, one of the naturalists, is known as the "Ice Man" on board. He said glaciers are considered dead when they are no longer big enough, nor do they have enough pressure to move. 

Q10: What are you most excited about seeing or doing? - Former Student, Saint Paul, MO

A10: Now that we are in Greenland, I am excited to see elements of the human culture. We have observed much landscape, and I eager to see and interact with the people.  I look forward to getting ashore and observing traditions and their daily way of life. I have to say though waking to the icebergs floating past my cabin window was a surreal moment! 

Q11:  You talked about children playing around a may pole. Were you able to see what they were wearing. Were they dressed like USA children? Mary - St. Charles, Missouri 

A11: None of the children I observed were wearing anything considered traditional Greenlandic clothing. They were wearing what I considered "play clothes" much like American students would wear. Casual and comfortable pants like sweatpants, not jeans. Long sleeve warm wear, coats, and wool hats. 

Q12: Have any of the naturalists, crew members, or local guides mentioned the current record-breaking temperatures of the North Atlantic ocean water? And/or have they noticed climate change differences related to this ocean heating? Kathy - Scituate, MA 

A12: The news here is disheartening! Research estimates sea level rise by 1 meter in the next 80 years at the end of the century. This will directly impact 600 million people along the coasts. We would lose entire nations unless high dams are built or they move. Sadly, this is not the worst of it. There are other reports with higher estimates of 3 meters rise in that same time resulting in an impact to 1.8 billion people living along coasts. Glaicers are melting on a global scale but especially in the Arctic. Svalbard is officially the area showing the highest temperature rise in the world. From 1961 - 2016, all glaciers were losing mass except those in the Himalayas. 

Q13: You said there's no agriculture, nor forests and not much manufacturing. So, how do most Greenlanders make a living? Fishing industry? You said the population of Nuuk is growing, but is the overall population of Greenland decreasing? You'd have to be of hardy stock to want to live there! It's beautiful, but conditions seem harsh! - Sue- St. Peters, MO

A13: Yes, mostly fishing. Our Greenlandic speaker said back in 1965 when she was born that was the highest birth rate. Families at that time had an average of 5 kids per family. Now, it is 1.8 children per family. Some of the larger cities are increasing in population because many are moving from the farther out rural settlements to the larger cities. Yes, conditions are harsh. Our representative said the rate of suicide, especially among teen boys, is high and a concern in the community. 

Q14: You mentioned the Inuits and in looking at the names of the places you're visiting most of the names appear to be of Inuit origin?? However, there are some that definitely look more Scandinavian. Are there Danish equivalents to the names of the cities since Greenland is a territory of Denmark (which I didn't know until I got interested in everything you're experiencing!) - Sue- St. Peters, MO

A14: Aleqa spoke today about Geo Politics and took questions. There were so many questions for the time we had allotted. I was unable to ask, but I will try to have a quick private conversation with her in the next day on the ship. 

Q15: I’m curious about the ship purchasing icebergs lettuce. Are there hydroponic farms for produce or was the lettuce flown in from another country? - Lorri, MO

A15: I did not observe nor receive any information specifically about any greenhouses or hydroponics. In each place we visited in Greenland, there were grocery stores. These stores were all Denmark stores which leads to believe that fresh and packaged foods are imported. I returned from my trip prior to seeing this question to be able to ask, but I will continue to do some of my own research and update the question with any new information found.