subject: Streaming Videos Across The World [print this page] This boy loves playing outdoors, messing around on the computer and building stuff out of Legos, oh, and penguins, too.
When this first grader gets to see his beloved birds in the wild early next month he will be in Antarctica where he will see them waddle on the ice and feed their newly hatched chicks.
Accompanying him and his parents to a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula is an internationally known explorer and filmmaker.
From the children who are about his age, this continental trip is rare. Celebrating are his friends as he gets even more excited for his travel plans.
The reason behind this is that his classmates are also coming on the trip. Not in person, as the trip will take nearly three weeks and cost thousands of dollars, but via an Internet linkup.
For this trip, the live video coverage will be accessible to students from all over.
It is with the pilot youth program that they could ask and answer questions live on a website. Building on the boy's dispatches will be the grade level activities planned by the teachers in order to increase learning from this.
What first graders will handle is the weather while fourth graders get geology and forces in motion will go to fifth graders.
An opportunity for adventure is given to the family. For this trip she will be the voice of reason and this is what the mother said after commenting on how the boy loves nature so much.
It was mentioned by the boy that just a little motivation can get you all you want from life.
A webcast is not that extraordinary. Such an interactive experience will be the first for this explorer despite him being the first to ice bike 250 miles across Antarctica and the first American to ski to the South Pole.
When it came to his numerous trips to the continent since 1999, what they did involves adult pursuits like science and extreme skiing.
With every trip that he took, he acquired much knowledge that he wanted to share with the children who were the best recipients. Probably early last year was when he decided to hold a kids' program.
The timing couldn't be better as Antarctica possibly because of the March of the Penguins movie has become the new hot destination for adventure.
Karma may be the thing that brought the boy's mother and the explorer together. Thanks to a mutual friend telling her about the website of the 42 year old explorer, she regained contact with the explorer with whom she attended a local university many years ago.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina was where the 14 day expedition started and the boy made his first live dispatch before it headed south.
Passing through the Drake Passage and the Antarctic Peninsula, they did this with a number of Toronto travelers after they boarded a 100 passenger cruise ship.
Involving the harshest of sea weathers, the 600 mile, 30 hour ride became the part of the trip which was the most perilous.
It was in crossing the Drake Passage that they were able to witness dolphins, elephant seals, and whales. Ice usually covers the beaches and bays at other times and they will be visiting these by using rubber boats after they arrive at the peninsula.
Scheduled stops include scientific research stations and a few penguin rookeries. A secret penguin emperor colony location is known by the explorer, these are the largest among the 17 species in Antarctica and have been promoted in the March of the Penguins.
