Teacher back from the Arctic

ST PARIS, Ohio (WDTN) - Imagine spending 6 weeks in a place with little sunlight and temperatures 40 below zero.  That's exactly what on Saint Paris teacher did. Now she's sharing what she learned with her students.

Chantelle Rose was chosen to be apart of the polar trec program which partners educators with researchers. Both students and teacher are learning from this unique experience. 

Rose is back teaching science at Graham high school.  But from November through mid December The Healy a coast guard ship traveling in the Arctic was her classroom.  Out her window was the sun hugging the horizon for four hours. 

Chantelle Rose Science Teacher says, "The ice was absolutely breath taking and it was so new and we saw its progression we started in the open water and to thin ice saw pancake ice all this was new to me."

She was there helping a team of researchers study copepods.  But to find these creatures at the bottom of the food chain required braving the elements in a coast guard issued suit.

"You had ice crystals on your eyelashes if you weren't wearing goggles you could have not any exposed skin and we rotated every 15 minutes," Rose explains. 

In the warm classroom students were mapping the ship's route and accessing her daily journal .   Before and after her trip the class had to do an experiment on density with this styrofoam cup.

Rose says, "I put them inside of a laundry bag that had holes in them so the water could flow through them.  and it submerged to the bottom of the Barrow Canyon.  Then all of the water pressure squished all of the air pockets out of the cup.  when they came back to the surface this is the size of the cup."

Students are glad to have her back because they are still seeking answers.

Heather Lowry 9th Grader says, "The thing that is different is that when she was gone you couldn't talk to her and you had so many questions you always wanted to know what happened. 

Chantelle Rose will be heading back north in May.  She has been asked to help create an Arctic curriculum in Barrow, Alaska.   She's excited this time to experience 24 hours of daylight and summer in the Arctic.