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KIDS: Our World!
EVAN: Well Globey I think I’m properly prepared
for what lies ahead. I guess you can say this coat is my
adaptation for cold weather.
Ah, what is an adaptation asks my trusty companion.
An adaptation is a structure maybe a part of the body;
or a behavior, like putting on a coat that helps a
living thing survive in its environment.
Some adaptations help living things meet their needs.
Others keep them safe. Still others help living things
live in different climates. And believe me, I’m going to
need this adaptation where we’re headed. We’re going to
study winter, the history of winter.
Once a year since 2001, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
helps host the History of Winter Program
in Lake Placid, New York. Lake placid is in the
Adriondack Mountains in New York.
This area gets the more snowfall than any other region
in the state. That makes it a
really good place to study winter.
Well, you might be wondering why would NASA want
to study winter?
Well, because learning about what lies beneath the snow and
ice helps us learn about what’s occurring in our world.
An important part of NASA’s involves studying Earth.
NASA’s very interested in what’s happening both on
and around our home planet.
Looking into a snow and ice biome allows scientist to study
plants and animals that live there.
A Biome is an area where plants and animals live.
Winter biomes can be very harsh, so the plants and
animals that live there may need some special
adaptations to survive. Let’s hear more from an expert:
MARY HINDELANG: Well it’s a different challenge during
winter for all species to live
and survive and find their way of making a living.
So in the snow biomes, it gives us a different perspective on
now difficult and how important those critical adaptations are.
Where they have to deal in a big way in their lives in areas
where there’s snow and ice and cold a good
portion of the year.
EVAN: So what kind of life can you find in the snow?
MARY: Some of the animals that live above the snow on a
regular basis are caribou, arctic hare.
And then some of the animals that take advantage of living
under the snow are things like arctic ground squirrels,
all the little invertebrates; meto-voles are perfect at
living under the snow.
Some birds like Ptarmigan and Grouse, they’ll nestle
themselves in the top of snow pack and actually stay in there
for many days and ride out a blizzard.
So there are a lot of animals on a regular basis do very well
living through the winter in snow pack.
EVAN: So some of the adaptation these animals use
help them find shelter. What other adaptations might
you see in a winter biome? Do these animals have to do what I
did and pull out their winter coats?
MARY: Some of the animals like canids, the dog species,
wolves and fox; they put on an extra coats.
They have an insulating long hair and they’re very
well adapted to the winter.
Little invertebrates and frogs create a chemical
and can withstand from freezing solid.
And they won’t rupture their cells because they have kind
of like an antifreeze that we use in our cars
to keep the cells from rupturing.
EVAN: Frogs have a type of internal antifreeze. How ‘bout
that! What are some other adaptive wonders of nature?
MARY: Some important adaptations for example in
snowshoe hare is they have very large feet.
It’s almost like they have snow shoes on.
It gives them a little bit extra the ability
to be on top of the snow. EVAN: So now that we know how
animals adapt to the cold. But I bet with a little more
research, you could find more cool adaptations.
But how do scientists go about studying all this?
They build a snowpit.
MARY: In order to study some of the different properties
of snow, we can dig a nice smooth surface straight down
so can actually see that it’s a record of the entire winter
from top to bottom.
And the top would be the most recent snow falls, and the
bottom would be the very start of winter when the first
snowfall fell. You might be able to see everyday,
but it gives you a week by week, or event
by event record of the entire winter.
EVAN: So what can we learn from studying these snowpits?
MARY: If you look at a snow pit, you have a whole record
of what happened through the winter. And that gives you
some idea of how the animals that live at the bottom can
take advantage of that structure of snow.
Snow pits are good not only to understand how snow falls and
what the record is, but also to see how animals that live
within that snow pack can make it through the winter.
EVAN: Wow Globey. NASA’s History of Winter program
is awesome. And anyone can get involved.
Just got to the history of winter website.
Just one more question. Next year, Can I come?
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KIDS: Our World!
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