From staff reports

&uot;One of the problems with lack of oxygen is that it is insidious, that is, it creeps up on you-you never know that your thinking is impaired.

Wednesday, November 24, 1999

&uot;One of the problems with lack of oxygen is that it is insidious, that is, it creeps up on you-you never know that your thinking is impaired. You think that everything is going great-even when it isn’t. This is called hypoxia (look it up in the encyclopedia).&uot;

&uot;As we came closer to Antarctica, there was a chain of icebergs stretching for several miles (at about 61 degrees South – check it on a globe).&uot;

&uot;We headed for Base Marambio, Antarctica, a base for the Navy. (Antarctica belongs to the world, not one country. Therefore many countries have a &uot;piece&uot; of the land mass for scientific research. Can you find a map of Antarctica that shows the different countries?)&uot;

The above three paragraphs were written by Maryalice Hanson of Clarks Grove, who, along with husband Jim and ”Buzz” and Betty Kaplan, just flew from Owatonna to Antarctica.

That alone is quiet an accomplishment, one fraught with dangers.

But Maryalice Hanson took the adventure one massive step further by helping putting her perspective – that of a teacher – online for students to follow.

For every few observations of this otherworldly locale, she presents a challenge (in parenthesis.)

What an adventure for children!

By simply going online and finding www.dot.state.mn.us/aero/friendshipflight99.html – or www.heritagehalls.org. – children here and anywhere else in the world can both track an exciting aerial expedition, and participate by accepting Hanson’s challenges and looking at a globe, checking reference materials or learning to read a map.

The flight may be nearly over, but the learning opportunities for children remain online, and ready to challenge.