A copy of the latest weekly bulletin will be published in this space. Previous bulletins, if there are any, are available via the hyperlinks. Week 1 : 13 October Week 2 : 20 October Week 3 : 27 October Week 4: 4 November Week 5: 11 November Week 6: 18 November Week 7: 25 November Final Bulletin 1 December 1997 What’s in store for 1998 Next year you’ll be able to "trek" through the Himalayas, "visit" Greece and the Olympics, and go "diving" in the Great Barrier Reef through our new classroom activity "Wonders of the World". Here’s the outline for Wonders of the World In Term 2 we’ll follow Peter Hillary to Mt Everest and the Himalayas. A group of New Zealand and Australian secondary school students will be accompanying Peter Hillary to this natural wonder, and their mission will be to continue the work begun in the Sherpa community by Sir Edmund Hillary. Later in the term, Peter will visit the Mt Everest base camp and do some climbing. In Term 3 we’ll be finding out about classical Greece, the Wonders of the Ancient World, Greek mythology, the ancient Olympics and Greek society and culture. In Term 4 take the plunge and learn about the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders, as we follow diving expeditions and talk with experts about life on the reef. Learn about the amazing life on the coral reef, what it is like to be a diver and find out how they are trying to protect this natural wonder for future generations. Wonders of the World aims to give schools an exciting platform to use online communications as well as audioconferencing and faxing - while linking with most areas of the curriculum. Fax the Telecom Education Foundation on 0800 253-020 if you’d like to register for this programme. More details about the programme, along with registration forms, will be sent to all schools in early February. The final chapter - Explorers and Adventurers After trekking to the North Pole with David Scott, exploring the Amazon with Andrew Mercer and taking part in a virtual space adventure, it certainly is time for a well deserved break. Thousands of you from more than 900 schools enrolled in Explorers and Adventurers and we’ve enjoyed hearing about the exciting things you’ve been doing as part of this year’s programme. We know for some of you it was the first time you’ve taken part in audioconferences and others of you have used the information from the programme to develop your own homepages. We’d like to thank all of you for taking part. We’ve really enjoyed bringing you these exciting adventures. Don’t forget to check out page 3 to find out which school won the Space Explorers Bonus Quiz prize and the winner of the overall Explorers and Adventurers Mystery Quiz. We recently caught up with all our 1997 adventurers and you can find out what they’re up to later in the bulletin. We’d like to wish you a safe and happy Christmas and suggest you get some rest during the break because as you can see we’ve got some more exciting things planned for 1998. All the best and Merry Christmas. Danielle Greig Telecom Education Foundation Scotty’s news I am in Tokyo now, back working at my job as a financial advisor. Things are pretty much back to normal and the team and I have recovered from the expedition and I am now looking forward to Christmas. I will not be home for Christmas this year but hope to go to the mountains in northern Japan. I plan to be back to New Zealand some time early next year. I hope you all enjoyed taking part in the Explorers and Adventurers series this year - I certainly had a great time participating with everyone. We have too many things to do now to prepare for new adventures, however, if anyone has some good ideas I would like to hear them! Until later, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Scotty, Nobu and Acchan, PolarFree North Pole Expedition May 31 1997. Catching up with Andrew Mercer I’ve now settled back into my New Zealand life since returning from the Amazon at the end of September. Arriving back in New Zealand felt very strange &endash; and very cold. The most obvious change between the Amazon and New Zealand was the temperature difference. I spent the first week wearing a thick jersey and ski jacket whenever I ventured outside. I’m more accustomed to the New Zealand climate now, but there are times when temperatures drop and the wind howls and I miss the steamy Amazon environment. But there are lots of nice things about returning home. Travelling in New Zealand and being able to speak English is wonderful. Struggling to use Portuguese and Spanish when I was in South America was often difficult and confusing. I’ve been able to see my friends, return to my favourite places in Wellington, and start new projects. Right now I’m working for a small multimedia company in Wellington, called The Forge. They make CD-ROM software &endash; products similar to Microsoft Encarta where software on your computer helps you find information. I’ll be returning to the Amazon late next year for a new adventure &endash; on the trail of the real "Indiana Jones" (the man who inspired the movies), and a story I stumbled upon at the end of my journey in September. The real Indiana Jones was an Englishman called Colonel Percy Fawcett. Early in the century he worked for the British Army in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and as a spy in Africa. He was sent to South America where he spent years travelling through remote jungles on mapping expeditions &endash; marking out the unexplored frontiers between Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil in an effort to prevent wars between these countries. I’m still in contact with people I met in the Amazon, and I’ve even been out to visit some schools since my return. But like you, I’m also looking forward to a break over the holidays. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas. Regards, Andrew Mercer Merry Christmas from Shannon Lucid Wishing everyone taking part in the Explorers and Adventurers classroom programme a very Merry Christmas. I really enjoyed my time in New Zealand and meeting so many of you. Thanks to everyone who helped make my visit memorable and enjoyable. Kind regards, Shannon Lucid Explorers Mystery Quiz : And the winners are . . . Bulletin 7 winner The winner of last week’s Explorers Mystery Quiz was Room 20, Hobsonville Primary School, Hobsonville, Auckland. Answer one : The longest space flight humans have undertaken was a Russian Mir Space Station mission in 1987. The mission lasted 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes and 47 seconds. Answer two : Gian Domenico Cassini (1625-1712) was an Italian-born astronomer who discovered four of Saturn’s satellites and observed a dark division in Saturn’s ring called the Cassini division. Bonus Mystery Quiz winner Everyone who entered one of our mystery quizzes in the Telecom Space Explorers went into the draw for a bonus prize for their class. Congratulations to Room 11, Hiona Intermediate School, Masterton - the winners of the Amazon Adventure Bonus Mystery Quiz Prize for getting the most correct answers. A Telecom bag of goodies is in the post to you. Overall Mystery Quiz winner The classes whose students correctly answer the most Explorers Mystery Quizzes during all three Explorers and Adventurers programme went in the draw for a grand prize. Room 1, Sherwood School, Takapau, Hawkes Bay is the Explorers and Adventurers Overall Mystery Quiz winner. Congratulations. Your prize is in the mail. Thanks for joining us in 1997 and Merry Christmas! danielle.greig@telecom.co.nz