Episode 5: How Do You Survive in Snow Country?

Kelly School This season's podcast follows Mrs. Lowenfel's 4th and 5th Grade Class at Kelly School in Teton County Wyoming. The kids had many questions for our experts and lots to share about the American West. This episode features Stella, Bowen, Shelby, and Elise. Corey Anco  Corey Anco is the Curator of the Draper Natural History Museum. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Lewis University, a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, and a Master of Science in Biology from Fordham University. He has worked with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey. Anco has held additional positions with the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative and Wildlife Conservation Society before joining the Draper Natural History Museum in 2017. Outside of the museum, he enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and backpacking in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Frank Carus Frank Carus is the director of the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center. Frank has had a love for snow as he climbed El Capitan in Yosemite National Park at age 19. He works diligently to monitor the avalanche center and numerous weather stations in Wyoming. Franks early working years supported his climbing and skiing obsessions by guiding and building things out of wood. Explore More For additional information, vocabulary definitions, activities, and more click here! Transcript Why, why, why, why? In Wyoming it snows less than other places, like Russia and Ukraine and all that. So I'm just wondering why that is? Why, why, why, why? Why do avalanche bombs stop avalanches from happening? Welcome to the kids ask why podcast. Production by Wyoming Public Media and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This season the podcast is following fourth and fifth grade class from Kelley School in Teton County, Wyoming. We have lots of questions and lots to share about the American West. Elise: Hello, my name is Elsie. I am from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and I'm in fourth grade. And I think what's interesting about snow science is like how it can get sticky, and then it can get like sugary and then it can get really hard and icy. Stella. Stella:  Okay, my name is Stella. I'm from Jackson Hole Wyoming and I think snow is interesting. Well, I chose this because how animals can survive under the snow and how snow is like cold, because snow is just water that kinda like got cold. But like, how is it white? And how did it like, get cold? Bowen. Bowen: My name is Bowen and I'm from Kelly, Wyoming.  What I wonder about snow is, um, I know that it depends on where on the equator you are. But it's like since Russia gets more snow than we do and we're at the same equator level. I don't know if that's what called. That's just what I wonder why. Shelby: Hi, I'm Shelby. I live in Jackson, Wyoming and I am in fifth grade. And to me how snow science is interesting is, I'm super interested in how they form. Bowen: Today, we are talking with Corey Anco who is the interim curator of the Draper Natural History Museum in Cody, Wyoming. Stella:  So my questions are, how do animals survive under the snow? Because snow is cold. And if it was warm when the snow melts, and under the snow, how do animals eat and breathe? Corey:   So let's start with the first one. You know, how do they live there? Animals are going to do one of three things when you know an environment changes. They're going to migrate, like elk, they migrate, you know, to an area that's more, that's better for the conditions where they can find more food. Some animals like bears, the