Expedition Equipment
For The Russian Kuril Islands Internet Expedition, Mr. Brown is visting the Russian Far East to explore the mysterious Kuril Islands. Expeditions require various types of equipment. The type of equipment required depends on a number of things that include: season, weather, altitude, locations, duration, etc. All the these things must be considered as we plan on the equipment we will need to make our expedition.
Think about past explorers and their expeditions. What were the pieces of equipment these explorers took with them? If these same explorers were making their expeditions today what are the modern pieces of equipment that these explorers probably take with them?
Inflatable Boats
Zodiac - This a special boat that is inflatable. It is made out out very strong material and is designed for use in rough seas. Each of our Zodiacs is powered by an outboard motor. These special boats allow us to explore and land in remote areas.
Camera 
Equipment
STILL FILM CAMERA - A camera that uses film to take pictures.
CAMERA LENSES - Cameras have different lenses that can be changed for taking pictures of very large things, very small things, things far away or things very close up.
DIGITAL VIDEO/STILL CAMERA - A special camera for taking digital video and still video pictures without film. This camera records the video on digital video tape and the digital still pictures on a tiny Memory Stick
Navigation Equipment
GPS Receiver- This uses navigation satellites (Global Positioning Satellites), circleing the earth, to determine our exact position on the earth. Using position data this gps device maps our route, shows us the direction we are heading, our speed, how long until we reach our final destination, and who to return to our staring point. This gps device allows us to store location positions in its memory so we can return to locations again.
COMPASS - This helps us find determine what direction we are heading. The needle of the compass always points to the earth's magentic north pole
Computer Equipment
LAPTOP COMPUTER - Our laptop computer alllows you to join us on our underwater expeditions. With this small, light computer we can: store and process the photos we take, draw pictures, write our teacher guides, record our data, use it as a calculator, send and receive email, design our and manage this web site, surf the web, play games, and use it as a tape recorder. Our computer is powered by a rechargable battery. We can plug our computer into our desktop computer at home to transfer files and information between both computers. Without this powerful, portable computer our interactive, Internet expedition would not be possible.
FLOPPY DISC DRIVE - A device that allow our computer to read from and record on computer floppy disks. (Our computer has a removable floppy disc drive.)