IQALUIT - Students at Aqsarniit Middle School are using smart board technology to talk to two adventurers in Siberia.

The Grade 7 students are participating in impossible2Possible's H20 Initiative: Siberian Express for Water. The goal of the program is to educate students and raise awareness about clean drinking water projects.

They are following Ray Zahab and Kevin Vallely as they make their way across Lake Baikal in Siberia, northern Asia. It's the oldest and deepest lake in the world. Using a smart board, an interactive white board hooked up to a computer and projector, students are able to connect with the two adventurers by asking questions in real time using video feeds or via e-mail during the 650 km expedition.

The students first spoke to the adventurers on March 6 as they reached their halfway point of the journey.

"I find it interesting because you are talking to someone halfway around the world," said student Jazniyne Perkins.

Student Ashevak Montaque said he and his fellow classmates learned the adventurers eat chocolate truffles as they have to consume 1,000 calories a day. As well, they have to keep the door of their tent closed when they are sleeping so the snow does not go in, he said.

The students also had the opportunity to share their knowledge of the North.

"We told the adventurers that the coldest temperature here was -100 C, but that was a long time ago," said student Misterlee Cloutier-Ellsworth. She added that the adventurers were quite surprised when they heard this.

More than 40 schools worldwide are participating with over 6,000 students learning about the expedition, the North and water.

"Technology is what students are exposed to now and will be in the future, and this fits right into their learning," said teacher Mark Caine.

Caine said he is using what the students are learning from the adventurers and incorporating it into their science projects. The students will present what they have learned in Powerpoint presentations and will show them to the class using the smart boards.

The second half of the impossible2Possible's trek will be in Tunisia, where Zahab and Vallely will run across the desert. This will educate students on the water crises in Northern Africa and around the world.