Research projects from fourteen regions of the country were selected, including the study "Origin of the physico-chemical changes occurring in the Baker River from Puerto Bertrand to its mouth adjacent to Tortel, Aysen region", presented by the public school at Caleta Tortel, a remote fishing village in the Patagonian fjords with the scientific advice from COPAS Center through its program COPAS Sur-Austral.

The goal of the first version of the EXPLORA contest was to fund initiatives aimed at teachers who wish to stimulate the passion for science in students with the active participation of a Research Centre.

Each of these investigations is developed by a teacher and a group of between 6 and 10 students from middle and H.S. The main objective is to engage students in the generation of knowledge through the application of the scientific method by developing hypotheses and work as a team.

An important point for the success of these initiatives is that it provides to students and teachers the possibility to work closely with a scientific advisor, promoting collaboration between the world of science and school. Note that the project from Tortel is the only one approved in the Aysen region.

"With this new grant fund, we hope to continue to promote scientific literacy of children and young people of school age. We hope that the success of this first Call impresses deeply on each of the participants in the projects, "said the director of CONICYT-EXPLORA Jose Santiago Arellano.

The first rays of sun together with the chilly breeze marked the beginning of our journey to the National Monument "Dos Lagunas (Two Lakes)", located 20 km east of Coyhaique in the Aysen Region of Patagonia in Chile.

Snowy mountain sceneries, green meadows and tanned pastures welcomed us as we went into this vast natural territory. After about an hour away, we find the Laguna El Toro. To our surprise, we were unable to approach it because the terrain was steep and covered with grasses.

We didn’t get discouraged and went on towards our second destination. Surrounded by fences we found Laguna Escondida (Hidden Lake). We managed to enter and got closer to one edge. Manuela Pérez, a marine biologist, and Luis Pinto, oceanographer, took two samples with the WWMD kit yielding an interesting result. The strip thermometer marked zero and using a digital thermometer we measured below zero temperature of -0.4ºC. For the first time we were measuring semi frozen water. In fact, we could see the solid pieces of ice on the surface of the lake giving rise to liquid water when a stone was thrown.

Beginning at dusk, the sky was tinted blue to red as we departed. Before we reached the night, we stopped alongside the road to record the physico-chemical characteristics of a waterfall.

This expedition took place in June (winter in the Southern hemisphere) allowing us to delve a little deeper into the mysteries of the water cycle as we traveled in the Chilean Patagonia.