Antarctica

Antarctica is 98 percent thick ice and 2 percent barren rock. It is the coldest, windiest, highest (on average), and driest continent. Land use statistics from CIA World Factbook illustrate why human habitation is limited to the scientific bases:

arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%

The continent has been the site of heroic explorations, including those of James Weddell, Charles Wilkes, Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen, and Ernest Henry Shackleton.

Antarctica features prominently in environmental news, particularly because of its ozone hole, pollution from scientific bases and exploration, melting ice caps, and the over-fishing of the Patagonian Toothfish in the Southern Ocean.

Antarctica is particularly interesting for its geography, wildlife, human history, and environmental problems.

• How was Antarctica formed? How did it evolve from Gondwanaland?
• What are some of the historic moments in Antarctic exploration?
• What are scientists in Antarctica studying??
• Which countries have bases there?
• What methods do the scientific bases use to control their own self-generated pollution?
• Do animals and plants live there? What adaptations have they made in order to survive?
• Is global warming melting the ice? What methods are used to find this out?

Visit the TKI Science Community www.tki.org.nz/e/science to consider curriculum references.

• The New Zealand Antarctic Institute provides a "Frequently Asked Questions" page (www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/Pages/InfoEducation/FAQ.msa).

• Virtual Antarctica (www.terraquest.com/va/index.html) features much historical and environmental information.

• LEARNZ (www.learnz.org.nz/) is an educational virtual field trip which uses technology and the environment of Antarctica to develop skills in science, social studies, English, technology and maths.

• "Virtual Tour - McMurdo Station, Antarctica", from the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica, looks at Antarctica's "Big City" (http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/mcmurdo/).

• The University of California, San Diego's "Underwater Field Guide to Ross Island & McMurdo Sound, Antarctica" has many pictures of aquatic life (http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/nsf/fguide/index.html).

• Oneworld's "Chronicle of Antarctica Expeditions" is a history of Antarctic exploration (http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/southpole/histmain.htm).

Conduct a search on TKI (www.tki.org.nz/e/search/) using the keyword Antarctica, found in the science community's keywords, or type it in the free word search.

You can explore the communities on TKI here (http://www.tki.org.nz/e/community/), and find the curriculum documents relevant to your needs.

Please note: These links were valid when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.

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