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Teacher’s notes

• About the Science IS activities

Integrated strands

Science concept

• Uninhabited environments can provide information about Earth’s geological history.

Nature of Science Theme

Over time, the types of science knowledge that are valued change…

Changes in society’s values are reflected in the types of investigation carried out.

DSSA Investigation Focus

Students’ relationships with other people affect their investigations…

Students’ views of an investigation are influenced by contemporary values.

Activity

What you need

• The timeline from A century of scientific research in Antarctica and Science overview.
• Large sheet(s) of paper suitable for wall chart or mural.
• Stories and articles about scientists working on the ice (optional).

Note: Supporting activity resources are provided below.

Focus

• Why is Antarctica one of the few places left mostly unaffected by human activity?
• What concerns are there about the effect human activity is having on Antarctica?
• What might happen if valuable resources could be extracted from Antarctica?
• Is disposal of waste more difficult in Antarctica than in other continents? Why?
• Why should we care about Antarctica?
• Why do scientists go to Antarctica? What do Antarctic scientists do?

Exploration

1. Make copies of the timeline and cut each copy into columns, and then into strips. Note: How you cut the timeline may depend on the level of difficulty your students can cope with when reassembling it. Some options are:
   • Don’t separate the Date column from the Expeditions column, that is, cut strips so that each strip contains a date and an expedition/event.
   • Separate the Date column from the Expeditions column, then cut both columns, or just the Expeditions column, into strips.
2. Give each group of students a set of the strips and get them to arrange them into order. Encourage them to do further research to help in the reassembling decisions.
3. Have them use the information from the reassembled timeline, and their research, to discuss how the thrust of Antarctic science has changed. For example you could ask:
   • What was the focus of early Antarctic exploration?
   • What experiments did they carry out? What scientific discoveries did they make?
   • Has the focus of scientific work on the ice changed? If so, in what ways has it changed? Why?
4. Get the students to make a class mural or wall chart illustrating the timeline with pictures and comments about the type of scientific work carried out on the ice.

Extension

• Antarctica could be an important reservoir of resources needed by industrialised nations. What would be the effect of allowing resources to be removed from Antarctica?
• What research is carried out in Antarctica?

Reflection

• Why might the purposes of scientific study in Antarctica have changed?
• In what ways do you think they might change in the future?
• Why should Antarctica be protected?
• Are the investigations carried out by scientists in Antarctica worth the cost of the expeditions?
• What do you think Antarctic scientists will want to find out about in the future?
• Have the purposes of space science also changed over time? If so, in what ways?