VOCABULARY blue ice: ice that is very old and compacted. catabatic: type of winds found in Antarctica; flowing northward from the polar plateau toward the coasts. crevasse: deep crack in the ice caused by uneven shifting or moving. glacier: a body of ice that flows according to the shape of the land below it; usually contained within valley walls. ice sheet: a body of ice that submerges almost all of the landscape and moves independently of the characteristics of the ground (only two in existence: in Antarctica and Greenland). ice shelf: a large body of ice that is anchored to a coastline, but which mainly floats on the ocean. iceberg: a piece of floating ice that has "calved" from a glacier or ice sheet. nunatak: the tip of a mountain that is showing above snow or ice while the rest of the mountain is buried. pack ice: seasonal ice that forms every fall on the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica and breaks up every spring. sastrugi: hard ripples in the snow or ice caused by winds. PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES 1. Geographic Orientation. Locate Antarctica on a globe. Point out the neighboring islands and continents, as well as possible travel routes. Show the class a flat map of Antarctica. Explain how north/south/east /west look different on this map than a normal map (north radiates out from the pole in every direction). Review longitude and latitude. Point out that the Antarctic region protected by the Antarctic treaty is inside of 60 degrees South latitude. The South Pole is the point where all the lines of longitude converge, and it has a latitude of 90 degrees South. 2. Arctic vs. Antarctic. Ask the students to compare and contrast the Arctic and the Antarctic. What are the similarities, the differences? For example: Arctic Antarctic no land mass large continent contains North Pole contains South Pole cold colder polar bears penguins sun never sets in summer same, but summer months are reversed 3. Solar System Review. Review the rotation of the earth around the sun and how it affects the earth's seasons. QUESTIONS for thought, review, and further study 1. How big is Antarctica? (5.4 million square miles, bigger than the U.S. and Mexico combined) 2. How is Antarctica different from other continents? (governed and protected by international treaty; dedicated to science and exploration; no indigenous population. Coldest, windiest, highest altitude, and driest. No cities, towns, or McDonald's). 3. Who "owns" Antarctica? (no country or individual owns Antarctica; it is a world resource.) 4. What would happen if Antarctica were not protected by the Antarctic treaty? (Matter of speculation, but there would probably be conflicts based on territorial claims, environmental damage, and mining). 5. How many hours per day is the sun up in the Antarctic summer? Winter? Why? (24 hours a day in the summer, because South Pole tilts toward sun in this portion of earth's orbit around sun. Zero hours a day in the winter, because South Pole is tilted away from sun. Antarctic summer occurs at same time as Northern Hemisphere winter.) 6. What is the tallest mountain in Antarctica? Is it taller than Mt. McKinley in Alaska? (Mt. Vinson, at 16,000 feet. Mt. McKinley is approximately 20,000 feet tall.) 7. Can polar bears and penguins exist together in the same place? (No, flightless birds like the penguin survived in Antarctica precisely because there are no predatory terrestrial animals like the polar bear. The same thing occurred in the Galapagos Islands.) 8. Do you want to visit Antarctica someday? Why or why not? PROJECTS for groups and individuals 1. Sundial. Build a sundial at school or at home, like the one Richard builds during the credit sequence in Volume I, using a short pole in a sunny location. Mark the location of the pole's shadow on an hourly basis (Richard marked the shadow with sun-blocks. His blocks revealed an oval pattern over a period of 24 hours.) How does your pattern differ? If possible, repeat the experiment three months later... how does the pattern differ from before? Why? 2. Diary. Write a fictional diary about a week-long stay at an Antarctic camp. Describe bathing, eating, sleeping, and your other daily activities. 3. Food Chain. Research the surprisingly simple food chain along the Antarctic coast, and prepare a poster showing the results. 4. Latitude & Math. Calculate the distance between your school and the South Pole. The distance from a location to the South Pole can be determined by knowing only its latitude. Each degree of latitude is divided into 60 "minutes" of latitude. Each "minute" of latitude is exactly one nautical mile in distance. One nautical mile is equal to 1.15 "statute" miles. Therefore the distance from a location to the Equator is: (degrees latitude X 60) X 1.15 statute miles. The distance to the South Pole is this distance plus the distance from the Equator to the South Pole (90 X 60 X 1.15 = 6210 miles). 5. Fahrenheit and Centigrade. Assign temperature conversion problems. For example, Dr. Kate Brown says that at -15 degrees C, exposed skin will get frostbite. What is this in degrees F? The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica is - 128 degrees F. How cold is this in degrees C? WEB RESOURCES www.sonrisa.com additional background information and worksheets for Heart of Antarctica video set www.earthsky.com/EITC/antarctica.html excellent content from the author of Science on Ice (Michael Woods, Millbrook Press, 1995) www.onlineclass.com/BI/blueice.html seven-week interactive learning project, with sessions scheduled for Fall '98 and Spring '99 www.glacier.rice.edu Antarctic earth science, ecology, meteorology, and environmental science www.icair.iac.org.nz/ Gateway to Antarctica site maintained by the International Centre for Antarctic Information and Research in New Zealand www.mountainzone.com/climbing/Antarctica on-line story of the Mt. Vinson ascent www.ri.cmu.edu activities of the Robotics Institute, who designed Nomad, featured in Part II. jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov actual ozone hole data from NASA www.nsf.gov/home/polar/start.htm NSF polar research www.cwru.edu/affil/ansmet/index.html interesting and entertaining view of meteorite- hunting in Antarctica Heart of Antarctica Volume 1... Journey to the Ice Study Guide Appropriate for Grades 5-9 Produced by: Marcy Garriott (c)1998 La Sonrisa Productions, Inc. OVERVIEW Volume 1: Introduces the geography and climate of Antarctica, and provides a glimpse into life in a remote camp. Ends with a dramatic climb up Mt. Vinson, the tallest peak on the continent. The Journey: How does a person get from the southern tip of Chile to a remote camp in the interior of the continent, where there are no airports or runways? How did the early explorers arrive? How big is Antarctica? The Camp: How does a group of 50 people survive in a part of the continent too cold and harsh for any life-forms to grow naturally? The Climate: Why doesn't the sun ever set in the summer or rise in the winter? How cold DOES it get in Antarctica? The Mountain: How difficult is it to climb the tallest mountain on the continent? We join an expedition and find out!