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Antarctica Project - Lesson Plans
Outline
The following lesson plans have been adapted from a differentiated
curriculum project on Antarctica for a thesis submitted for a Masters Degree in
Education at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) by Hadla Trad from New South
Wales, Australia - and in a move of exceptional generosity sent to CoolAntarctica
to be shared with the world.
It has (for good or ill) passed though the brain of Paul Ward
(webmaster CoolAntarctica and practising secondary age 11-18 science teacher in
England) who has in the process made it more generalist.
This was written for late primary age pupils, but is readily adaptable
for many uses - when starting to invent a new wheel, it helps to start off with
a roughly round shape - here is a starting point that will serve as a good initial
framework for your own adaptations.
Some of the curricula statements refer to the contemporary Australian
version of educationalist blox (sp.) Your own country will have it's own version
for you to present to those who can't remember what it's really like to teach without
incorporating this years interview-successful-phrases (although I've always found
that "Pedagogical techniques", "Piagetian level" and "Motivational hierarchy" to
be timeless and sufficiently widely not-understood to make me sound a right clever
dick).
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Session |
Contents
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1 - 2 hours |
Introduction of topic.
Students research general facts about Antarctica |
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2 - 1 hour |
Students research
and build shelter. |
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3 - 1 hour |
Students spot Polar
bear? Research flora and fauna. |
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4 - 1 hour |
Students research
occupations and role-play reporting to Base Commander. Discuss safety issues |
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5 - 1 hour |
Guest speaker coming
(if possible). Students prepare questions. |
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6 - 1 hour |
Guest speaker arrives
(if possible). Students ask questions. |
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7 - 1 hour |
Watch movie "March
of the Penguins" |
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8 - 1 hour |
Tourism and development
coming. Students discuss and research environmental issues affecting Antarctica.
Antarctic Treaty of 1959. Human impact on Antarctica. |
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9 - 1 hour |
Stuck in hut due to snowstorm. Students devise musical
entertainment. Write journals of experiences.
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10 onwards |
Students work on
PowerPoint presentations - minimum 3 hours, up to 8. |
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Evaluation - This on-going through
the use of student and teacher evaluation sheets. Assessment is through
the production of a PowerPoint presentation. |
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Session 1 ( 2 hours) -
Introduction |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
 | Where is Antarctica? |
| Describe weather conditions. |
| Describe landscape. |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Experiment with their role as researcher |
| Name one of Antarctica's neighbours |
| Name three items which would be needed by visitors
to Antarctica |
| Provide description of Antarctica's weather conditions |
Mainstream
| Provide some detail of their feelings as researcher. |
| Explain how they might have expected the journey
to be. |
Gifted and Talented
| Provide greater detail about their role as
researcher by providing historical examples to highlight their ordeal |
| Explain in detail their hypothetical journey and
explore their feelings and hardships they may have endured. |
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Teacher introduces Antarctica
as a narrative. The story goes something like this:
"Today you
are all going to become explorer-scientists who have been given the mission
of finding out about Antarctica. You will be leaving in one week and you
need to use the time that you have left to discover as much about Antarctica
as possible. If you don't have the right information, you might come across
many dangers and you might even risk your lives and the lives of the others.
Your first
job is to find out where Antarctica is, and what it's like there. You then
need to decide what you should take with you and say why you need those
things.
You will be
going on this expedition with four other people and each of you is allowed
to take four things, apart from your clothes. In your groups you will discuss
what things you need.
When you finally
arrive, you must write a short journal entry to describe the situation.
Remember, you don't have much time to write, so only write the important
things. Good luck!"
NOTE: Teacher allocates groups
and decides whether this will be ability or mixed-ability groups. For this
first activity it might be better if you start off with mixed-ability groups. |
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Resources: Workbooks
or cardboard, markers, Photos, books (easy and hard
to read for varying abilities) travel brochures. |
Evaluation: General knowledge
facts, items required for survival, co-operative learning |
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Session 2 ( 1 hour) - Students research and
build shelter |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| What are the basic requirements for a shelter? |
| How can a shelter be built? |
| What problems would be faced by builders on Antarctica? |
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Students
will:- Special Needs
| Name the basic requirements and need for a shelter |
Mainstream
| Name the basic processes involved in building a shelter. |
| Explore the importance of safety in Antarctic conditions. |
| Briefly outline historical facts about Antarctic
exploration. |
Gifted and Talented
| Explain in detail the processes of building a shelter
and the importance of this in Antarctic conditions. |
| In detail describe historical facts about Antarctica
exploration including hardships and dangers faced by explorers. |
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Teacher tells the students
that,
"You are now
the researchers and in Antarctica most bases are not on frozen soil, but
on bedrock or on a (usually moving) ice-shelf – which present their own
problems. You must quickly build a shelter. Firstly, you must find out that
kind of materials were used to build shelters in the past, and what is being
used now. You must discuss amongst yourselves whether you will use olden
day materials or present-day materials and why".
Halfway through this activity
teacher informs students that,
"A snowstorm
has just hit and you must quickly decide what you should do to remain safe."
Short time later teacher informs
class that,
"Luckily the
storm only lasted for a short while and you can continue building your shelter."
NOTE:
For this activity old sheets and long sticks can be collected
and used to produce the "shelter". Twine can be used to secure the sheets
to the sticks. This is a token activity designed to illustrate to the students
the importance of shelter in Antarctica and the hardships experienced by
explorers, especially the early explorers.
The tents should be placed
somewhere that is a little secluded so that other students do not tamper
with them. They could be used for part of second lesson 2.
This could be taught in conjunction
with the ideas here: -
man as a tropical animal
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Resources: Long sticks strong
enough to hold up sheet. Old sheets or canvas (if
available) Twine or soft rope, books about Antarctic exploration (easy and
hard for varying abilities) |
Evaluation: recognise importance
of shelter in Antarctic conditions, co-operation. Recognise the hardships
faced by early explorers |
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Session 3 ( 1 hour) - Students spot Polar bear?
Research flora and fauna |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| What kinds of animals live in Antarctica? |
| How are they able to survive there? |
| What kind of plant life is there? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Name two species of animals found in Antarctica |
| Understand that polar bears so not in Antarctica |
Mainstream
| Be able to identify two species of animals and identify
two types within each species. |
Gifted and Talented
| Identify a variety of animal species found
in Antarctica. |
| Briefly describe specific features relating
to each animal e.g. feeding habits, habitat, breeding. |
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Teacher tells the students that,
"You are presently living in the hut.
You hear noises outside and using a spotlight shone through the window you
spot what you think is a huge polar bear. What are you going to do? You
must research the flora and fauna of Antarctica so that you can find out
what kind of animal it might be."
Researchers realise that there are no polar bears in Antarctica
and discover that it's just a lost penguin.
NOTE: Students can do part of
this activity in the "shelter" they built in the previous lesson to increase
their enthusiasm for the lesson. This is done as a role-play. |
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Resources: Books (easy and hard
for varying abilities) and images of Antarctica, encyclopaedias |
Evaluation: understanding of Antarctic
wildlife |
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Session 4 ( 1 hour) - Students research occupations
and role-play reporting to Base Commander |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| What kinds of occupations would be needed in Antarctica? |
| Why isn't there a wide range of occupations? |
| Why is safety important in Antarctica? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Name one of the jobs on an Antarctic base. |
| Briefly describe their role. |
| Name one activity people do for leisure. |
| Brainstorm reasons for safety rules.
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Mainstream
| Name up to three of the different jobs on Antarctic
base and briefly describe each of these jobs |
| Name some of the leisure activities |
| Explain problems which may arise from neglecting
safety rules. |
Gifted and Talented
| Describe the various jobs and provide detail about
each job. |
| Describe a variety of leisure activities on Antarctica |
| Describe a variety of safety procedures |
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The teacher will read this out to the class as a formal letter
from the Base Commander. "The Base
Commander has requested that all personnel report to the main dining area
for a full report of their activities for the week. Each person is to be
present at 16:30 sharp. No excuses will be taken from late-comers. In addition,
the meteorology department is to have a report regarding the possible blizzard
heading our way.
The Base Commander will also discuss safety
issues because some personnel are being too risky.
The group of people who returned late
back to base after their visit to a local penguin colony triggered an alert
and the assembly of a rescue party that was about to set out when they were
seen. This caused considerable worry and disruption for the base - those
individuals have been spoken to."
Any off-base trips could get into trouble, even to relatively
safe places and in good conditions, see the email from 14th Oct 2003
here.
The teacher places students in groups of 3 and each group
must research a particular occupation on Antarctica, e.g. marine biologist
or engineer. Students also report on safety issues on Antarctic bases.
The students must then submit a written and oral report detailing
their job description and role-play giving an account of their activities
in front of their class. |
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Resources: postings from researchers
in Antarctica on internet (refer to internet links), books, teacher-prepared
letter from "Base Commander." Safety procedures in Antarctica. |
Evaluation: identify way if life
of Antarctic researchers and workers, explain the activities of such people.
Comprehension of safety issues. |
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Session 5 ( 1 hour) - Guest speaker coming (if
possible). Students prepare questions |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| What information are we interested in finding out
about Antarctica? |
| How can we tell if a question will give us the information
we want? |
| How can we tell if it is a good question? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Brainstorm possible question to ask guest speaker |
| List at least one question |
Mainstream
| List at least three questions to ask guest speaker |
Gifted and Talented
| List a variety of question which require more involved
answers |
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A guest speaker from an environmental organisation is coming.
Teacher says,
"You discover that an Antarctic expert
is coming and there are still some things that you don't know. You decide
to make up a list questions to ask this person when he arrives."
The teacher then divides the class into groups of three and
each group is responsible for producing a list of questions to ask the guest
speaker. The class then re-assembles and a common class list is produced.
A spokesperson is elected by each group to ask a question from the common
list on behalf of their group. |
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Resources: guest speaker from
environmental organisation. Refer to resource page for list of organisations. |
Evaluation: understanding of the
types of questions appropriate for gaining information. |
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Session 6 ( 1 hour) - Guest speaker arrives (if
possible) - Students ask questions |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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As previous session |
As previous session |
Guest speaker from environmental organisation comes to speak
to the students about Antarctica. |
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Resources: As previous session |
Evaluation: As previous session |
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Session 7 ( 1 hour) - Watch movie "March
of the Penguins" (or similar) |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| Why would people make movies about Antarctica? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Identify the main theme of the movie. |
| Recount one event from the movie. |
Mainstream
| Recount a up to four events from the movie in order.
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Gifted and Talented
| Elaborate on various aspects of the movie and provide
an individual point of view regarding the movie |
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"You have found out that someone had brought
a movie with them and the Base Commander has told everyone that they can
watch in the big dining room. But
guess what? The movie is about Antarctica! Oh well, there's nothing else
to do so you decide to go ahead and watch the movies anyway. The Base Commander
tells you that the movie has some important information about a job that
you have to do the next day so you are asked to take notes during the movie!"
Students for this lesson watch the movie "March of the Penguins"
narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Luc?
Students take down notes to share in a discussion after the movie.
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Resources: movie "March of the
Penguins" |
Evaluation: understanding of theme
of movie, synthesis of knowledge after watching the movie. |
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Session 8 ( 1 hour) - Tourism and development
coming |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| How do environmental organisations look after Antarctica? |
| Why is it important to preserve Antarctica? |
| What things can we do to preserve Antarctica? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Show basic understanding of human impact on Antarctica |
| Briefly discuss main aspects of global measures taken
to ensure preservation of Antarctica. |
Mainstream
| Identify organisations created to ensure preservation
of Antarctica. |
| Identify one specific problem and describe briefly
measures taken to combat this problem. |
Gifted and Talented
| In-depth study of various problems facing Antarctica
and discuss at length organisations created to preserve Antarctica. |
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Teacher informs the students:
"A message
has arrived from the government of our country. We are to begin to assess
this area of Antarctica for its value in providing resources such as minerals
to be mined, fish to be caught, and whether it is reasonable to try and
drill for oil.
You are required
to write a short report on those areas that you know about personally -
the marine biologists and boatmen about how good the fishing is, the geologists
about where the most promising rock types are etc. Then in the summer in
3 months time, there will be a representative who will come to see for themselves
how valuable this section of Antarctica could be in supplying natural resources.
This currently
goes against the Antarctic Treaty which was established to ensure that Antarctica
does not become exploited, but this is not guaranteed to be in place for
ever."
Students research environmental
issues impacting on Antarctica and organisations which have been established
to combat these issues. Students role-play report given to Base Commander
and are required to answer a set of questions by their classmates.
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Resources: Internet access,
books, pamphlets from environmental organisations which outline the impact
of human activity on Antarctica (e.g. Greenpeace), guest speaker would also
be helpful. |
Evaluation: identify environmental
issues in Antarctica, identify organisations which preserve Antarctic heritage
and environment. |
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Session 9 ( 1 hour) - Stuck in hut due to snowstorm.
Students devise musical entertainment. Write journals of experiences |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| How can music be created in Antarctica? |
| What kinds of songs would people living there sing? |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Suggest topics for creating songs |
| Identify key issues of living in Antarctica. |
| Recognise some feelings related to living in isolation
as part of a group. |
Mainstream
| Create basic verses for the songs. |
| Recognise and discuss feelings and issues of living
in isolation and as part of a group. |
| Actively participate in creating songs and performing
them.
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Gifted and Talented
| Create elaborate verses for songs and participate
actively in performing them. |
| Discuss at length feelings associated with living
in isolation in Antarctica. |
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Teacher informs students:
"A snow storm has suddenly hit and you are
forced to stay inside the hut for the entire day. You must create a percussion
band with equipment that has been brought with you into the hut. These can
only include basic cooking utensils. You must also compose a song which
sums up your ordeal in the Antarctic. How are you feeling at the moment,
what will you do as soon as the storm subsides? These are all questions
which you can use to guide you when you create your song."
For this activity the students are placed into groups of
three by the teacher. The teacher also chooses two students to stay inside
their hut for the duration of school day. The students are only allowed
to take their lunches with them and they are only allowed out to use the
toilet. They must not talk to anyone so that they can be as isolated as
possible.They must take their journal with them
and describe their ordeal while they are in the hut.
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Resources: various cooking utensils
(pots, pans, spoons), anything that can be used to create simulated percussion
music, the tents that were previously built or a designated space if this
is not possible. |
Evaluation: students worked co-operatively,
identified key issues in living in isolation, created songs and performed
for the class |
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Sessions 10 - Onwards - Students work on
PowerPoint presentations - from 2 to 6 hours total |
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Outcomes
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Indicators
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Learning Experiences
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Key Questions
| Use all previous key questions. |
| This is an assessment task. |
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Students will: Special Needs
| Create basic PowerPoint presentation of at least
3 slides presenting basic facts about Antarctica.
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Mainstream
| Students will create PowerPoint presentation of at
least 6 slides presenting more in-depth knowledge of Antarctica. |
| Students will show brief knowledge of issues affecting
Antarctica.
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Gifted and Talented
| Students will create a comprehensive and detailed
PowerPoint presentation showing a deep understanding of Antarctica
and its issues. |
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Students should now have enough information to begin creating
their own PowerPoint presentations. Each student will prepare an individual
PowerPoint presentation and at the end of the unit students will try out
each other's presentations. The students present
their understandings of Antarctica through a PowerPoint presentation.
The motive for the PowerPoint presentations is so that students
are afforded the opportunity to consolidate their Antarctica work. The added
bonus of the computer is to act as encouragement so that students are motivated
to achieve. The presentations will be used as an assessment
tool.
If a data projector is available, then they can be shown
to the whole class for peer-marking.
The students will choose photos of Antarctica from a selection
already supplied by the teacher. Teachers must be aware of copyright infringement
laws when gathering their photos. Many are available from
this
website. Another good source is
Flikr.com but permission
must be acquired from the owners of the photos.
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Resources: Access to computers,
photos of Antarctica. |
Evaluation: demonstration of knowledge
of Antarctica issues affecting Antarctica. |
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