Antarctica Project Lesson Plans Outline
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Project: Antarctica Lesson Plans | Fact File / References  Printer friendly: Lesson Plans | Evaluation

Curriculum areas addressed:
English
 
bulletRecount genre through writing journals.
bulletExplanations to describe phenomenon e.g. six months daylight, six months night.
bulletNarrative genre through the use of "story" to engage students in the unit.

Science and Technology

bulletEarth and its surroundings.
bulletLiving things.
bulletInformation and communication (PowerPoint presentations).
 Performing Arts
 
bulletDrama through role-play.
bulletMusic to create song for entertainment.

ICT (computing)

bulletUse of internet for research.
bulletProducing a PowerPoint presentation.
Session

Contents
1 - 2 hours Introduction of topic. Students research general facts about Antarctica
2 - 1 hour Students research and build shelter.
3 - 1 hour Students spot Polar bear? Research flora and fauna.
4 - 1 hour Students research occupations and role-play reporting to Base Commander. Discuss safety issues
5 - 1 hour Guest speaker coming (if possible). Students prepare questions.
6 - 1 hour Guest speaker arrives (if possible). Students ask questions.
7 - 1 hour Watch movie "March of the Penguins"
8 - 1 hour Tourism and development coming. Students discuss and research environmental issues affecting Antarctica.
Antarctic Treaty of 1959. Human impact on Antarctica.
9 - 1 hour Stuck in hut due to snowstorm. Students devise musical entertainment. Write journals of experiences.
10 onwards Students work on PowerPoint presentations - minimum 3 hours, up to 8.
Evaluation - This on-going through the use of student and teacher evaluation sheets. Assessment is through the production of a PowerPoint presentation.
 
Session 1 ( 2 hours) - Introduction

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhere is Antarctica?
bulletDescribe weather conditions.
bulletDescribe landscape.
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletExperiment with their role as researcher
bulletName one of Antarctica's neighbours
bulletName three items which would be needed by visitors to Antarctica
bulletProvide description of Antarctica's weather conditions

Mainstream
 
bulletProvide some detail of their feelings as researcher.
bulletExplain how they might have expected the journey to be.

Gifted and Talented
 
bulletProvide greater detail about their role as researcher by providing historical examples to highlight their ordeal
bulletExplain in detail their hypothetical journey and explore their feelings and hardships they may have endured.

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.
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

 

 Session 2 ( 1 hour) - Students research and build shelter

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhat are the basic requirements for a shelter?
bulletHow can a shelter be built?
bulletWhat problems would be faced by builders on Antarctica?
 Students will:-

Special Needs

bulletName the basic requirements and need for a shelter

Mainstream

bulletName the basic processes involved in building a shelter.
bulletExplore the importance of safety in Antarctic conditions.
bulletBriefly outline historical facts about Antarctic exploration.

Gifted and Talented

bulletExplain in detail the processes of building a shelter and the importance of this in Antarctic conditions.
bulletIn detail describe historical facts about Antarctica exploration including hardships and dangers faced by explorers.

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
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

 

Session 3 ( 1 hour) - Students spot Polar bear? Research flora and fauna

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhat kinds of animals live in Antarctica?
bulletHow are they able to survive there?
bulletWhat kind of plant life is there?
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletName two species of animals found in Antarctica
bulletUnderstand that polar bears so not in Antarctica

Mainstream

bulletBe able to identify two species of animals and identify two types within each species.

Gifted and Talented

bulletIdentify a variety of animal species found in Antarctica.
bulletBriefly describe specific features relating to each animal e.g. feeding habits, habitat, breeding.
 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.
Resources: Books (easy and hard for varying abilities) and images of Antarctica, encyclopaedias Evaluation: understanding of Antarctic wildlife

 

Session 4 ( 1 hour) - Students research occupations and role-play reporting to Base Commander

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhat kinds of occupations would be needed in Antarctica?
bulletWhy isn't there a wide range of occupations?
bulletWhy is safety important in Antarctica?

 

 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletName one of the jobs on an Antarctic base.
bulletBriefly describe their role.
bulletName one activity people do for leisure.
bulletBrainstorm reasons for safety rules.
 
Mainstream
bulletName up to three of the different jobs on Antarctic base and briefly describe each of these jobs
bulletName some of the leisure activities
bulletExplain problems which may arise from neglecting safety rules.

Gifted and Talented
 
bulletDescribe the various jobs and provide detail about each job.
bulletDescribe a variety of leisure activities on Antarctica
bulletDescribe a variety of safety procedures
 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.
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.

 

Session 5 ( 1 hour) - Guest speaker coming (if possible). Students prepare questions

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhat information are we interested in finding out about Antarctica?
bulletHow can we tell if a question will give us the information we want?
bulletHow can we tell if it is a good question?
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletBrainstorm possible question to ask guest speaker
bulletList at least one question

Mainstream

bulletList at least three questions to ask guest speaker

Gifted and Talented

bulletList a variety of question which require more involved answers
 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.
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.

 

Session 6 ( 1 hour) - Guest speaker arrives (if possible) - Students ask questions

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
As previous session As previous session Guest speaker from environmental organisation comes to speak to the students about Antarctica.
Resources: As previous session Evaluation: As previous session

 

 Session 7 ( 1 hour) - Watch movie "March of the Penguins"

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletWhy would people make movies about Antarctica?
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletIdentify the main theme of the movie.
bulletRecount one event from the movie.

Mainstream

bulletRecount a up to four events from the movie in order.
 
Gifted and Talented
 
bulletElaborate on various aspects of the movie and provide an individual point of view regarding the movie
 "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.
Resources: movie "March of the Penguins" Evaluation: understanding of theme of movie, synthesis of knowledge after watching the movie.

 

 Session 8 ( 1 hour) - Tourism and development coming

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletHow do environmental organisations look after Antarctica?
bulletWhy is it important to preserve Antarctica?
bulletWhat things can we do to preserve Antarctica?
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletShow basic understanding of human impact on Antarctica
bulletBriefly discuss main aspects of global measures taken to ensure preservation of Antarctica.

Mainstream

bulletIdentify organisations created to ensure preservation of Antarctica.
bulletIdentify one specific problem and describe briefly measures taken to combat this problem.

Gifted and Talented

bulletIn-depth study of various problems facing Antarctica and discuss at length organisations created to preserve Antarctica.

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.
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.

 

Session 9 ( 1 hour) - Stuck in hut due to snowstorm. Students devise musical entertainment. Write journals of experiences

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletHow can music be created in Antarctica?
bulletWhat kinds of songs would people living there sing?
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletSuggest topics for creating songs
bulletIdentify key issues of living in Antarctica.
bulletRecognise some feelings related to living in isolation as part of a group.

Mainstream

bulletCreate basic verses for the songs.
bulletRecognise and discuss feelings and issues of living in isolation and as part of a group.
bulletActively participate in creating songs and performing them.
 
Gifted and Talented
 
bulletCreate elaborate verses for songs and participate actively in performing them.
bulletDiscuss at length feelings associated with living in isolation in Antarctica.
 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.
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
 
 Sessions 10 - Onwards - Students work on PowerPoint presentations - from 2 to 6 hours total

Outcomes

Indicators

Learning Experiences
Key Questions
 
bulletUse all previous key questions.
bulletThis is an assessment task.
 Students will:

Special Needs

bulletCreate basic PowerPoint presentation of at least 3 slides presenting basic facts about Antarctica.
 
Mainstream
 
bulletStudents will create PowerPoint presentation of at least 6 slides presenting more in-depth knowledge of Antarctica.
bulletStudents will show brief knowledge of issues affecting Antarctica.
 
Gifted and Talented
 
bulletStudents will create a comprehensive and detailed PowerPoint presentation showing  a deep understanding of Antarctica and its issues.
 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.
Resources: Access to computers, photos of Antarctica. Evaluation: demonstration of knowledge of Antarctica issues affecting Antarctica.