Heading South

Around this time, it is worth keeping an eye on the Marine Traffic website. This shows the movement of shipping using the AIS trackers which vessels have to have switched on to plot their position.

Zoom down to the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula and you will see them start to come to life as the austral summer arrives, pack ice melts and the research vessels and tourist ships start to head south. You may also see trawlers out to catch krill, and other vessels.

See what you can spot. 

There were quite a few Viking Cruise Line ships there earlier, and the BAS research vessel Sir David Attenborough.

Frozen Planet II

Perfect to accompany our Antarctica unit in Year 8.

A second series of the BBC's Frozen Planet will start on Sunday on BBC1 at 8pm, narrated as always by David Attenborough (subject to schedule change)

It is 11 years since the first series, although I thought it might have been longer. 

Our frozen planet has become a thawing planet in those 11 years, with worrying changes to the landscape, ice masses and sea ice coverage during that time.

This is the fastest changing region of the Earth as a result of climate change, even through around one fifth of the planet is covered in snow or ice.

The first episode opens in Antarctica.

We are likely to see South Georgia at some point I am sure.

The Education Pack that Mr. P wrote for the South Georgia Heritage Trust with Val Vannet is available to view from the link here.

As always with these series, there will be a free poster to order produced in association with the Open University, and experts such as Professor Mark Brandon have been involved in developing the series.

Here's the trailer:

Antarctica Day - 1st of December

We celebrated this in the department...

Here's one of Mr P's origami penguins which was made with Year 6 help.

Scott and Amundsen

Scott and Amundsen 'raced' to the South Pole.
We explore this with Year 8
There are lots of interpretations involved in the reasons for the 'failure' of Scott compared to Amundsen.
Read widely...

A few short videos provide some context and visuals.
1



 2: TED Ed Animation
Talks about 'The Coldest March'

Antarctic Winds Animation

Check out this amazing visualization of surface winds around Antarctica.#Roaring40s https://t.co/DGUjmwLRF7#geography #geoscience #geo #geographyteacher #GIS #geospatial #cartography #spatial #climate #antartica #weather #dataviz #science #education pic.twitter.com/LqODQSmv5A

— MapScaping (@MapScaping) September 28, 2019

Lovely 

Ark

Thursday this week saw the naming ceremony for the new British Antarctic Survey research ship, the Sir David Attenborough. It was a reminder that asking the public their opinion is a bad idea as it would have been called Boaty McBoatface if the public vote was actually followed through with.
I suggested Tom Crean for the name at the time.

We have been in discussions with British Antarctic Survey to get someone in to speak to the students, and this would be excellent with this renewed interest, and also to coincide with our unit on the Antarctic.

Simon Armitage, the new Poet Laureate, and a geography graduate no less, published a new poem on the same day. It recasts the ship as a modern day Ark... exploring the impacts of climatic change.
It can be read on Simon's own website page, as a PDF



Later that day, Simon then visited Jamie and the Encounter Edu team...

Fantastic to talk Arctic and climate change with the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, whose new poem was on @BBCr4today this morning. Here he is about to go full 3D with @encounteredu to see the @NERCscience Arctic station. @BAS_News @UKSINet #UKinArctic pic.twitter.com/213b8LQ4yl

— NERC Arctic Office (@Arctic_Office) September 26, 2019

Ark: copyright Simon Armitage 

Image: Copyright BAS Press Office.
https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/ship-is-named-with-royal-ceremony/1854_img_8009-jpg/

The Noun Project

I've been using the Noun Project this term with students to produce infographics. Text and simple images are apparently useful to help students remember because of the visual cue that they provide.
The Noun Project promises 'icons for everything' and these can be downloaded for free under CC license.

We've been using them to produce what we call a 'Little Book of Cold' - to explain why Antarctica is so cold. Icons can be downloaded with a free account, or customised.

The Iconathon is an extension of this, where designers get together to develop icons around a theme. The DISASTERS set is a good one to use, for example.

Ice Flows Game - version 2

It's been a while since I saw the first iteration of Ice Flows.
The 2nd version of the website has now been launched, and we've also launched a series of instructional videos which help relate the game to the science that underpins it. If you haven't seen it before (or even if you have) head over to the Ice Flows Game website to take a look.
Coming soon: the official launch of the Ice Flows Game Resource Pack (all 70 lovely pages of it...)

Transmission Antarctica

Should tourism be banned in Antarctica?

A question that Year 8 are considering.
Should we deprive people of the chance to see these sights? and sites?

Are you ready?

To work in Antarctica...
Here's a British Antarctic Survey video showing some of the careers that they offer, and the landscapes you might find yourself working in if you get a job for them.

What skills do you think you need to get a job on the 'Sir David Attenborough'?

Each national agency also has jobs at their relevant research stations: over 40 nations have bases in Antarctica.

Are you ready?

Take the Wilderness Challenge

Year 8, don't forget to let the penguin quizmaster introduce you to Antarctica. Take the Wilderness Challenge.

If you want to live here, there is a price to pay...

Something for Year 8 to explore here.... life in the village of Villas las Estrellas: a Chilean settlement on the fringes of Antarctica, which has some interesting entry criteria... a nice picture essay.