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Is it the realtor's dream? Prime vacation location? Does it fit the old adage, "It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there"? Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent on the planet. It also has extreme variety of geological and geographical features from glaciers to volcanoes, frozen seas to deserts. Yes, that is right… DESERTS! The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was recorded in Antarctica (-129.3ºF). Winds are commonly measured at up to 200 miles per hour. |
Billy Brown standing on a glacier in front of |
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Yet,
sitting in the midst of these frigid conditions on Ross Island are 4 volcanoes
with Mt. Erebus being an active volcano in Antarctica today.
Volcanic
eruptions, seismic activity, huge volcanic bombs and lakes of red hot molten
lava exist in the coldest place on Earth. Oh yeah, did I mention that this
volcano is surrounded by glaciers, most extending all the way to the edge of the
island? Currently, an unnamed volcano has been discovered buried under the
quickly melting ice sheets. Your mission:
You are going to experience the most exciting journey
on the web. When you have completed your journey, you will write a
letter to your principal to persuade him/her that a field trip to
Antarctica would be either the best or worst field trip ever. After you have
visited all 7 tourist attractions below you decide if it would be the
best or worst field trip then write your letter! You are to take
notes as you go. You will need your notebook (paper) and a pencil.
Enjoy your journey! |
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1 |
Social Studies |
Where in the world is Antarctica? |
To start your journey, visit National Geographic's
Antarctica
Interactive, collapse the map key and hover over each symbol
on the map of Antarctica. You can click on the movie symbols for clips
of Antarctica life. |
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2 |
Language Arts & Math |
Why would we visit Mt. Erebus Volcano? |
Visit the
Antarctica Volcano website to scroll down to the section "Fire
and Ice". On a piece of notebook paper use every bulleted fact
to rewrite these facts as notes for your letter. You will need to
convert the facts expressed in meters to feet. To convert meters to feet
multiply the metric number (meters) by 3.28 because 1 meter= 3.28 feet.
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3 |
Practical Living |
What would we wear? |
Hypothermia can kill a human! To protect from "freezing to death" in Antarctica, there is special clothing just to combat the severe cold. Browse this Modern Clothing of Antarctica website and view the video (if possible) to see what should be worn in Antarctica. It is possible to starve to death regardless of the food intake. Find out why more food intake is necessary in Antarctica.
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4 |
Science |
Why are there volcanoes on Antarctica? What type of volcano is Mt. Erebus? |
Visit the Mt. Erebus Observatory website simply to view the slide show of the volcano. Also visit the Volcanoes of Antarctica web site to find out about the numerous volcanoes on Antarctica and especially what type of volcano is Mt. Erebus? |
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5 |
Social Studies |
Who owns Antarctica? |
No one owns Antarctica and there has never been a war
there. Find a picture of the flags of Antarctica to insert into your letter. Save it to your account now to use later. You may use Google Images to find the picture you like. |
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6 |
Current Event |
Why is this new volcano in Antarctica is in the news? |
Just a few months ago an unnamed volcano was discovered buried and melting the huge ice sheets. Read this report to find out more! FOX NEWS |
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7 |
Let's Visit the Penguins! |
What is special about Penguin locomotion? |
Now that our volcano journey is over, let's visit some old furry friends before we leave! We can't leave Antarctica without visiting the penguins. Is it any wonder that penguins starred in "Walk of the Penguins" or "Happy Feet"? Their movement is particularly interesting. Browse through Penguins in Antarctica and note the many facts about their movement (locomotion). |
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Congratulations! Now you have completed your journey. Write a letter to your principal to persuade him/her why a field trip to Antarctica would be either the best or worst field trip ever. Include points from your notes taken during your visit to all 7 tourist attractions above. Your letter will be scored based on the Analytical Scoring Guide that you use in Language Arts class. |
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If you do not finish this in one sitting, please continue in your classroom with permission from your teacher.