Exploring Antarctica: Let's Be Research Scientists
BBC Antarctica Lesson Collection
Learning Objectives
Students will:
• Identify why Antarctica is the least understood continent;
• Analyze BBC video clips and internet sources to gain deeper insights about Antarctic wildlife;
• Develop a research proposal that outlines what is known and what still should be studied in order to better understand a specific type of Antarctic wildlife.
Resources for This Lesson
In Strange Sea Creatures Thrive Under the Ice, narrator Sir David Attenborough takes us below the ice to see how life has diversified. Strange creatures, including nudibranchs, thrive there. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites that possess both male and female reproductive organs making mating a matter of finding any other nudibranch. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In The Sophisticated Feeding Technique of Humpback Whales, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores the Southern Ocean and the humpback whales that feed there. When Antarctica broke off from South America, it created swirling currents that sweep up nutrients from the bottom of the ocean, making it one of the richest waters on earth. In the summer, humpback whales come there to feast on shoals of krill, blowing curtains of bubbles and spiraling inwards to capture the swarm. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Weddell Seal Pups: Surviving Antarctica, narrator Sir David Attenborough reveals the challenges newborn seal pups face in one of the harshest environments on Earth. From enduring subzero temperatures and blizzards to entering the icy water for the first time, every decision impacts their survival. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
Take your students on a research journey to Antarctica! Explore what is known about the animal, identify gaps in scientific knowledge, and suggest future research areas.
In Strange Sea Creatures Thrive Under the Ice, narrator Sir David Attenborough takes us below the ice to see how life has diversified. Strange creatures, including nudibranchs, thrive there. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites that possess both male and female reproductive organs making mating a matter of finding any other nudibranch. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In The Sophisticated Feeding Technique of Humpback Whales, narrator Sir David Attenborough explores the Southern Ocean and the humpback whales that feed there. When Antarctica broke off from South America, it created swirling currents that sweep up nutrients from the bottom of the ocean, making it one of the richest waters on earth. In the summer, humpback whales come there to feast on shoals of krill, blowing curtains of bubbles and spiraling inwards to capture the swarm. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
In Weddell Seal Pups: Surviving Antarctica, narrator Sir David Attenborough reveals the challenges newborn seal pups face in one of the harshest environments on Earth. From enduring subzero temperatures and blizzards to entering the icy water for the first time, every decision impacts their survival. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, a series featuring remarkable animal behavior from all seven continents.
Take your students on a research journey to Antarctica! Explore what is known about the animal, identify gaps in scientific knowledge, and suggest future research areas.
Teaching the Lesson
Engage
1. Start the lesson by explaining your students they will watch a video clip from BBC’s Frozen Planet series about a scientific research station in Antarctica!
2. Before the video, share the 5Ws printable with your students and explain that they will fill out the 5W chart to stay focused and practice their observation skills as they watch the video.
3. Play the BBC video clip: Antarctic Research Station. After watching, ask your class to share their thoughts. Ask: “Why do you think Antarctica is referred to as The Last Frontier?”
4. Explain to your students that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, and harshest of all the continents. It has been called The Last Frontier because it is one of the least explored and studied places on Earth. The Antarctic Research Station is trying to change this!
Analyze
1. For this next activity, your students imagine they are research scientists traveling to the Antarctic Research Station to study wildlife and help the world better understand Antarctica!
2. Pass out the Antarctic activity sheets to your students and review the instructions. Make sure they understand that:
• Each student will choose a few videos about Antarctic wildlife that interest them.
• As they watch, they should use their activity sheets to summarize what they learn and think about what information might still be unknown.
• They will then use their notes to choose a research focus area!
Collaboration & Create
1. Students should choose two animals to study in greater detail.
○ Explain that they should use their exploratory notes from the BBC videos to begin summarizing what they already know.
○ Students can then use the library and the Internet to for further research on their animals in order to compile a list of known interesting facts, questions they still have, and what they propose scientists study next.
3. Extension Activity: Have your research scientists create posters with facts and images of their animals. Display their posters around a map of Antarctica in the classroom or in a school hallway for all to see and learn from!
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