Topic: Arctic and Antarctic – the natural environment of polar regions

Target group

Elementary school students VIII

Core curriculum

XVIII. Geography of polar regions: natural environment; research; Polish researchers.

Students:

1) characterizes the location and natural environment of Antarctica and explains the need to preserve its status as defined by the Antarctic Treaty;

2) presents the objectives of research currently conducted in the Arctic and Antarctic and presents the achievements of Polish polar‑polar area researchers;

3) describes the living conditions at the polar research station.

General aim of education

The student will learn the natural environment of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• determine the geographical location and boundaries of the Arctic and Antarctic;

• indicate the relationship between the geographical location of the circumpolar areas and the features of the geographical environment;

• distinguish between organisms living in the Arctic and Antarctic;

• examples of changes occurring in the natural environment of the circumpolar areas;

• indicate the need to protect the natural environment of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• Physical map of the Arctic and Antarctic;

• geographical atlases;

• projector.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher starts classes from starting the Puzzle exercises on the interactive whiteboard. After arranging them, the students learn what the topic will be about the lesson.

• The teacher gives the goals of the lesson.

• The teacher runs the Google Earth program, asks the student for satellite images of Antarctica and the Arctic. Students indicate noticeable differences.

Realization

• Students search in the atlases of the Arctic and Antarctic, they indicate geographic objects that belong to them. They determine the geographical position.

• The teacher uses the online resources to read the daily Scott and Amundsen's first conquerors of the South Pole to illustrate the students' struggles and struggles in extreme conditions. Indicates photos from these trips.

• It divides students into four groups. It assigns two thematic areas, i.e. two groups will work on the same topic. Each group develops information using Poster. Students use Internet resources, an e‑textbook and a geographical atlas for their work. Group A and B - Arctic: climate, plant and animal world, legal situation, mineral resources, their exploitation and protection. Group C and D- Antarctica climate, plant and animal world, legal situation, mineral resources, their exploitation and protection. Each group discusses the information developed on the forum, uses the Internet to visualize the content.

• Students fill the interactive whiteboard with a crossword from the e‑textbook - Arctic Regions.

• Using the metaplan drawn on the board, the students consider the problem: Why are there changes in the natural environment of the circumpolar areas? According to this method, students answer the questions: How is it? How it should be? Why is not it like it should be? Conclusions. Discussion.

Summary

• To summarize the lesson, students perform interactive blackboard exercises in relation to the topic of the lesson.

• The teacher assesses the students' work, taking into account the contribution and their possibilities.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Arctic and Antarctic – the natural environment of polar regions

The Arctic and the Antarctic are the coldest places on Earth. The warmest month in the Arctic is July, when the average temperature in coastal areas is slightly above 0°C. In the interior of Greenland, however, it is always below 0°C and even in July temperature can drop to –20°C. In January, during the polar night, temperature in coastal areas drops to –30°C and in the central part of the Greenlandic ice sheet it can even reach –50°C.

The Antarctic is an even colder region. In January, which is the warmest month here, average air temperature in Antarctica does not get higher than 0°C. The coldest month is July, the middle of the polar night, when average monthly temperature drops to –40°C, –50°C. The lowest air temperature, not only in Antarctica, but on the planet in general, was recorded at Vostok Station (78°28’S, 106°48’E) on 21 July 1983: –89,2°C. Vostok Station is considered the Earth’s Pole of Cold.

What makes Antarctica different from other continents is the fact that its surface is covered by the largest continental ice sheet in the world, with average thickness of 2300 m and maximum thickness of up to 4776 m. Only 4% of the surface of Antarctica is free of ice. The Antarctic ice sheet is moving from the middle of the ice cap towards the coast at an average speed of 200 metres per year. Coastal waters are where ice shelves are formed. Ice shelves are fringed with ice barriers. Wave movement causes large parts of the shelves to break off and form enormous icebergs that can be up to several dozen kilometres wide. Only some parts of the coastline and mountain peaks are rocky and free of ice.

Natural conditions influence the flora and fauna of the polar regions. The few areas in the Arctic which are not covered by ice are covered by tundra. The most common plants found there include grasses, sedges, prostrate shrubs, lichens and mosses that can grow in permafrost. These areas are inhabited by large land mammals, such as the musk ox, the caribou or the polar bear, the great swimmer and hunter of the ocean. Arctic waters are inhabited by various species of seals and large numbers of birds that in summer nest on the ground, but feed in coastal waters. In Antarctica, there is no vegetation apart from a few species of lichen, moss and algae. Local fauna, however, is quite diverse. The largest group of animals are birds inhabiting the coastal areas, such as penguins (over a dozen species), skuas, petrels and cormorants. Coastal waters of Antarctica are home to many species of animals that feed on plankton, mainly krill. These are the great marine mammals: whales (also found in Arctic waters), four species of Antarctic seals, sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals. Seals are semiaquatic animals perfectly adapted to the conditions of their natural environment.