Some places are hot and some are very cold. Lets have a look at the coldest place on earth. It is called Antarctica
Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, but a lot of the ice is melting because of global warming and this has a huge influence on the area and the animal life that we find there.
- Can you remember what is the meaning of 'global warming?' Have a look at the video and write a few sentences on what you know about this.
Only very little rain falls in Antarctica and that is why it can be called a desert. An ice desert.
There are also very strong winds blowing here and the average temperature is about -50 degrees Celsius . This is way colder than your freezer.
Why is Antarctica such a cold place?
- Some parts of the winter it will be dark for 24 hours at a time, which means not a lot of sunlight reaches Antarctica.
- Because of all the ice, most of the sunlight is reflected (send back) into outer space.
- The cold air cannot hold so much 'water vapor' (water in gas form) as the hot air, so it does not rain a lot.
Antarctica is covered with ice and at some place the ice can be as thick as 2.5 km
At some places you will see the top of mountains stick out above the 'ice sleet' and we call it 'Nunataks'. Have a look at the video to see what nunataks are.
You are going to watch a video to learn more about glaciers. Listen carefully and then answer the questions
- What is another name for 'glaciers'?
- In which country will you not find glaciers in the mountains?
- How will a glacier form?
- Why will the glacier move?
- Do they move slow or fast?
- Why can we say that glaciers 'are powerful'?
- Name a few ways in which the glaciers can shape the environment.
- What is 'erosion'?
We find a few kinds of animals in Antarctica like different types of seals and penguins and whales and birds called albatrosses. These animals have adapted that they can survive in this very cold climate.
- What does it mean if animals are adapted to the cold climate?
- Have a look at the beautiful photos of some of the animal life in Antarctica https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/photos/antarctic-animals/
- Choose one animal that interests you and find extra information on it.