Antarctica

Geography - Antarctica Icy continent at the South Pole. Covered by permafrost (permanently frozen ground) Surrounded by water About 1 1/2 times larger than the United States Some consider Antarctica the world's largest desert 98% of the land is covered with ice Has about 87% of the world's ice.

Climate – Antarctica One of the coldest, windiest, and driest place on Earth. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at the South Pole; it reached -128.6°F ! On average, most of Antarctica gets less than 2 inches of snow fall each year.

Why do you think that Antarctica is so much colder than the Arctic?

With 98% of its area covered with snow and ice, the Antarctic continent reflects most of the sun's light rather than absorbing it. During the winter, the size of Antarctica doubles as the surrounding sea water freezes, effectively blocking heat transfer from the warmer surrounding ocean. Antarctica has a higher average elevation than any other continent on Earth which results in even colder temperatures.

ICE Antarctica (along with Greenland) contains about 99% of freshwater ice on Earth. Antarctic Ice Sheet extends almost 14 million square miles (Roughly the same area of Mexico and U.S. combined) Thickest ice is 15,000 feet thick. That’s about 5,000 feet in a mile. Ice Sheets are extremely important to the earths geography. If they melted then sea level could rise almost 200 feet.

People - Antarctica No permanent human residents (because of the extreme weather, which includes freezing temperatures, strong winds, and blizzards). There are about 4,000 seasonal visitors to Antarctica (mainly scientific expeditions).

Q: What did the sea say to the iceberg ?

A: Nothing, it just waved.

Q: What do penguins eat for lunch?

A: Ice burg-ers.

Q: Who's the penguin's favorite Aunt?

A: Aunt-arctica

Research Project on Penguins

17 species of penguins – You get TWO Adelie African Chinstrap Emperor Erect Crested Fairy Fjordland Crested Galapagos Gentoo Humboldt King Macaroni Magellanic Rockhopper Royal Snares Island Yellow Eyed

Here’s what you will learn . . . Physical description Diet Habitat Other interesting features

Line up … let’s pick penguins to research.