1. Miss Hilton Antarctic Expedition 2010
In November this year, Miss Hilton is going on a Scientific expedition to the coldest, driest and most remote place on earth; Antarctica. 1

2. Location of Antarctica (the bottom…i.e. penguins but no polar bears!)

3. South Pole Ellsworth Mountains
She will be going to an area which has had very little exploration, called the Ellsworth mountains – she will be going places only a handful of people have ever been before (and possibly even some noone ever has!).

4. Information about Ellsworth Mountains
Coldest place on Earth: ºC recorded in 1983
Temperature at the Ellsworth Mountains in summer: -20 to -40ºC
Permanent inhabitants: ZERO
Average rainfall: 20cm per year- this makes it a desert!
Sunlight: 24hrs per day in summer
(none in winter!)
This means that her clothing has to be carefully selected for such conditions.

5. We will be dropped into the Ellsworth mountains by a small Twin Otter – just the 4 of us teachers and 2 guides (we’ll see noone else for at least a month). We will then travel around the Ellsworth mountains to carry out our science projects: cross country skiing, man-hauling our own sleds and setting up camp along the way. We’ll need to eat a lot of calories each day just to survive (4500 calories) – the last photo is two persons ration per day!
The Expedition

6. Science Project – nanoparticles!
A nanometre is 10-9m long
(that's m!)
Are new products containing nanoparticles really that good?
Nanoparticles are particles which are 1-100nm in diameter. A nm is 10-9 m of a metre. A nanometer is a th of the diameter of a human hair. A string of 3 atoms of a solid material has roughly the length of 1 nm.
Photo: An ant carries a one millimetre square microchip in its mandibles, illustrating the work that is being done in nanotechnology. Photo: Reuters
1) AIM: Determine the iron oxide content in the glaciers of the Ellsworth Mountains & determine if this could boost phytoplankton growth & hence slow global warming
2) Clothing…..this is what I need their help with!

7. Science Project – nanoparticles!
Task:
You have 5 minutes to come up with 5 properties the clothing must have to be effective in Antarctica
Put them in priority order & be ready to explain why to the rest of the class

8. Which is Best?
AIM: to design an experiment for Miss Hilton to test the effectiveness of different clothing in Antarctica
Synthetic fabrics have long been used as outdoor clothing as they are able to wick and repel moisture from the body, meaning the person remains dry and warm. They also resist wind which gives them added warmth. But the bad news is that they hold odour, even after multiple washes and are also poor insulators of heat. I am therefore going to trial two relatively new types of fabric in Antarctica, to see which stands up to this extreme test the best!
Merino wool - Icebreaker’s merino wool is made from sheep in New Zealand. Merino is supposed to be odour resistant and can apparently be worn multiple times without a wash. It claims to be soft, lightweight, non-itch, and keeps the body at its optimum temperature in all climates and conditions. Because of the natural anti-bacterial properties of merino, garments can be worn for days without washing.
These base layers are made of synthetic fabrics but contain nanoparticles of silver, which are supposed to kill any bacteria that gets into them from the skin. The bacteria is responsible for smell, so similar products claim to “never smell no matter how long you wear them!”.