When Reckless and Anchor found out they were going to Antarctica, they thought they might meet some polar bears there. But polar bears don’t live in Antarctica because it is just too cold and windy for any big land animals to survive there. In fact, the largest animals that live in Antarctica are insects called mites, midges, lice and springtails. Can you help Reckless and Anchor understand why Antarctica is the coldest place on earth?
Antarctica: the Coldest Continent
One of the reasons why Antarctica is always cold is because the Sun is always low in the sky there. When the Sun is low in the sky, its rays have to heat more atmosphere and a greater area of ground than when the Sun is high in the sky. This is also why it is always hot in the tropics and why winter is colder than summer.
Photograph courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey
What do you think it feels like to be outside in the cold of Antarctica for many days?
Classroom Activity: Antarctica – the Coldest Continent
Place a thermometer for 3 minutes in the following conditions:
- a cup of hot water
- outside your classroom
- inside a fridge
- inside a freezer
Which temperature will be the highest or the lowest?
Look at our temperature guide and plot where you 4 temperature readings fit in. How do your temperature readings compare with the temperatures in Antarctica?
Temperature Guide
| 37º C | Normal human body temperature. |
| 35º C | If a person’s body temperature drops to this - they will have hypothermia. A person will feel cold, look cold, shivering. |
| 25º C | A warm sunny day in Britain. |
| 0º C | The freezing point of fresh water and the average summer temperature at the North Pole. |
| -2º C | The point at which sea water freezes. |
| -10º C | A very cold winter’s day in Britain. |
| -20º C | Food in your freezer needs to be kept at approximately this temperature. If you stepped outside in this sort of temperature, the moisture in your nose will begin to freeze. |
| -35º C | An average winter temperature in the Arctic. Even with special protective clothing on, humans would find this temperature unpleasant. Exposed skin would begin to freeze if you didn’t move around much at this temperature. |
| -45º C | A cold winter’s day on coastal Antarctica – which is not as cold as the central and higher parts. Walking outside becomes dangerous at this sort of temperature and exposed skin will freeze very quickly and frostbite, an extremely dangerous condition can set in. |
| -60º C | The average winter temperature at the South Pole. Most people would find it unbearable to be outside in this sort of temperature – would you? |
| -70º C | The lowest temperature recorded in the Arctic, at Nord Station, Greenland. |
| -89.6º C | The lowest temperature ever recorded in the world, taken at Vostok Research Station in Antarctica. How cold is this cold? If you threw boiling water into the air it would freeze immediately. |
Antarctica – the Windiest Continent
Another problem about Antarctica’s freezing temperatures is the wind as it has the strongest winds in the world!
When the wind blows we feel cooler because the wind helps to remove heat from our bodies. The stronger the wind, the more quickly a person will loose heat. This is called wind chill and the wind chill effect is how cold you feel because of the temperature and wind.
Antarctica has strong winds called katabatic winds. The centre of Antarctica is higher than the coast and what happens to a ball when it is rolled down a hill (it moves faster and faster) the same thing happens to the wind in Antarctica. It starts at the top of Antarctica (in the centre or interior) and moves faster and faster until it reaches the bottom (the coast). These winds can be as fast as 320km/h and create conditions that are too horrible to move around in.
Classroom Activities: Antarctica – the Windiest Continent
- Write stories and illustrate the ways in which we know there is wind. Think of leaves, dust, balloons, smoke, clouds, trees, yachts etc.
- See if you can find out the highest wind speed, which has been recorded where you live. Compare this with the wind speeds recorded in Antarctica.
- Prepare a display on Antarctica for your classroom. Draw lots of pictures, which would best educate others about Antarctica’s extreme weather. Some of the ideas you might want to convey are walking in strong wind, ice scenes, penguins walking on ice, a portrait of a famous explorer, HMS Endurance in Antarctica etc. On a separate piece of paper explain your choices.
|
