Antarctica a lesson plan
It’s winter time in Antarctica and to demonstrate that we are leaving our blackout curtains closed for most of the day opening them only for a few hours around lunch and then closing them back up. Now I love my daylight so I can only tolerate this for a single day, if you don’t mind go for it longer. If you happen to visit Antarctica when it’s summer time you can try sleeping with the lights on.
Science
Icebergs! It is full on heat of the summer here so a little outside playtime with icecubes is just what my little tikes need. For this project you are going to need a bath tub, water table, or sink - something deep enough that your icebergs can fully float in. You’ll need some craft sticks, a pen, and cup as well. Using the pen make lines on the craft stick, we are doing it each centimeter. Once your craft sticks are marked place them into the cups and fill them with water and freeze overnight. Try to keep the stick towards the edge so you can see your marks. Fill your vessel with water and then pop in your “icebergs” have them kid observe how they float, lead them into noticing how much is above the water and how much is below, etc.
Art
Icecube chalk. You’ll need washable tempera paint, cornstarch, and ice cube trays. Mix 1 Tbs cornstarch with 1 cup cold water (this is just to make the chalk more opaque). Pour the mixture into the ice cube trays and then add the paint mixing until you get the color you want. Freeze overnight. Take you ice cubes outside on a hot afternoon and draw away on the hot concrete.Vocab
We are still working on memorizing the continents and oceans and spelling them so I’m taking it easy on our vocab this week.- Polar
- Iceberg
- Glacier
Video Resources
- March of the Penguins
- From Netflix:
- Antarctic edge 70 degrees south
- Antarctica a year on ice
- Encounters at the end of the world
