Welcome to Antarctica

Overview

In this first lesson of Exploring Antarctica: A Class Adventure, students meet Antarctica as a cold, icy place and identify features they can see in photographs. They compare Antarctica’s weather and landscapes with familiar places in Aotearoa New Zealand, preparing to locate and explore Antarctica in the next lessons.

Learning intentions

• WALT describe Antarctica using geographical vocabulary and identify its key physical features.
• WALT compare Antarctica with Aotearoa New Zealand using observations from photographs and maps.

Success criteria

• I can identify and describe physical features of Antarctica, such as ice, snow, mountains and ocean.
• I can explain one similarity and one difference between Antarctica and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Curriculum links

• Geography — Describing places: global variation in landscapes: differences in the appearance of places around the world, including icy Antarctica and places in New Zealand.
• Geography — Describing places: physical and human features: describing physical features such as mountains, ocean, snow and ice.
• Geography — Location at different scales: global and national location: using simple keys, symbols or colours to recognise land and ocean features.
• Geography — Describing places: collecting observations of the local area’s geography and communicating ideas about places.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Cold-world hook. Open with the hook image of Antarctica and ask, “What do you notice? What might it feel like to stand there?” Students silently look, then share one observation with a partner. Invite children to use “I notice…” rather than guessing the name of every feature.

2. 4–9 min · Meet Antarctica. Use the Antarctica map and photo slides to show that Antarctica is a continent at the bottom of the world, surrounded by ocean and covered largely by ice. Explain that weather means what the air is like today, while climate means the usual weather of a place over a long time. Keep the explanation concrete: Antarctica is usually extremely cold, windy and snowy or icy; much of the ground is frozen. Students locate the ice, ocean, sky and land in the images using pointing and simple descriptive words.

3. 9–14 min · Compare climates. Show the Antarctica and New Zealand comparison slides. Discuss: “Which place looks colder? What clues tell us?” Introduce the idea that New Zealand also has cold days, snow in some mountains and icy places, but most of New Zealand is warmer and has more plants, grass and trees. Students complete a partner sentence orally: “Antarctica is ___, but New Zealand is ___.” Accept a range of accurate comparisons, including that both places have mountains, ocean and cold regions.

4. 14–23 min · Observe and represent. Distribute the Antarctica observation and simple-key worksheet. Model one example on the board: circle or label an icy feature, then colour a small key symbol for ice, ocean and land. Students work independently or with a partner to identify features in the photographs, colour the simple map using the key, and draw one feature they would expect to see in Antarctica. Circulate and ask, “What evidence can you see?” and “Is that a physical feature or something people have built?” There are very few permanent buildings and no towns like those found in New Zealand; avoid suggesting that Antarctica has no people at all.

5. 23–27 min · Share geographical ideas. Return to the discussion prompt slides and invite pairs to share one worksheet observation. Record a class comparison in two columns: “Antarctica” and “New Zealand”. Prompt students to include precise words such as ice sheet, glacier, snow, mountain, ocean, wind, cold, forest, beach, grass and rain. Clarify that photographs may show different parts of each place, so one image does not show everything about a country or continent.

6. 27–30 min · Plenary and check. Show the final recap and exit prompt. Each student completes the oral exit sentence: “Antarctica is special because ___; it is different from New Zealand because ___.” Select several students to respond, then ask the class to show thumbs up, sideways or down for each success criterion. Collect worksheets to identify children who can recognise features and make a comparison.

Resources

• the Antarctica introduction and comparison deck
• the Antarctica observation and simple-key worksheet
• World map or globe
• Board or chart paper and marker
• Coloured pencils or crayons
• Photograph sources showing Antarctic ice, snow, mountains, ocean and wildlife
• Optional word cards: ice, snow, glacier, mountain, ocean, wind, cold

Assessment

• Listen during partner talk for accurate observations and comparisons, noting students who need prompting to use geographical vocabulary.
• Check worksheets for recognition of ice, ocean and land, correct use of the key, and a relevant drawn or labelled feature.
• Use the final oral sentence to assess whether students can communicate one characteristic of Antarctica and one comparison with New Zealand.

Differentiation

• Provide picture-word cards, gestures and sentence starters: “I notice…”, “Antarctica has…”, and “New Zealand is… but Antarctica is…”.
• Pair students strategically and scribe children’s oral ideas where writing is a barrier. Allow drawing, pointing or speaking instead of completing every written response.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach cold, ice, snow, ocean, mountain with photographs and realia such as an ice cube; accept home-language discussion before sharing in English.
• Support sensory or attention needs with a clear visual sequence, a quiet viewing option and short movement breaks. Extend confident students by asking them to identify a similarity as well as two differences, or explain which visual clues support their thinking.