To Antarctica
In this lesson activity, students use Google Street View to learn how a person in Kentucky actually gets to Antarctica. With Street View, students can explore world landmarks, discover natural wonders, and step inside locations such as museums with 360-degree images on Google Maps.
Let’s Meet the Penguins
In this activity, students establish background knowledge on one of Antarctica’s most beloved birds—penguins! First, students gather in front of the library’s LED T.V. to watch a short video titled “Penguins” by Encyclopedia Britannica. I then use the app, “Epic!” to read Super Cute! Baby Penguins which is displayed on the T.V. via Apple Airplay. Students pay close attention to the features that make penguins on unique. Next, students use what they learned from the video and story to label the parts of a penguin.
Pierre the Penguin: A True Story
To celebrate Pierre’s story, students craft their own penguins using construction paper, scissors, and glue. They are sure to include all the necessary features: flippers, feathers, bill, and web feet. Hands-on activities like this one generate excitement and motivate students to discover even more about penguins and their unique habitats.
Bringing Antarctica to Students through Collection Development
As I prepare to depart on my journey to Antarctica, I have also been preparing ways in which students can connect with this remote part of the world. My overarching goal for this expedition is to foster the development of engaging geography instruction within my elementary school. In order for students to understand and appreciate the physical characteristics of Antarctica as well as its unique wildlife, it is important that the school library selects appropriate resources that reflect these themes. As the school librarian, I am in charge of making purchases for the library. Materials selected for the library are meant to support and enrich the curriculum as well as the personal needs of students and faculty. The items are to encourage an appreciation for both informational and recreational reading, viewing, and listening. I have successfully added over 20 new fiction and nonfiction titles to our collection that relate to Antarctica.
Many of these books are of course about penguins. After all, what first, second, or third grader can resist learning interesting facts about these birds or reading a story where a penguin takes the lead? These resources will not only generate excitement about my voyage to Antarctica, they will be utilized during research and instructional projects once I return. My library’s acquisition of materials about Antarctica will bring forth countless opportunities for students to explore the world as well as come to realize the need for conservation so places like Antarctica can continue to thrive.
Click HERE to access a list of my library’s newly acquired Antarctica resources since I became a Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, destined for the “White Continent”.
Penguin Centers
Elementary students have a burning curiosity about the world, especially the amazingly cute penguins of Antarctica. To help students explore these flightless birds and their habitat, I prepared five centers that invited students to utilize resources in diverse formats.
Center 1: Computer
I created a PBS LearningMedia Lesson that prompted students to watch a Sesame Street video clip featuring penguins and where they live. After the video, students experienced penguins’ habitat by playing a game where they sled down and up icy slopes.
Center 2: Build a Habitat
To begin, students investigated Antarctica’s landforms and wildlife by reading, Antarctica by Rebecca Hirsch. Next, students used wooden blocks to create a model of Antarctica. Students made icebergs surrounded by ocean, they erected tall mountains, and they constructed large ice shelves.
Center 3: Audio Book
Picture books are an entertaining way to engage students in new content. At this center students read, One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo. In this story, Elliot visits an aquarium and discovers his dream pet: a penguin. So he decides to sneak one home in his backpack. Once home, Elliot and his new penguin pal dine on frozen anchovy pizzas, share Goldfish crackers, and skate on a mini ice rink in his room (created with a wading pool and hose)—all the while his father is blithely engaged with his atlas, maps, and charts and appears not to notice the goings-on. The misunderstandings between father and son are quite humorous.
Center 4: eBooks
Students explored penguins with two nonfiction titles, two picture eBooks, and a short video using the program, Epic! The Epic! app is the leading all-you-can-read eBook library for kids 12 and under offering unlimited access to over 10,000 high-quality children’s books. Best of all, Epic! is 100% free for elementary school teachers and librarians in the U.S. and Canada.
Center 5: Penguin Art
At this center, students selected the penguin design they wanted to create. Students watched a how-to video from Epic!, pausing along the way to complete the steps demonstrated by the artist. The results were magnificent!
Designing an Antarctic Flag
In honor of Antarctica Day (December 1) and my approaching expedition (December 17, 2016) students designed an Antarctic flag. The activity encouraged students to learn about Antarctica through art. Before creating their own flag designs, students analyzed their state’s flag as well as flags from countries around the globe.
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We discussed the essential characteristics of a flag: color, logo, design, layout, and meaning. As an added motivator, I informed students that the flags which best met the criteria (based on a student-created rubric) would be proudly displayed in Antarctica during my expedition. Students gave outstanding effort in designing and crafting a unique Antarctic flag. After much deliberation, I was able to narrow down the contenders to five. I believe that these student flags epitomize the splendor and wonder of Antarctica. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
A Journey to Antarctica in Photos
For the first classroom activity after my expedition to Antarctica, I wanted students to experience the White Continent in a hands-on way. Instead of presenting a whole class slideshow, I decided to have students explore the unique facets of Antarctica with photographs. I developed photos taken from my voyage that encompassed five major categories: ice, penguins, seals, whales, and seabirds.
The learning target for this lesson was “I CAN make observations using photographs to learn about Antarctica.” After discussing the learning target and reviewing key terms (observations and photographs), I began the lesson by modeling how to observe a picture for meaning.
I demonstrated how some observations are obvious (the mountains and snow), but I also emphasized how the details give us information. I did a think-aloud about the other ship in the picture as well as the dilapidated buildings on shore. This gave me the opportunity to discuss the whalers who worked in Antarctica decades ago and how today, people come to Antarctica mostly to explore or research.
Next, it was students’ turn to journey to Antarctica. Each group was given a marker. They spent about five minutes at each station examining the photos before writing observations on the handout. When students rotated to a different station, they first read the observations by the previous groups before making their own remarks.
Students became explorers by traveling to Antarctica through photographs. Students came to appreciate the diversity contained in Antarctica. Yes, the penguins are extraordinary, but there is much more. This grasp on the complexity and beauty of Antarctica will make for a nice segue into future classroom activities.
Infusing Research in Narrative Writing
During my expedition to Antarctica as a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, I struggled with the idea of how to translate the wonders of Antarctica with my students. Then all of a sudden it dawned on me—storytelling! Third grade writing classes had been studying the elements of narrative writing, so I decided story creations would be a great way for students to learn about Antarctica and the rest of the world. In this lesson, I share with you my instructional sequence, resources, and student work for a lesson where students use their research notes on wildlife and habitats to create a captivating narrative in the form of a puppet show, comic strip, or digital picture book using My Story app.
In students’ stories, a penguin (or another Antarctic animal) somehow leaves the Antarctica for a new continent. There, the penguin meets a new animal who helps the penguin return home. Students use print and digital resources from the library to seek information on their featured animals and habitats. Students apply their research notes to the narrative to make events and dialogue convincing. For example, stories reflect how the Antarctic creatures are able or unable to adapt to the conditions of the new location. Students develop a deep understanding of how an animal’s environment impacts its survival and why it is so important that we conserve natural habitats.
The lesson’s instructional format supports collaborative learning since students must work together to complete tasks and create a final narrative. Students are assigned cooperative group roles during the creation of their stories that match their strengths and preferences: Director, Screenwriter, or Crew Member. Each group role has specific duties and expectations that support the overall development of a narrative based on the research conducted in prior lessons.
During the lesson, students investigate map (National Geographic MapMaker Interactive) to understand the distances between continents as well as their respective physical characteristics. Exploration of Antarctica’s landforms and climate helps students develop accurate settings and plot events for their narratives. Students also measure Antarctic animals and compare them to other wildlife by marking their length on the floor of the library. My students were shocked to learn that a humpback whale wouldn’t even fit between the library walls. This activity is a great way to introduce elementary-aged students to the main regions of the world in terms of both their uniqueness and similarities.
This lesson was invaluable to my students’ utilization and mastery of information-seeking strategies and inquiry skills. The lesson promotes geographic literacy by embodying the following skills: critical thinking, problem solving, and team work—all of which are pillars of this project. Before the lesson, students were unaware that there were so many magnificent species living in Antarctica. The lesson’s instructional sequence incorporates Antarctic wildlife by having students create a story adaptation starring a penguin who gets separated from its home and ends up on a new continent. There, the story’s penguin meets a new animal as it attempts to adapt to the new environment and tries to return to Antarctica. The infusion of narrative writing in a captivating research project heightens student motivation, increases engagement, and makes learning authentic. Now students are able to associate wildlife, climate, and landforms with Antarctica; students can understand and read maps; and they appreciate the physical characteristics of regions from around the world. The inclusion of nonfiction resources to explore unknown places supports students’ ability to analyze information and draw conclusions.
Here is a sample student narrative created with the My Story iPad app.
CLICK HERE to access the lesson plan.
CLICK HERE to access the lesson's resources.
CLICK HERE to access sample student narratives.
