With my P7 class our first topic this year was all about the North Pole and the South Pole.
We used the second version of the fabulous Nintendo Wii game Endless Ocean 2: Blue World (Adventures of the Deep in the UK) as a stimulus and thread to the entire unit.
We did all sorts of activities as we journeyed to the ends of the earth and I wanted to share what a polar exploration unit might look like.
Ecosystem Study
Who’s Eating Who – The Mystery of the Disappearance of the Krill examines the food web in Antarctica by setting a fabulous mystery based investigation into the disappearance of the krill. The suspects are all identified and you get to learn more about all of the different animals in the Antarctic food chain, establishing that there are way more that just penguins in the Antarctic (although they are the prime suspects…)
The class was split into groups and each had to investigate how their group of animals (Flying Squad, Mr. Bigs, Slippery Characters, Feather Fiends, and the Low Life!) was part of an interconnected ecosystem underpinned by Krill.
We created a giant food web we related back to all the time as we studied Antarctica.
Explorers
From the earliest explorers to modern day expeditions, the students were fascinated by Arctic and Antarctic explorers.
We looked at many firsts. In a Today’s Meet chat room students posted two interesting firsts in the race to the poles, whether it was first to get to the pole on a motorcycle, first woman, first person with dyslexia, they enjoyed finding all sorts of creative ways people have made it to the north or south pole. After they had posted two way they started to find videos and pictures and started to share these as well. The lesson took on a life of it’s own as students found everything from stories of daring rescues at research stations in Antarctica to videos of cute penguins!
We spent a lot of time looking at Ernest Shackleton and his failed attempt to traverse Antarctica, and the amazing story of survival on Elephant Island, and the journey by boat and trek across South Georgia Island to the whaling station. It is a story of leadership, perseverance, and what a human is really capable of. The images from the journey are worth a look. They had a photographer on the expedition and the story of survival was captured with great detail. The students on the left are organizing a timeline of the events of the Shackleton expedition – from leaving the UK, to being stuck in the ice, to fleeing to Elephant Island, to the daring journey to South Georgia, they did well! There is a great series of videos on youtube about the 1911 Endurance expedition.
@Mr_McLaughlin shared a great video about the race to the South Pole on the 100th anniversary of the Amundson expedition – the entire reason I choose this topic this year
Being a Canadian we also had a look at the Franklin expedition – a doomed attempt at sailing the Northwest Passage. The students enjoyed learning about the failures just as much as the successes!
One of my favourite ways of learning about an ecosystem and biome is to use Survivorman. He’s Canadian Les Stroud and he goes and lives with no support (or cameraman – take that Bear Grylls) for seven days. He had a fabulous Arctic episode where he lived way up on Baffin Island, was stalked by Polar Bears, ate seal blubber, and attempted to build a iglu (it didn’t go well!) We watched it and used Today’s Meet again to backchannel and share – more information on backchanneling during videos here!
Harry’s Arctic Explorers provided a modern look at Arctic exploration. The BBC aired the program about four war veterans, with various serious injuries and their journey to the north pole. We watched it looking at the equipment and gear needed to survive in such a place, to look at the landscape, and to see the struggles of dealing with injury. It was a nice tie into our second topic, World War II.
Science– Ice is fun! We have more planned as review exercises, but we looked at melting points, what can speed up melting, buoyancy, and properties of fresh and salt water.
Most of our time in the area of science was looking at Global Warming and the impact on polar regions. We looked An Inconvenient Truth, the Google Earth layer showing the impact of ocean levels rising.
We are going to be doing more with science aspects in our term 3 topic, Science Fair as a way to revisit concepts and tie them into scientific investigation. @LiteracyDave shared a great idea to create invention or idea to help the environment – to be presented Dragons Den style. We are going to make it part of our Science topic.
Art – We really enjoyed using the images of creatures from the Endless Ocean game to create our own murals. We have windows on both sides of our room, so one side was the Arctic , and the other the Antarctic. I loved this particular window with polar bear stalking a seal and an Orca and a Narwhal below! It made the entire classroom glow blue when the sun was out – very calming! The students included the northern (and southern) lights, animals and landscapes.
It really stood out and brightened up the school!
Frozen Planet
BBC put together an amazing series on the North and South pole which was the original inspiration behind the topic itself. We watch all episodes in different pieces, some was assigned for homework, and some we watched together just because it was so amazing. The Freeze frame sections at the end of each episode were especially interesting as the students really got a chance to see the work which went into such a masterpiece.
Seven amazing episodes covering seasonal changes, exploration, and climate change – I can’t say enough about how fabulous it is and the timing was – perfect!
People
We were looking at contrasts between the North and South Pole and found the presence of permanent residents of the Arctic region being a major difference.
We studied the Inuit people using Journey to Kitigaaryuk It was especially good as it was about a visitor from the UK to the Arctic and contrasted now with the past. An interactive story – excellent literacy ties.
This resource compares and contrast the Inuit with the Haida.
Endless Ocean
The game itself provided great learning opportunities.
You start in the South Pacific – we went for a swim there to get used to the controls and to set up the contrast. The South Pacific is full of large plants, coral, and brightly coloured creatures. When we got to the North Pole we saw a stark contrast in the colours of the creatures. It was a grey, white, and blue world in the north.
You have to play through the various locations to unlock the next spot. The first is the South Pacific where you meet a humpback whale and tango with a tiger shark. Then it is off to the Mediterranean to explore Ancient Greek ships and temples. I played through this part without the students for the sake of time, but you find Octopus and Great White Sharks!
Next you are off to Japan to an aquarium to talk to a Marine Scientist about ocean research – quite cool. Then it is off to observe polar bears in the North of Canada.
We found seals, narwhals, walruses, and even a Greenland Shark! We swam about finding all sorts of creatures. You can go up on to the ice to see polar bears, seals (even the cute white fluffy pups). This prompted discussion about the Seal Hunt in Canada – a great resource for learning more about it from CBC.
We recorded the length of all sorts of animals and set out into the school yard to measure them. We used meter sticks, trundle wheels, and our trusty GPS to mark out how large the animals we were discovering actually were. It was a great measurement and visualization exercise.
The Antarctic swim has five different types of penguins, a bird trying to steal penguin eggs, the cutest baby penguins ever, all sorts of fur seals, a southern right whale, and spectacled porpoises. You are on the hunt for a strange sound which turns out to be a trapped spectacled porpoise. You have to use a whistle to get an aggressive leopard seal to help break through the ice. Each area in the game has some sort of predator you have to watch out for.
After the polar swims you can also visit the Amazon (great freshwater/salt water contrasts) and the Red Sea.
Part of Endless Ocean is map which you uncover as you explore. As we explored the Arctic and the Antarctic we would draw the animals we found in our jotters. We used the map to record the coordinates of each animal to find them again.
Other Resources:
My three favourite sites which we explored thoroughly!
Discovering the Arctic – great for teacher ideas and students self guided exploration
Discovering the Antarctic – fabulous little interactive activities and a great overview of the all areas covered.
Beyond Polar Bears and Penguins
Some previous thoughts and a video of my class back in Canada playing with Endless Ocean.
And finally the Interdisciplinary Topic Plan – It’s based on the City of Edinburgh planning templates – it’s not perfect – but it’s a start! Jen Deyenberg – IDP – North&South Pole
ere is an example of a series of games recognizing that girls love to play video games as well and are aimed at girls.
Lure of the Labyrinth
