New
New
Year 2

Living in the Antarctic

I can explain what the Antarctic Treaty is and can explain some reasons why people go to Antarctica

New
New
Year 2

Living in the Antarctic

I can explain what the Antarctic Treaty is and can explain some reasons why people go to Antarctica

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Due to its inaccessibility, the continent of Antarctica has only been visited and explored over the past 250 years.
  2. People first went to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica hunting for whales, then explorers raced to the South Pole.
  3. The Antarctic Treaty is there to protect the continent and states no one country can claim it as its own.
  4. There is no permanent population in Antarctica but scientists and tourists visit the continent.

Keywords

  • Whaling - Whaling is the hunting of whales for oil and meat

  • Antarctic Treaty - The Antarctic Treaty is a set of rules signed by 54 countries to protect Antarctica

  • Tourism - Tourism means people travelling to a different place from where they live for a holiday

  • Research - Work done to collect information in an organised way in order to increase understanding about a topic is known as research

Common misconception

Antarctica has its own government.

Antarctica is protected by the Antarctic Treaty.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

6 Questions

Q1.
What continent is Antarctica closest to?
Oceania
Asia
Correct answer: South America
Q2.
How many countries are there in Antarctica?
Correct answer: 0
1
3
Q3.
What is tourism?
People moving somewhere else to live
Correct answer: People going on holiday or visiting an area for a short time
People changing jobs
Q4.
Where is the coldest and windiest place on earth?
Arctic
Mount Everest
Correct answer: Antarctica
Greenland
Q5.
When is the Antarctic summer?
Correct answer: November - March
May - Spetember
all year round
never
Q6.
Which type of penguin can survive the Antarctic winter?
Correct answer: Chinstrap Penguin
Emperor Penguin
No penguins stay for the winter

6 Questions

Q1.
When did people first start to visit Antarctica?
Over 1 million years ago
1,000 years ago
500 years ago
Correct answer: 250 years ago
the last 10 years
Q2.
Why did the first people visit Antarctica?
research
mining
Correct answer: whaling
tourism
Q3.
Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
Robert Falcon Scott
Correct answer: Roald Amundsun
Edmund Hillary
Neil Armstrong
Q4.
Which of these is not a reason why people visit Antarctica today?
Correct answer: To live there permanently
Research
Tourism
Q5.
What is the Antarctic Treaty?
Correct answer: An agreement made between different countries to protect Antarctica
A festival to celebrate Antarctica
The government of Antarctica
Q6.
Which of these is not a rule of the Antarctic Treaty?
Protecting the plants and animals
No wars allowed
no mining for gas and oil
Correct answer: All animals are allowed to come onto the continent