The South Pole and the Antarctic
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use a range of geographical sources to describe Antarctica and its extreme weather and climate.
Key learning points
- The Antarctic Circle is an imagined circle around the South Pole that surrounds the area known as the Antarctic.
- Antarctica is a large region, surrounded by the Southern Ocean, and is the coldest and windiest continent on Earth.
- Some of Antarctica’s Ice Cap is more than four kilometres thick.
- Antarctica can double in size by the end of the Antarctic winter as the sea ice around the continent increases.
Keywords
Antarctic Circle - An imaginary line around the earth which surrounds the southern polar region known as the Antarctic
Ice cap - A large, permanent covering of ice on land
Climate - The average weather conditions, e.g. rainfall, hours of sunshine and winds, over at least 30 years
Common misconception
Antarctica is a country.
Antarctica is a continent.
Teacher tip
You can make use of a globe to show how conditions change in Antarctica during summer and winter to help with understanding.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Where is the South Pole located?
Q2.What is the Earth's axis?
Q3.What is solar energy?
Q4.Why does the Antarctic have periods of the year when the sun never sets?
Q5.What is a hemisphere?
Q6.Which ocean surrounds Antarctica?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the Antarctic circle?
Q2.What is Antartica?
Q3.Where is the coldest windiest place on earth?
Q4.What is an ice cap?
Q5.When is Antarctica's summer?
Q6.Antartica can double in size in the winter
To help you plan your 2 geography lesson on: The South Pole and the Antarctic, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 geography lesson on: The South Pole and the Antarctic, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 geography lessons from the Cold places: what is it like at the North and South Poles? unit, dive into the full primary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.