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Back in August 2024, Rhianna Davies-Smith, Director at Wicked Weather Watch (https://wickedweatherwatch.org.uk/) and myself submitted an application to the Geographical Association Initiatives Fund (GAIF) in an attempt to secure some funding to facilitate another virtual event for Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers, particularly those located in smaller, more rural schools throughout the UK. We conducted a similar event in December 2023 with Hilde Fålun Strøm, an Arctic Explorer and Citizen Scientist and representative from Hearts in the Ice (HITI), which was over-subscribed, so we hoped to give those schools that missed out last time an opportunity to participate. This year, it was proposed to link up with Hanna Yevchun, a female polar ecologist based at the National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine, who has studied Antarctic biodiversity, its distribution and conservation, as well as assessing the impact of tourism on ecosystems within this spectacular, yet fragile environment.
On board with the three presenters today (namely myself, Rhianna and Hanna) were around 450 Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers from 11 schools across the UK. As part of the welcome and introduction, I utilised Digimap for Schools to develop a spot of locational knowledge. I projected a map of the UK and Europe and identified where we were all located.
Next, I shared the learning objectives and format of the session.
Since we had a lot to get through and only an hour and a half, we went straight over to Hanna to hear about her first-hand experiences of Antarctica. She talked for around 30 minutes about her adventures on Antarctica and showcased audio-visual footage that she had gathered on her travels too. The children (and teachers) were mesmerised.
At various points, Hanna also posed questions to the audience to encourage a degree of interactivity.
Moreover, she shared some questions that she is frequently asked and her usual responses.
Afterwards, we put Hanna in the hot seat and posed further questions to her from the youngsters . Hanna rose to the challenge enthusiastically and answered all their questions confidently and comprehensively. Both Rhianna and I learnt a few new things too! For instance, did you know that there are only two plants to be found on Antarctica beyond lichens and mosses? (the ‘Green Antarctica’). We also did not realise just how noisy penguins can be; they might be clumsy on land, but they are amazing swimmers. We were surprised to discover that currently 100 000 tourists visit Antarctica annually and this is set to increase; somewhat worrying for such a fragile environment.
Now, it was the turn of pupils to be in the hot seat! Rhianna posed a number of open-ended questions to them to encourage higher-order thinking, which also referenced a continuum line to instigate some movement within their classrooms. They had many formidable responses, clearly showing that they had listened intently to Hanna, but also been prompted to do some deeper thinking.
We concluded with the following activity.
Pupils were invited to come to the front and share what they had learnt this morning, as well as actions they might take to reduce their carbon footprint. Some of their proposed actions might be discussed wiith members of their School Council or Eco-Schools teams, perhaps? Youngsters were encouraged to act as role models for their school and the wider community. It was reiterated that small, local actions can have a global impact. As Hanna stated at the end of her talk, ‘We are all in this together‘.
Meanwhile, teachers were requested to complete an online form to enable us to capture staff and pupil voice.
Some of their ‘concluding comments‘ can be viewed below:
Many thanks – this was just brilliant! (Isbourne Valley School)
Thank you very much! We’ve had a fantastic time! (Woodchurch C of E Primary School)
It was interesting to see your experiences in Antarctica and think about how to be more sustainable (Simmondley Primary School)
Fascinating to learn about experiences beyond the classroom that most will struggle to experience. It was great to hear from ecologists/scientists that have experienced it first-hand. (Isbourne Valley School)
Just a big thanks for making this available for us. (Isbourne Valley School)
Very interesting and we have learnt how to keep Antartica safe. (Eastergate C of E Primary School)
Interesting, Informative and fun. (Woodchurch C of E Primary School)
Really informative for our topic. (Bassingham Primary School)
Interesting and fun gaining knowledge for our new topic ‘Frozen Kingdoms’. It was great to hear first-hand knowledge from someone who has actually been there. (Meadowbank Primary School)
Thank you for a lovely morning. (Meadowbank Primary School)
We are learning about the Frozen Kingdoms and this event helped us with our learning journey. It is an amazing opportuinty to hear first-hand about those experiences Hanna had. Thank you!! (Broadwater Down Primary School)
Thank you for all the cool facts. Keep warm! We hope to hear about your next expedition. (Broadwater Down Primary School)
Some of our favourite quotes/aspects from the morning:
What surprised you the most?
- That there were plants there; that the bones from the whale were so big and that whales could live in the cold water. (Simmondley Primary School)
- That Hanna travelled on the Drake Passage. (Bishop Chavasse School)
- How green the Antarctic can be! (Meadowbank Primary School)
- That you couldn’t take anything away with you; that there were plants living there; that Shackleton was there for a year and a half; the whale skeleton and that it took 15-45 minutes to freeze in the water! (Isbourne Valley School)
Would you like to explore the poles?
- Yes from all. (Broadwater Down Primary School)
- 8 say yes; 9 say no. (Rodmersham Primary School)
Why is polar exploration important?
- So that the natural world can be explored and we can learn about things we don’t know about. Then, once we know what’s there we can help protect it. (Isbourne Valley School)
- So that we can be aware of our planet. (Broadwater Down Primary School)
- So that we can study it ensuring we help it to survive. (Meadowbank Primary School)
Should tourists be allowed to visit the poles when they are such fragile environments?
- “That’s my favourite question! More than 100 000 tourists visit Antarctica every year.” (Hanna Yevchun)
- It’s a big no from our class. (Isbourne Valley School)
- They could damage it beyond repair, but also yes because we need to explore. Maybe supervised. (Simmondley Primary School)
Many thanks to Hanna for giving up her time today, especially after only just returning from Chile, and to the Geographical Association for allowing us to offer this opportunity to several schools who would not usually be able to justify the cost of taking part in a virtual multi-school event due to their small numbers and limited budgets. You have made many teachers and children very happy today!
A recording of the event has now been published on Wicked Weather Watch’s YouTube account https://youtu.be/PyJsC93kX_E?si=jAmnG1saTORpLdOf and is also available to view in their teaching resources hub: https://wickedweatherwatch.org.uk/teaching-resources/