One of SCAR’s primary goals is “to communicate scientific information about the Antarctic region to the public.” Communication is essential in all aspects of SCAR’s work, to ensure that scientists, policymakers and decision makers understand the significance and value of SCAR’s activities and are willing to support them. SCAR also aims to inform the wider public about Antarctic issues.
As part of our efforts we are share educational resources to help scientists and educators communicate topics related to Antarctica. Many of these activities come from our scientific community and from our partner, Polar Educators International. If you have a resource you would like us to share, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Links to websites with educational resources can be found in Frequently Asked Questions.
Educational Resources
Art
From the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowships:
- 'Drawing South’: Timelapses of Antarctic drawings
- The Antarctic Art of Stephen Eastaugh (exhibition catalogue)
From the Natural History Museum:
- Wildlife Photographer of the year, filtered by location for Antarctica
Artist: K.A. Colorado
Books
General interest
English
- Alone in Antarctica, Felicity Aston
- Antarctic Atlas: New Maps and Graphics That Tell the Story of a Continent, P. T. Fretwell
- Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of the World's Most Mysterious Continent, Gabrielle Walker
- Antarctica: Earth’s own ice world, Michael Carroll, Rosaly Lopes (NSF fellows)
- Frozen- accompanies the David Attenborough BBC Frozen Planet documentary, Vanessa Berlowitz, Alastair Fothergill
- Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land, James McClintock
- Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton
- The Continent of Antarctica,Julian Dowdeswell, Michael Hambrey
Other languages
- El Viaje de Farfar, Jose Maria Sobral
Books for children:
- Antarctica Day resources from Our Spaces, including download link for Celebrating Antarctica, a book about the Antarctic Treaty for young audiences and available in multiple languages.
- Free downloadable children's books from JOIDES Resolution
- Shackleton’s Journey, William Grill
- Shipwreck at the bottom of the world, Jennifer Armstrong
- Sophie Scott goes South, Alison Lester
Documentaries
- Arte Mini-Doku “Antarktis - Die Begehrlichkeiten nehmen zu | Mit offenen Karten” (in German and French, mentions Cornelia Lüdecke’s Book “Germans in the Antarctic”. Available in German and French
- BBC Frozen Planet, available on BBC iPlayer
- BBC Planet Earth, Episode 6: Ice Worlds, available on BBC iPlayer
- Ice People: documentary about the Dry Valleys.
Other
- BAS polar webcams
- Ice Flows game about ice flow in the Antarctic & Greenland.
- Italian National Antarctic Museum 3D gallery
- The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust ‘Antarctica in Sight’ website contains videos, podcasts, and other resources along their three themes: Human endeavour: courage and exploration; Climate: scientific legacy; and Geopolitics: exploitation to preservation
- US National Science Foundation and US Antarctic Program Antarctic Animals trading cards and telescopes of the South Pole infographic
Podcasts and Audio
- A Voyage to Antarctica podcast
- Antarctic Report Podcast
- Antarctica, An Absent Presence: an annotated audio-journal of field recordings captured in Antarctica by sound artist Philip Samartzis (Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow). Available in Englishand French
- APECS Polar Times podcast
- Curiously Polar
- Jasveen Brar: Pushing for polar awareness, My Ocean podcast
- UK Antarctic Heritage Trust podcast: A Voyage to Antarctica
Tools for Educators
- Antarctic curriculum curated by the American Museum of Natural History
- Antarctic Glaciers is a leading educational website about glaciers and glaciation in Antarctica and beyond. It includes a number of educational resources for a range of ages
- Antarctic lessons plansfrom Miami University Department of Zoology
- Antarctic Glaciers StoryMap series targetting the Antarctic Biome curriculum (UK key stage 3/4, age 14+). There is an accompanying scheme of work for teachers for each storymap and an accompanying invited article in Teaching Geography. The StoryMaps were co-created with pedagogical and educational experts, and were supported by wide-ranging experts and scientfic consultants.
- Classroom Antarctica resources produced by the Australian Antarctic Division, with lessons plans aimed at grades 3 - 8.
- Classroom activities from JOIDES Resolution
- Glaciers Online, a collection of resources including on Antarctic geology, the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and Antarctic Peninsula. Glaciers online offers photos and summary explanations concerning glaciers from all over the world. Glaciers online is a joint project of Jürg Alean, Kantonschule Zürcher Unterland in Bülach, Switzerland, and Michael Hambrey, Centre for Glaciology at the Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom.
- How do we know what we know from ice coring?
- How does melting ice affect sea level? (Demo)
- Portuguese Polar Portal, with resources for educators and YouTube videos
- Resources from the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modelling Project, sponsored by the US National Science Foundation.
- Resources on comparing the Arctic and Antarctic
- The Guardian’s Antarctica news coverage
- UK Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) factsheets for educators
- UK Scott Polar Research Institute Learning Resources
- Which types of polar ice melt increase sea level?
- World Albatross Day resources
Videos
- A little story about climate change
- Antarctic science and history video series (Portuguese)
- Australian National Antarctic Programme YouTube channel
- BAS videos for children
- British Antarctic Survey YouTube Channel
- Cruise Cruise Baby (Life as a marine biologist)
- 'Icebergs Alive' animation showing Antarctic iceberg flux and provenance
- Polar Seas: Beneath the Ice
- The Arctic vs the Antarctic by Camille Seaman (on Ted-Ed)
- What if all the ice melted on Earth? (Arctic focus)