YEAR 3 ANTARCTICA KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER

KEY VOCABULARY AND LOCATION – Antarctica is the southernmost continent FUN FACTS SPELLINGS on Earth located in the southern hemisphere and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. It covers a  Antarctica is the windiest Continent – a very large huge area, about 14 million square kilometres. place on Earth.  Temperatures have been landmass. recorded as low as -89.2 degrees C (-128 degrees F). Ernest Shackleton – A polar explorer  It is the world’s biggest desert. Expedition – a journey  Antarctica comes from the undertaken by a group of Greek word meaning people with a particular ‘opposite to the North’. purpose.

Ice sheet – a layer of ice PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Wildlife – Antarctica has low biodiversity covering a large piece of land (not many different species live there). Life  Antarctica is the 5th largest continent based on size. Glacier – a river or large mass mainly exists in milder coastal areas and the  No one lives there but scientists will stay there to conduct research. Antarctica Peninsula. Plant and animals of ice formed by packed-down  Antarctica has no countries. have had to adapt to survive. snow.  There are no major cities just scientific outposts. Desert – a region with very little  98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. Fauna- Elephant seal, rainfall  Antarctica is considered a desert because it experiences such little Antarctic Fur Seal, Blue whale, rain. Fin whale, Humpback whale Hemisphere – a half of the  Antarctica is quite mountainous. and Sperm whale are found in the oceans Earth divided by the equator  Antarctica is divided into three main parts: East Antarctica (the and coast surrounding Antarctica. Antarctica biggest part), West Antarctica and in between them the mountain is most famous for its penguins: the Climate – the average weather range called the Transantarctic Mountains. Chinstrap penguin, Adelie penguin, Emperor over a period of time  The South Pole is in East Antarctica. penguin, Gentoo penguin and Macaroni Ernest Shackleton penguin. Navigate - plan and direct the Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer. In 1914 course of a ship Shackleton took a team of men on an expedition to Antarctica on Flora – Most of Antarctica’s Mountainous – having many a ship called the Endurance as he wanted to be the first to pass plants are found on the through the South Pole via Antarctica. mountains Antarctic peninsula. These include: mosses, lichens and 2 flowing plants (hairgrass and pearlwort).