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 Ernest Shackleton – A polar degrees C (-128 degrees F). 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). .