Polar Adventure: Read All About It!

Social Studies Activity

Real-life adventures are fun to read and write about. Several ongoing adventures have reports posted on the Internet. In this activity students follow an adventure and then chronicle it by writing a newspaper article or making a time line.

WHAT YOU NEED

• Time online for your students
• Paper and pencils
• Rolls of paper

WHAT TO DO

1. Introduce the assignment: Students will investigate reports of an adventure on an Internet site and then write a newspaper article or make a time line summarizing the adventure.

2. Divide the class into small groups. Each group should investigate either the Arctic or the Antarctic, using the World Wide Web sites given below. Students should make notes and/or print screens and images. One of these sites records the exploits of a group that has traveled on dog sleds near the North Pole. The other site is the gateway to information about Antarctica. If some students investigate each site the entire class may then compare and contrast what they have learned from the two sites.

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   The Journey North
   The Journey North is operated by DeweyWeb at the University of Michigan School of Education. It includes several areas of interest to students. One, the International Arctic Project, involves expeditions to the Arctic. You can find great reports from the expeditions in the International Arctic Project pages. http://ics.soe.umich.edu.

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   Gateway to Antarctica
   Gateway to Antarctica is operated by the International Centre for Antarctic Information and Research. ICAIR is located at the International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand. The Gateway is a great place to launch research into any area of interest regarding Antarctica. Students may especially enjoy April Lloyd's Antarctic Adventures, located in the Education section.

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3. Give students time to explore these or other Web sites. Guide the groups in discussions to decide the form their report will take. Students may need to familiarize themselves with the available information before making a final decision.

4. Have students write articles, make time lines, or use another format agreed upon by the class. If your students have access to word processing or page makeup software, encourage them to save images from the Web sites to incorporate in their reports.

5. Display the reports on a bulletin board or assemble them into a class album. Lead a class discussion about the similarities and differences between the Arctic and Antarctica.