In this lesson students will construct a rough map of Antarctic ecosystems and explore relationships among the creatures that populate them. [Note: This lesson can be adapted to focus on other regions, including the one in which you live.]

Geography, environmental studies, science

Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface"

Two hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Globe
• Blank Xpeditions outline map of Antarctica
• Crayons or markers
• Several pieces of blue poster board
• Scissors
• Glue

Students will

• locate Antarctica on a globe and on a map;
• describe and illustrate major Antarctic ecosystems; and
• explain relationships between those ecosystems.

Locate the continent of Antarctica on the globe. Ask students to tell you what they already know about it and what they don't yet know but would like to learn. List this information on the blackboard.

Discuss the definition of "desert"—an arid region which receives annual rainfall of 10 inches (25 centimeters) or less.

Define the term ecosystem—a system formed by the interaction of living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live. Discuss the sorts of plants and animals that are adapted to survive in deserts, and how they might function with their environment as a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Point out on a map the continent of Antarctica. Ask students to test the definition of a desert on this continent. What makes this desert different from the Sahara in Africa?

Present the following information about Antarctica to your students:

• Antarctica is land that is mostly covered by ice. Ice extends into the ocean around much of Antarctica.
• As early as 350 B.C., the Greek scholar Aristotle believed that there were two landmasses at Earth's North and South Poles. The word arctic was derived from the Greek word arkticos, or bear. Antarctica signifies the place opposite the Arctic.
• Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on Earth. Antarctica is a desert. Most of the ice that covers Antarctica has been there for thousands of years.
• Antarctica was first sighted in 1820 by explorer Fabian von Bollinghausen, who never set foot on the continent but observed it from his ship. It became a locus for seal hunters, who found a bounty of animal life in the icy waters at its margins, as well as on the Antarctic ice.
• Nineteenth-century sailors hunted the whales which—along with fish, plankton, and other marine life—lived in Antarctic waters. Sailors spotted seals and penguins along the edge of the ice. Shipwrecked sailors and, later, scientists, found moss and fungi along the coast. Inland they found lice, mites, springtails, and wingless flies. (Your class might enjoy discussing flies that can't fly!)

On the blackboard, list organisms mentioned in your discussion of Antarctica. Students should consult a dictionary or encyclopedia to research unfamiliar organisms. Have students group plants, animals, and fungi into the three environments they inhabit: (1) the waters near the continent, (2) the land proper, and (3) sea ice offshore. Are some organisms found in more than one of these settings?

Divide your class into several student teams. Ask each team to cut out a blank Xpeditions outline map of Antarctica and glue it onto a piece of blue poster board. Ask the teams to identify and label the surrounding Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Next, have student teams use a green crayon or marker to color the edge of Antarctica where moss, lichens, and algae are found. These organisms are often covered by snow and ice, though several species grow within and on top of the ice.

Ask some students on each team to write the names of organisms that live in Antarctic waters on the blue poster board surrounding the continent. Have the students draw pictures of the creatures based on illustrations in books or on the Internet, on site's such as National Geographic's SeaLab—Antarctica. Finally, have the remaining students do the same for organisms found within Antarctica's interior.

As a class, review the different ecosystems and review the interactions within and among them.

Have the student teams present their maps to the class. Make sure they describe their maps in detail. Ask them questions, such as:

• Why did you place specific creatures in certain ecosystems?
• Why might they be better suited to live in these ecosystems, rather than in other ones?
• Why do different life forms need different environments?
• What are some relationships among the creatures within each ecosystem? (Example: Whales eat plankton and sometimes fish.)
• What are some relationships connecting Antarctica's different ecosystems? (Penguins hunt in water but need land on which to bear young. For both food, and warmth, land-loving lice and mites attach themselves to swimming species like penguins or seals.)

Student-made maps should be representative of Antarctica and should show the distribution and basic composition of that continent's ecosystems.

Carry out a similar exercise with a different ecosystem. In good weather, your class could explore a nearby creek or marsh. Make a list of the various organisms living in different parts of that ecosystem. Invite a local wildlife educator to lead students in their exploration.

Dany Ray of Washington Middle School in Cairo, Georgia, contributed classroom ideas for Standard 8.

National Geographic: Geography Action! 2003Habitats
National Geographic: SeaLabAntarctica
World Wildlife Fund