Antarctica – Stanfords Blog

Children’s Book of the Month: Maisie vs Antarctica

Our Children’s Book of the Month for October is Maisie vs Antarctica by Jack Jackman.

Adventure awaits the most daring of readers in this epic father-daughter expedition filled with thrills, spills and even a few supernatural chills.

Maisie thinks her dad is the most boring person in the world. For fun, he does origami (but only triangles) or jigsaw puzzles of a cloudless sky (yep, every piece is blue). But he also writes super cool sounding books like How To Wrestle a Crocodile and How to Diffuse a Bomb, even though he’s never actually done any of those things . . . or has he?

Antarctic Things

-by Daniella McCahey and Jean de Pomereu, authors of Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects

*Supplies and Homes Building Up at Little America,* by Robert Charles Haun, 1956.
Courtesy of the United States Navy History and Heritage Command, Washington DC, United States.

The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center in the United States operates a science outreach program. Teachers can, for free, request a box of rocks from Antarctica to use temporarily in their classes. They fill out a form and within weeks, a box of Antarctic specimens arrive. In general, these rocks are not special or valuable. It is filled with different types of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, along with some fossils and minerals, which are handy in a basic geology lesson. But to be honest, many of these samples are no different than sandstone or granite that they can find in their own yards. What makes these special is that they came from Antarctica. Children can hold a piece of Antarctica in their hands.

Antarc-TECH-a!

Karen Romano Young, author of our Children’s Book of the Month for May Antarctica: The Melting Continent describes some of the tech used in this far away part of the globe.

Going into “the field” — on adventures in nature — with scientists has introduced me to some of the incredible machines they’re using to find new data and make discoveries about Antarctica. Would you like to meet a small sampling?

Ran: Named for a sea witch in Norse mythology, the HUGIN underwater robot is remotely operated, so it can explore under ice where ships and divers can’t go. Swedish scientist Anna Wåhlin “deployed” it (puts it in the sea) to study the enormous Thwaites Glacier, the size of the UK.

Children’s Book of the Month: Antarctica

Our Children’s Book of the Month for May 2022 is Antarctica: The Melting Continent by Karen Romano Young, Angela Hsieh.

Antarctica – vast, cold and mysterious. This frozen continent is full of incredible stories. Here you can discover incredible wildlife, awe-inspiring landscapes and adventurous scientists and explorers.

Join author Karen Romano Young on a trip across Antarctica, hanging out with people and animals and learning about how this special place is changing, and what it means for our planet. Hang out with some of the coolest creatures on earth above and below the ice as you meet emperor penguins, killer whales and elephant seals. Explore some of the harshest landscapes on earth following in the footsteps of brave explorers. And learn about how scientists survive here today and what they do all day – from studying climate change to investigating ice cores to learn about the history – and future – of our planet.

Map of the Month: Antarctica and the Arctic BAS

We thought we’d end the year with something new, so from now on we will be having a Map of the Month. Stanfords Map of the Month for December 2021 is the British Antarctic Survey’s Antarctica and the Arctic double-sided folded map.

Here’s Laura Gerrish, GIS and Mapping Specialist at British Antarctic Survey to tell us a bit more about this map:

Across the Arctic Ocean photo gallery & win a Rab Kitbag

Huw Lewis Jones new book offers a fascinating insight into Wally Herbert’s Arctic adventure – PLUS there’s a chance to win a Rab Kitbag worth £90, for your own expedition! Continue reading Across the Arctic Ocean photo gallery & win a Rab Kitbag