Marlo Garnsworthy's new children's book

You've probably seen lots of children's books in your time. They tend to feature characters who are anthropomorphised animals or other objects.
Marlo Garnsworthy's new book has quite a different lead character: an iceberg.

It's also been made to tie in with Polar research, and contains accurate explanations of ice formation and some cool words that you wouldn't normally find in a children's book.

It's available to download free of charge from the website in various formats.



It would go very well with the Ice Flows Game resources.

Description from the website
Inspired by Expedition 382, Iceberg Alley, Iceberg of Antarctica follows an iceberg’s formation and journey from snowfall, to ice stream grinding across the continent, to the iceberg’s calving, drifting, and eventual melting in the ocean. Through lyrical prose and watercolor illustrations, it explores what we can learn about melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from the debris icebergs leave behind.

Author and Illustrator, Marlo Garnsworthy, sailed as the Onboard Outreach Officer on Expedition 382: Iceberg Alley and Subantarctic Ice and Ocean Dynamics. Read Marlo’s blogs and view artwork from the expedition. Still interested in learning more about climate change, icebergs and Antarctica? You can find a list of expeditions, blogs, and classroom activities on the topic here: https://joidesresolution.org/climate-change-resources/

Check out our other free books and classroom resources here

The resource is one of many resources which have been developed aboard the ship Joides Resolution, which has its own multimedia website. The ship takes voyages of scientific exploration into the waters around Antarctica. At the time of blogging, the current expedition is exploring the Circumpolar current.

TedED - The daring and dangerous race to the South Pole

There's an associated lesson plan here.

This came just too late for my Polar unit.

The South Pole - 103 years ago today....

Camp 69. T. -22º at start. Night -21º. The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected. We have had a horrible day – add to our disappointment a head wind 4 to 5, with a temperature -22º, and companions labouring on with cold feet and hands.

We started at 7.30, none of us having slept much after the shock of our discovery. We followed the Norwegian sledge tracks for some way; as far as we make out there are only two men. In about three miles we passed two small cairns. Then the weather overcast, and the tracks being increasingly drifted up and obviously going too far to the west, we decided to make straight for the Pole according to our calculations. At 12.30 Evans had such cold hands we camped for lunch – an excellent ‘week-end one.’ We had marched 7.4 miles. Lat. sight gave 89º 53′ 37”. We started out and did 6 1/2 miles due south. To-night little Bowers is laying himself out to get sights in terrible difficult circumstances; the wind is blowing hard, T. -21º, and there is that curious damp, cold feeling in the air which chills one to the bone in no time. We have been descending again, I think, but there looks to be a rise ahead; otherwise there is very little that is different from the awful monotony of past days. Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. Well, it is something to have got here, and the wind may be our friend to-morrow. We have had a fat Polar hoosh in spite of our chagrin, and feel comfortable inside – added a small stick of chocolate and the queer taste of a cigarette brought by Wilson. Now for the run home and a desperate struggle. I wonder if we can do it.

Heading South

A couple of south Polar links today.
First of all, a free app on the island of South Georgia, developed by the University of Dundee

This is available to download from the App store. Has some nice panoramic images and other resources.

The second will happen tomorrow: the 17th of January: the centenary of the date when Robert Falcon Scott and his colleagues reached the South Pole...