In Society
The Society is delighted to have received funding from the Flotilla Foundation to build on our work as educational partner for the Weddell Sea Expedition, which took place in early 2019. This new, one-year project, aims to expand pupil engagement with Antarctica’s marine environment and physical geography, and the need for its protection and conservation.
The Weddell Sea Expedition set off on a 45-day voyage in January 2019 to explore one of the least studied places on the planet. The expedition investigated the Larson C Ice Shelf, began to document the little studied marine life of the western Weddell Sea ecosystem, and attempted to locate the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance which sank in 1915 – unfortunately they did not find it.
In our previous work with the Weddell Sea Expedition, we shared the scientific findings of the voyage through a range of freely available resources including posters, podcasts, videos, animations and case studies on topics from the geography of the Weddell Sea and ice shelf processes in Antarctica, to life above and below the sea ice and what life is like on board a polar research ship. The resources connected schools in more than 50 countries with the Weddell Sea Expedition and were shortlisted for The Education Resources Awards.
Our new educational programme will further develop our work on bringing the most recent research and data on Antarctica into the classroom for 30,000 primary and secondary schools across the UK. The resources produced, which will also complement the Discovering Antarctica website, will be suitable for young people from primary school age through to sixth formers and will support elements of the geography curriculum, ensuring pupils are more informed about Antarctica and understand its global importance.
The new resources will be developed in collaboration with Weddell Sea Expedition scientists and will explore key themes including marine biology, glaciology, oceanography, marine protected areas, and how Antarctic environments are
managed and protected through the Antarctic Treaty. They will include a series of engaging video blogs, animations and podcasts, as well as a virtual digital sticker book for pupils featuring iconic graphics and selected facts on Antarctica. The programme will also support teachers in becoming better informed about Antarctica and how to implement the resources in the classroom through a series of CPD workshops. Alongside this, an A1 poster will be sent to every school in the UK. We will also be developing international partnerships, for example with the South African National Geography Olympiad to introduce an Antarctic theme to their annual competition.
Finally, we will be providing opportunities for students to understand how Antarctica is governed through the creation of an online ‘model’ Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. This will be available for teachers to download so that they can run these activities with their pupils in geography lessons. We will host these, and other similar activities, at the Society in London.
You can find out more about the Weddell Sea Expedition and our resources on our website: www.rgs.org/wse