Download Destination Antarctica Study Buddy

Destination Antarctica Study Buddy
I can describe the basic needs of living things in the Antarctic.
Animals in the harsh Antarctic region must be able to keep their bodies warm,
camouflage themselves from predators and must have some adaptation for moving on ice
and swimming through extremely cold waters.
I can describe the main characteristics that define habitats in the Antarctic.
During Antarctica’s winter, the temperatures can dip to -80 degrees F! During winter, it
is completely dark for 4 months. In summer, it is completely daylight for 4 months.
Many Antarctic animals actually live in the ocean. The layer of ice on Antarctica is over
1 mile deep near the center of the continent.
I can describe special adaptations of living things in Antarctica.
An adaptation is anything that helps an animal survive!
Example—Emperor Penguin
behavior-taking turns being on the outside of the huddle.
body-Outside covering of its body helps it move on ice and through the water.
Blubber helps them stay warm AND not starve through the winter.
The claws on the penguins’ feet help them move on ice and snow.
I can describe a food chain that occurs in Antarctica.
The Players:
Sun-Producers (plants): phytoplankton
Consumers--Low life: krill (tiny shrimp-like creatures),
jellyfish, fish, squid
Birds-albatross, penguins
Seals
Whales-humpback, blue, killer
Examples: *Sun-phytoplankton-krill-fish-penguin-leopard seal—killer whale
*Sun-phytoplankton-krill-humpback whale
I can explain how the Antarctic region is changing because of man's actions and what
may happen as a result. Polar ice-caps are reducing in average size. The result is
possible coastline flooding and weather changes.
I can describe characteristics of each of the planets in our solar system.
Mercury—smallest and closest to the sun
Venus—the hottest, referred to as Earth’s twin
Earth—the blue planet—only planet with liquid water
Mars—the red planet—last of the inner, rocky planets
Jupiter—the largest—the first of the gas giants (outer planets)—located outside of the
asteroid belt
Saturn—2nd largest—has beautiful rings made of ice, dust and rocks
Uranus—rotates on its side
Neptune—named after the Roman god of the sea, it is blue in color with a “Great Dark
Spot”
*Note—Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet since it is even smaller than Earth’s
moon.
I can describe how magnetism is affects the Earth.
-tells us where we are on Earth.
-helps us communicate.
-it is used in machines.
-Earth's magnetic field shields us from the sun's radiation.
-helps animals migrate.
I can explain why the positions of the Earth, moon, sun and stars change over time.
Because the Earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the Earth, our views of the night sky
change in their positions change over time. Stars also change in position over time
because the Milky Way galaxy is also rotating!
I can describe the current locations of the Earth, moon and sun using relative
positioning. Relative positioning describes the location of an object related to the
position of another object. (This is different from absolute positioning, which uses
degrees of latitude and longitude.)
--The sun is at the center of our solar system.
--Our solar system is on a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
--Earth is the third planet orbiting the sun.
--The moon orbits the Earth.
I can describe why planet Earth is so unique and special.
-Earth is the perfect distance from the sun to sustain life.
-It has oxygen.
-It has water in liquid form.
I can explain why life on Earth is dependent on the Sun.
-The sun gives us heat and light.
-Its light reflects off of the moon, which gives us some light at night.
-The sun is the beginning of every food chain on Earth.
I can explain how knowing how light travels and interacts with different materials can
help me in everyday situations.
-Light bends when it hits transparent things. This is refraction. It
happens because the light changes its speed when it hits a different type of matter. Light
reflects off of white, and black absorbs light and heat. Knowing these facts can help me
choose appropriate clothing. Photographers must have an excellent understanding of how
light behaves in order to produce nice photos.
I can explain the sun's movement based on my observations of changing shadows. -The sun rises in the east.
--The sun sets in the west.
--At 12:00 noon, if you stand facing your shadow, then turn in the opposite direction, you
are facing north.
I can explain why the moon appears differently in the sky over the course of a month.
--We can only see the part of the moon that is reflecting the sun's light. Because the
moon orbits the Earth, the part of the moon that reflects light from the sun changes as the
month progresses.
I can explain the seeming behavior of stars based on what I know about how light
travels. Stars seem to twinkle in the night sky (planets do NOT twinkle) because they are
very far away and each star we see is in a different stage of the life cycle of the star with
differing amounts of brightness.
I can explain how we know the positions of the planets in their orbits.
-Scientists have observed the planets for years and years.
-They wrote down what they saw.
-Galileo improved the telescope, which helps us see things far away.
-They did math to figure out the orbits of the planets.
Study and return on the day of the test (approximately
Tuesday, January 29, pending weather) for 5 bonus
points. Please don’t try to turn in before that time—
you need your Study Buddy to…STUDY!
I have helped my child study the information on this
Study Buddy.
______________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature