We were very impressed by the size of the station, not to mention all the clever ways it has been built to survive in such extreme conditions! Jonny was very interesting and fun to listen to, providing us with a fabulous understanding for the building and design of the station. He even managed to squeeze a virtual tour to see the different rooms in action. (And the fresh supply of fruit that had landed there that day!)
Then in March we had a very special visitor. Helen Turton, who has visited both poles on many occasions came in to talk to us about her experiences as a polar explorer. This included how to prepare for/what it's like to be on a polar expedition and to work in the Polar Regions. She also gave us an assembly teaching us all about the differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic. The children had some great questions such as who Helen's favourite polar explorer was, what work she did while she was in the poles and which was her favourite to visit! During the trip Helen even let the children get dressed up in all the equipment needed to survive (a lot!) during her expeditions which was a definite treat.
Following on from both of these amazing experiences, we have been busy putting into place all the fabulous things we have learned. Working in groups, we have taken on board the advice from Jonny to design and build our own polar research. We also had a go at creating a tourist brochure for expeditions to our station by considering the experiences Helen shared with us.
A big thank you to both Helen and Jonny for their visit and talks!! It was very 'cool'!
Miss Downs
