AntARTica: creative polar science education

• Main Authors: Havermans, Charlotte, XIth SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) Biology Symposium
• Other Authors: Institut Royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique - Freshwater Biology, UCL - Autre
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Antarctic; Arctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; antartic*; Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2078/134249

Polar science education sessions were held in a Belgian school, for a class of secondary school students aged 13-14, during an entire school year (2012-2013). The aim of the project AntARTica was to increase young students’ awareness of the climate and marine life in polar regions, with a main focus on the Southern Ocean. During art classes, students have worked every month on a different theme, which was introduced using a PowerPoint presentation, containing appropriate visual material (pictures and short movies). First, students have been acquainted with several general notions about the Arctic and Antarctic as well as the differences between the two poles. Afterwards, the following themes were presented and discussed during different sessions: (i) the Antarctic Treaty (in the context of Antarctica Day), (ii) historical and present research expeditions (iii) the Antarctic megafauna, (iv) the Antarctic benthic ecosystem, (v) the potential impact of current and future environmental changes on Southern Ocean ecosystems (vi) how to make a difference yourself (e.g. reducing energy consumption). After each presentation, students have created an artwork related to these themes such as graphic arts, paintings, cartoons, ‘papier-mâché’ works, of which some examples will be shown on the poster. Since these sessions were organized in the relaxed atmosphere peculiar to art classes, the students had the possibility of being creative and of developing their own ideas, which made them feel very enthusiastic and captivated by the magic of the poles. In addition, the activities were advertised in a local newspaper and a web page will be set up soon in order to show the different works to the public. These activities were in collaboration with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) that, by outreach and education activities, wants to make the younger generations aware of the importance of polar regions, science and environmental changes.