| Summary: | Antarctica is an interesting and relevant context for teaching New Zealand students about a wide range of topics. Subjects such as Science and Social Studies can easily be related to Antarctica, but links can also be made in many other areas of the curriculum. At the primary level, a holistic approach can be taken, where Antarctica is used as a context to cover many learning areas (Science, Social Studies, Art, English, Music etc). Students could focus on the lives of the early explorers, or present-day scientists who work in the field. Contexts such as this provide the opportunity for meaningful and exciting learning. At the secondary level, Antarctica can be included in teaching programmes in not only Science and Social Studies, but also in subjects such as Geography, Biology, Physics, History, Politics, English, Art, Music and many more (if you are creative!). A huge range of resources already exist for teachers who wish to include Antarctica in their teaching programmes. These include websites, books, TV series and films, exhibitions, competitions and many others. Teachers who have been lucky enough to visit Antarctica have produced whole units of work, across a range of subject areas. It is also possible to find Antarctic resources for individual lessons, rather than focussing an entire unit on Antarctica. The New Zealand curriculum (2007) provides the opportunity for teachers to choose relevant learning contexts for their students. Examples of how Antarctica could be integrated into teaching programmes for secondary Science and Social Studies (levels 4 and 5) are included in the tables on the next page.
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