Children's Section

Things have been hectic with midterms and papers and such - I haven't had as much time for blogging as I'd like. Also - I've been working on my two big projects:

*The ASOC history, which is almost done (I'm just gathering stories from campaigners and organizing things), and

*The children's section - my new (and probably last) project.

Here are some fun facts I've gathered as I've worked to put together an educational packet:

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. It has a land area of 14.4 million sq. km (5.4 million sq. miles) – about 10% of the earth’s land surface. The continent is as big as the U.S. and Mexico combined.

The ice sheet covering the continent actually doubles the continent’s surface. Without the ice sheet, the Antarctica would actually be the smallest continent.

98% of Antarctica is covered by ice and snow. Only a few high mountain peaks and a few bare rocky areas are visible. This ice averages at least 1 mile thick, with some places being as much as 4 miles thick.

The ice covering Antarctica is very heavy. The weight of the ice cap causes the ice to spread outward and slide toward the coast at a rate of 660 ft./year.

The coldest natural temperature ever was -89.2 ˚C (-128.6˚F), recorded at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. This temperature is colder than the surface of Mars!

Antarctica is divided by the Transantarctic mountains. This mountain range crosses the entire continent and divides it into East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The Eastern part of Antarctica is colder than the Western part because of its higher elevation (thicker ice).

Antarctica is the windiest place on earth. On the coast, katabatic winds (winds that carry high density air from a high elevation down a slope under the force of gravity) can blow up to 200 miles an hour.

Antarctica is considered a desert because it gets so little precipitation. Annual precipitation is estimated at only 200 mm (8 inches).

During the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere, daylight in Antarctica lasts 6 months. The South Pole faces the sun for half of the year because of the tilt of the earth’s axis. During the winter, though, the continent is in the dark.

FASCINATING!

Also - check out ASOC's webpage! Claire recently revamped the whole thing and it looks AWESOME!