Why Is Antarctica the Windiest Place on Earth?

This weeklong unit has students examine weather reports to learn for themselves how windy Antarctica can get, and what the contributing factors are. Throughout, they collect their findings in a portfolio. The comprehensive curriculum materials contain teacher tools, which include individually downloadable readings, detailed daily breakdowns of tasks, teacher strategies for using the activities, a portfolio grading sheet, a project rubric sheet, and additional readings. There are three activities in which students develop questions for further study, examine weather data collected at several Antarctic weather stations, and investigate the behavior of cold air. Question and answer interviews with two Antarctic researchers, a polar climatologist and a glacial geologist, who study different aspects of katabatic winds, provide more information, and a student handout that offers guidance for putting together portfolios and examples of creative final projects completes the package. Educational levels: High school, Middle school