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Ricky Explores Antarctica

Fuchs Foundation Antarctic

Expedition 2010

&

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Fellow 2010

Lisa Wood

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‘Inspiring teachers… changing lives’

One grey afternoon in October 2008 I was flicking through the internet looking for science resources to use in the classroom when I came across these words along with an advert : ‘The Fuchs Foundation is planning a second Antarctic expedition on which there are places for four science or geography teachers. You must be a full time teacher. Be prepared to undertake a science project in the harshest of conditions, temperatures down to -40 degrees. Be prepared to raise a five figure sum to contribute to the expedition’s costs. Write up your science project and produce teaching materials, all of which will be published on the web.’

Initially I was just intrigued, as a primary Science Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) in

Newham I was in the fortunate position of being able to work in different schools across

the borough to help develop teaching and learning in science. I was always on the look

out for new initiatives or resources that I could use to help children and teachers

engage more in purposeful primary science and I was in search of a ‘project’ –

something I could do to facilitate inspiring science in the classroom. The idea of

embarking on an expedition to Antarctica to carry out science research that would

impact upon learning back in the classroom was certainly a novel and exciting idea.

I had never heard of the Fuchs Foundation at this stage so after some short research I

discovered that the Foundation was named after Sir Vivian Fuchs who had led the

Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition from 1956-58 and was the first Director of

the British Antarctic Survey. The Foundation had been established in 1973 but in 2005

it was re-launched as an educational charity. It’s mission statement being:

"To organise expeditions of young teachers of science and geography to undertake

scientific expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic who will prepare teaching materials

based on their science projects and their experiences which will be of use to meet the

needs of the National Curriculum – these teaching materials to be available on the

Foundation’s web site for the use of all schools."

The first teachers’ expedition to Antarctica had taken place in 2007 and in 2009 another

expedition to cross the Greenland Ice caps was due to take place. In 2007 the

Antarctic expedition had been filmed by Teachers TV. The programmes were still

available to watch online so I watched them. The sheer remoteness and stunning

scenery of Antarctica was breathtaking and the opportunity the teachers had to inspire

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their students was immense. My mind was made up - this was an opportunity that I did

not want to miss out on.

Background to the Project

I was now faced with a problem – I needed a science project that I could use to support

my teaching of science back in the classroom which would be sufficiently ‘scientific’

enough to warrant an expedition to Antarctica. The teachers from both the 2007 and

2009 expeditions had all been either secondary or further education teachers and as a

result their science projects had been quite high level. As a primary school teacher

however I was concerned that if I went down a similar route the science would be too

difficult for children in primary schools to understand and the potential for inspiring

students to engage in science would be lost. In order for my expedition project to have

any impact upon the children I worked with I was conscious that it needed to be

purposeful and it needed to be accessible to children across the primary age range.

My project aim was to provide a purposeful, contextualised focus for science lessons,

as well as an opportunity for making creative links between science and other

curriculum subjects. As a result, the idea I developed was to take a puppet called

‘Ricky’ with me on my expedition. In 2007 I had worked with Millgate House Education

to trial and evaluate the use of puppets in classroom science as part of a project

‘Talking Science – Engaging Science’. This had been a great success and the use of

puppets in the classroom to engage children in science was becoming increasingly

widespread. My idea therefore was to build on this approach and develop an online

blog through which not just my school but schools around the country could interact

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with Ricky both before and during his expedition. In the run up to our expedition and

during it Ricky would experience a series of problems that would lend themselves to

scientific enquiry. These would provide the focus for classroom investigations carried

out by children e.g.

What will Ricky need to take/wear?

Does his clothing need to be waterproof?

Which material will keep him warmest?

Is it better to wear layers? Will colour of coat make a difference?

How will Ricky keep his cup of tea hot?

What food can he take and what will happen if it freezes?

Which material will be hardest wearing? etc

Once in the Antarctic different outfits/materials could be explored and investigated with

evidence and data collected, e.g. heat loss, water absorption, etc. This data would then

be placed on the blog for schools and science clubs to use and explore.

The project was designed to make explicit links to recent curriculum initiatives. Current

curriculum developments across the UK emphasised the value of contextualising

scientific enquiry in real life problems and of creating productive links between subjects

in the primary curriculum. The project therefore aimed to recognise the value of the

recent emphasis on ‘how science works’ and it drew on significant research carried out

in the PUPPETS Project (funded by the Nuffield Foundation) that shows how puppets

can be a powerful lever for promoting pupil talk and dialogic teaching.

Prior to Ricky’s expedition, additional funding was secured from the Astra Zeneca

Science Teaching Trust and a working party of 12 different schools became involved in

the project. Teachers across London worked collaboratively with both me and Millgate

House Education to identify possible areas for investigation with Ricky. The rationale

behind the funding was to use the project as a means of providing effective CPD for

teachers. CPD for the whole school workforce was an important aspect of the project

as it helped ensure that teachers and teaching assistants were able to provide effective

enquiry-based science lessons and maximise the opportunities for children to be

involved in the expedition.

Kaizen Primary School Prepares Ricky for his Adventure

By the start of the 2010/11 academic year, Ricky’s blog was up and running and Ricky

was in desperate need of some help. He had no idea about camping of any sort, let

alone camping in Antarctica and he had very little knowledge about the Antarctic

continent including where it is and how you get there. At the school I am working at,

Kaizen Primary, we took a whole school approach to the project where each class from

Nursery up to Year 6 carried out a range of investigations to support Ricky with his

preparations. Their investigating culminated with an Antarctic showcase where the

whole school shared their learning with Ricky and parents in an after school event. At

the same time, a number of other schools from across the world including Canada,

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France and Kenya began interacting with the blog and added to the investigations

already carried out at Kaizen.

The range of learning carried out across the year groups was staggering with a great

emphasis on cross-curricular learning. Children had carried out research on the history

of Antarctic exploration, written diary entries from Scott’s expedition, created maps of

Antarctica as part of their Geography and Art learning, investigated a range of materials

to help Ricky identify different types of equipment and clothing to take, painted in the

style of artist Phillip Hughes, explored how the cold affected reaction times and a whole

lot more!

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The open ended approach to the blog had meant that the children were able to lead

their own learning and tackle a range of activities that had a real purpose. There was a

genuine buzz of excitement across the school with classes turning their entire

classrooms into ‘Antarctica’ and linking all areas of the curriculum to this topic. When

the Year 6 children went on their residential trip to an outdoor education centre, Ricky

was taken along so that he could gain some essential camping experience. Before

Ricky had even made it to Antarctica, a significant amount of learning had taken place.

The next step of Ricky’s journey was to use all of this knowledge to brave Antarctica

and test it out in the field. His blog was all set to step up a gear so that he could be in

constant contact with schools around the world whilst he undertook his expedition.

The Expedition - Punta Arenas, Chile

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Our route to Antarctica was via Punta Arenas in Chile. This is South America’s

southernmost city and a popular gateway for trips to Antarctica either by cruise ship or

by plane. From Chile we would be flown by Antarctic Logistics Expeditions (ALE) into

the Chilean base camp at Union Glacier and from here we would then be heading off on

our expedition into the Ellsworth Mountains on skis – man hauling all of our equipment.

We were due to spend a week in Chile before heading off to Antarctica during which

time we would be preparing all of our food and equipment for the trip. This included

several trips to the nearby supermarkets and endless hours packaging daily ration

packs up into handy Ziploc bags in order to reduce the amount of weight we would be

pulling. The preparations were an incredibly important part of the whole expedition

experience and preparing several kilos of flapjacks was just one of the many tasks we

had to undertake as we took over the kitchen area of the Hostel Fitzroy in which we

were staying.

It was during our stay in Chile that we perhaps learnt one of our most valuable lessons

of polar travel – patience. Flights in and out of Antarctica are reliant on a number of

factors. Winds and snow conditions, the flight crew, the condition of the runway out at

Union Glacier and a whole bunch of other variables must align for the flight to take

place. Unfortunately for us the weather in Antarctica wasn’t playing ball and snow on

the runway at Union Glacier meant that we ended up spending three and a half weeks

in Punta Arenas before we were able to leave. We even made it all the way to the

airport one day only to be turned away at the last minute as ironically it was the winds in

Punta that were now messing things up.

As a result of the delay however, we were able to make the most of being in Patagonian

Chile and we managed to undertake trips to a nearby Penguin Colony and the Torres

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del Paine - both of which were stunning. It also gave us chance to get to know a

number of the ALE staff as we were all waiting for the first flight of the season and they

were stranded too.

Although we hadn’t made it to Antarctica yet, the blog was a great way of keeping in

touch with schools; highlighting just how difficult it can be to get to Antarctica. Schools

were still engaging with Ricky so it was clear to see that enthusiasm for the project was

ongoing despite our long delays.

Antarctica

We finally made it into Antarctica on 24th November 2010 – for approximately the next

month, this cold, windy, icy continent was to be our home. During our expedition into

the Ellsworth Mountains we would be travelling as a group of 6 and we would be

entirely self sufficient; camping in the field. At times we had to brave temperatures as

cold as – 36 ᵒC and we had to pull together as a team to ensure that our expedition was

a success. Our daily routine generally involved either pulling our sledges or exploring

minor peaks within the Ellsworth Mountains. Provided that the weather was clear, we

made sure that we were on the move as much as possible. Our days were filled with

day to day survival and Carl and Carolyn our guides were outstanding at ensuring we

stayed safe whilst making the most out of our visit. The scenery we were faced with on

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a daily basis was stunning and it was incredible to find ourselves in such a position of

isolation, so far removed from the everyday routines of life back in England. Our tents

became our refuge and it was amazing how quickly we adapted to our new way of life,

living in the moment and putting ourselves at the mercy of the Antarctic weather.

Evenings were generally spent carrying out our science projects and as each day

progressed Ricky encountered more and more problems – how was he going to get his

sledge to go up hill and how could he get to sleep when it was blowing a gale outside?

Schools across the world were continuing to engage with Ricky, some finding answers

to his questions and others coming up with questions of their own for Ricky to answer. It

just so happened that during our time in Antarctica, some of the coldest weather to date

hit Britain. This meant that children back at home were able to experiment first hand

with snow to try and solve some of Ricky’s problems. Through the power of the

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satellite phone it was possible to make links with the blog via e-mail. It was incredible

to think that in such a remote environment we could still have some contact (albeit

limited) with the outside world.

St Thomas’ School – helping Ricky by testing sledges in the snow

Personal Impact

Our visit to Antarctica was awe inspiring. It is truly a place like no other and although a

cliché, words really cannot describe it. To say this was a life-changing experience does

not do justice to how we all felt. Our journey had been incredible and the fact that we

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had all finally made it, even more so. It was the culmination of a lengthy and demanding

process which at times had been an uphill struggle. After two hard years of fitness

training, painstakingly planning our science projects and carrying out endless

fundraising projects to attain the £12,000 needed, we had finally made it.

When I look back now at my achievements, it seems incredible to think of how far I

have developed as a person. In the beginning I had little more than a desire to travel to

Antarctica - I had no idea for a project, very little practice of carrying out expeditions of

any sort and no previous fund raising experience. To have come from this to a place

whereby I had raised the funding required, developed an educational resource which

was being used at an international level and had successfully completed training which

meant that I was able to cope with the harsh everyday reality of life on an expedition, is

a huge accomplishment. My success at reaching my final goal has opened up a new

world of opportunity, helping me to realise that there is so much that can be achieved

through hard work and a determined attitude.

When I was in Antarctica it sometimes felt surreal to be standing in places where very

few other people have ever been and the enormity of what we had all achieved both

individually and collectively was sometimes overwhelming. For all of us this had been

an amazing opportunity and the chance of using this to inspire our students has been

an enormous privilege. Our expedition has provided us with valuable lessons in

leadership, team work, persistence, patience and hard work. Values which we all hope

to be able to pass on to the students we teach.

Follow up

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Our expedition was a huge success as was Ricky’s project. Responses on the web and

from children upon our return indicated that schools enjoyed the experience of being

involved in a real time polar expedition as it had provided them with a purpose for

communicating what they had learnt. In excess of 20 schools had been in constant

contact with Ricky throughout the expedition and one teacher from St. Francis’ Primary

School in Newham reported how her students were so excited about their learning they

rushed in every morning to see if Ricky had replied to them. The project had enabled

the whole school workforce to use the blog as a way to help children engage in

purposeful scientific enquiry. What had started out as a simple idea of using a puppet

to engage children with their learning in science had developed into something quite

significant. The high level of science investigations taking place in primary schools was

striking and the number of people who had expressed an interest in the project signified

that such an initiative could be used to appreciably enhance the teaching and learning

of science within the primary classroom.

By using the project not only as a way to inspire children with their learning in science

but also as a tool for CPD for teachers, the impact has been twofold. The outcomes of

the project will be sustained through the long term impact on teacher professional

development, which will lead to shifts in professional values, beliefs and practice in

teaching science to ensure that teaching is more dialogic. The web archive that has

now been created with all of Ricky’s blog will enable teachers not directly involved in the

project to gain access to the ideas and resources now the project has finished.

As for Ricky, he is now in the process of thinking ahead to the future. He is keen to use

the leadership skills he has learnt to plan future expeditions not just for him but also for

the children he works with so that they too can have a taste of life as an explorer.

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Dissemination

Dissemination to date:

Various press releases – see appendix.

Article in Science in Education Magazine.

Article in ASE primary Science Magazine.

Presentations to science co-ordinators at network meetings in Newham,

Hackney and Barking & Dagenham.

Presentations to primary science advisers at the Institute of Education.

Workshops at the ASE conference in both 2010 & 2011.

Workshops at ASE North East London Section events.

Primary Upd8 materials developed – see appendix.

Presentations to family, friends and colleagues.

Presentations at RGS

Teaching sessions including team teaching and presentations to children at

Kaizen Primary School.

Creation of cross curricular medium and short term plans linked to theme of

Antarctica.

Future plans:

Teachers’ talk back event at Cambridge University.

Workshops to be held at the National Space Centre, Leicester.

Feedback to AZSTT at Newham network meetings

Ricky’s blog to be archived so that the resource can continue to be used.

Articles to be written for Science in Education and Primary Science Review

magazines.

Presentation at Science AST conference – National Science Learning Centre,

York.

Identifying possible future projects for Ricky in conjunction with Astra Zeneca

Teaching Trust Primary Science College and Millgate House.

Presentations/workshops for schools across Newham.

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Sincere thanks go to the following without whom this adventure would not have

been possible:

All my family and friends who sponsored me and bought penguin cards – you know who

you are!

Association for Science Education (ASE)

Astra Zeneca Science Teaching Trust

Benda Keogh & Stuart Naylor (Millgate House Education)

Bull Precision Expeditions

Callie Oldershaw (Primary Upd8)

Des Dunne

Fairplay House

Fuchs Foundation

Kaizen Primary School

London Borough of Newham

London City Airport

Mill Asset Management

SGP

The FFAE team 2010: Roussel de Capra, Tim Miall, Lyndsay Hilton, Carolyn Bailey &

Carl Alvey

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

For further details of Ricky’s blog visit:

http://antarcticapuppet.primaryblogger.co.uk

For expedition diaries visit:

www.fuchsfoundation.org

For Primary Upd8 activities visit:

http://www.primaryupd8.org.uk/

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Appendix 1 – Primary Upd8 activities

Primary Upd8 activities (Ks2):

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Primary Upd8 Activities (Ks1):

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