GEOGRAPHY
"If it's about Earth's land, water, air, or living things-- particularly people-- it's geography. The word comes from the Greek "geo," which means "earth," and "graphy," which means "writing or description." Physical geographers study landforms, water, soil, climate, and the distribution of living things.

CLIMATE
"If you are suffering through a hot, humid summer day, blame the weather. But, if year after year, most summer days where you live are hot and humid, blame the climate. Climate refers to the average weather conditions in a region over a long period of time. For example, near the equator, some hot, steamy tropical rain forests are drenched by about 160 inches of rain per year-every year. . . . "

EXPLORERS
"Humans are exploring creatures. Some explorers have set sail across uncharted seas. Others have trekked across forbidding deserts or through dense jungles. Some have returned to tell their stories. Others have not. Some explorers are driven by the desire for wealth and fame. Others explore simply for the thrill of it. And still others explore to collect information about animals, plants, and people. . . "

ICE AGE
"Imagine you are living some 20,000 years ago. You are huddled in a dark cave, covered by reindeer or bison skins. As you peek out at the icy surroundings, you worry that you might have to share your shelter with a cave lion or cave bear. Your teeth chatter and your stomach growls, and you wonder when the hunters will return with meat. The only heat comes from the fire that burns day and night.. . . "

MAPS
"Tired of your day-to-day life? Looking for an escape? Why not browse through an atlas (a collection of maps). Maps can take you on flights of fancy all over the world-and even out of it. Of course, most people use maps to help them get from one place to another. But maps are also spurs to the imagination, suggesting where you could go, might go, will go-someday!"

GLACIERS
"In many parts of the world, spring means a welcome thaw after the bitter cold of winter. However, in other places, such as Antarctica, Greenland, and the peaks of high mountains, temperatures remain frigid all year long, 24/365. It is there, in the constantly cold lands, that glaciers are born."

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

• Antarctica: Journeys to the South Pole. By Walter Dean Myers, Scholastic Press, 2004.
• The Endurance: Shackleton's Perilous Expedition in Antartica. By Meredith Hooper, Abbeville Kids, 2001.
• My Season with Penguins : An Antarctic Journal (Robert F. Sibert Honor Books). By Sophie Webb, Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
• The Antarctic (Water Worlds). By Cheryl Hook, Chelsea House Publications, 2001.
• Discovering Antarctica's Land, People, and Wildlife (Continents of the World). By Amy Graham, Myreportlinks.com, 2004.

ADULT BOOKS

• Antarctic Journal : Four Months at the Bottom of the World. By Jennifer Owings Dewey, HarperCollins, 2001.
• Ann and Liv Cross Antarctica: Dream Come True. By Zoe Alderfer Ryan, Da Capo Press, 2003.
• Antarctica (Geography of the World). By Dana Meachen Rau, Child's World, 2003.

WEBSITES

• CIA Word Factbook - Antartica: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ay.html

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

• Antarctica at the Museum of Science (Boston, MA):
  www.secretsoftheice.org and www.mos.org