~ ANTARCTICA PRESENTATION ~

Kathryn Heaton was our special guest recently and what a treat it was to have her in the room. Georgia and Daniel met her at the Office and escorted her upstairs, Daniel lugging a huge duffle bag over his shoulder. Rob Williamson (Leith's dad) helped Kathryn set up her laptop while the children were at Recess. On entering the classroom, the students found assorted strange items of clothing on their chairs. This set the stage for a most interesting and excitement filled presentation.

Kathryn has journeyed to Antarctica twice to work in the field of water/waste treatment and came to share her images, thoughts and memories of this extraordinary place. The highlight undoubtedly was the race. Natasha had to put on all those layers of clothing, just like she would if she needed to go outside at Antarctic, while Daniel and Hayden tried to blow up the inflatable King Emperor Penguin before her.

It was a very close finish and boy, was Natasha hot!

AND WHAT DID THE CHILDREN LEARN?

You can collect hairs off a leopard seal using a long stick with sticky tape on the end- Isabelle

It takes about 11 minutes to get dressed warmly enough to go outdoors-Yolanda

Because it takes so long to dress and undress, getting up to go to the toilet would be a real pain-Natasha

I learnt the names of three Australian bases in Antarctica: Casey, Davis and Mawson-Kirsten

There are no polar bears in Antarctica-Charlie

Kathryn was on the News when she returned to WA. She talked about the work she did and what she thought about the place-Leith

Their food supplies have to last a year so they are trying to grow vegetables indoors so they always have some fresh-Maddi

The ice often cracks and breaks. These holes in the ice are called crevasses-Ebony

Killer whales can drown other whales-Nick

You have to wear warm, weatherproof clothing-Toby

Kathryn went outdoors while her hair was still wet after a shower. It froze and broke off-Melissa

Penguins only live at the South Pole, not the North-Brianna

You have to take everything you need with you, there are no shops in Antarctica-Kendall

Ice breakers can break through ice three metres thick-Tashina

In the summer, at 1 o'clock in the morning, it is still light-Georgia

Some sea birds have a wing span of four metres-Zac

I saw my first Minky Whale-Braeden

You have to wear warm clothes because if you don't, you might get frostbite-Leigh

A seal's fur is very soft-Leah

There are many different kinds of penguins in Antarctica-Kirsten

Ships are washed carefully so that they bring no diseases to Antarctica-Dan

Ice fish are found in the icy seas-Leighton

I didn't know that Elephant Seals were in Antarctica-Hayden

Leopard seals are the big danger in Antarctica, as polar bears are in the north-Jack

Mr Williamson played the slide show for Kathryn, then at the end, asked two hard questions to see who had been listening carefully. Aaron and Georgia were the two 'bright sparks' chosen.

Kieran and Leah were listening here:they were just inspecting how soft the fur on the seal was.

Georgia and Daniel then made a special presentation to Kathryn on behalf of the whole class, thanking her for coming in and sharing her knowledge with us. We gave her a poster that we had made earlier in the week. She loved it!

THANK YOU KATHRYN!