ANTARCTICA : Technology Q & A
Children's questions and answers:
Q. Why did you choose to go to Antarctica?
Q. What is your job in Antarctica?
Q. How many people are at Casey Station now?
Q. What is the weather like at the moment?
Q. What protective clothing would people need to go outside? A. Long underwear, waterproof trousers and coat, gloves, balaclava, goggles, crampons.
Q. How do you dry your clothes?
Q. What time does the sun set?
Q. What time does the sun rise?
Q. What is the time?
Q. What type of food do you eat?
Q. How do you get fresh water?
Q. What type of bed do you sleep in?
Q. What type of plants grow in Antarctica?
Q. What different breeds of penguins are there near Casey Base?
Q. Why don't penguins melt the ice beneath them?
Q. What is the penguin population (approximately) for all of Antarctica?
Q. Are there seals near Casey Base?
Q. What do you do with your rubbish?
Q. If you don't use Huskies now, how do you travel?
Q. If people get sick, what medicine can you give them?
Upon return, the questions and answers were published in a large column format that was suitable for making mobiles. The text was glued on to 2cm thick, 20 cm squares of blue plastic sponge for making into mobiles. The reverse side was for illustrations about the Antarctic. Children chose images from the exhibition and the videos they had seen. For example: Antarctic maps, penguins, whales, seals, snow vehicles, the Red Shed etc.
A. I am from Queensland and I had never seen snow or ice. I thought Antarctica would be an interesting change.
A. I am a mechanic and I keep the generators going to provide electricity for the base.
A. 16, 4 of them are women, one is a doctor. Other occupations include ecologist, biologist, botanist, meteorologist, chef, engineer, mechanic, journalist, photographer, station leader.
A. Cloudy and windy.
A. We have washing machines, and driers and a heated room.
A. Close to 3:00 pm.
A. 9:00 am.
A. About 11.30 am. (We were speaking at 1.30 pm. Casey is in the same time zone as Perth, 2 hours behind Ballarat.)
A. Almost every food that you eat, except McDonalds.
A. There are melt lakes with tanks behind the base.
A. A single bed.
A. Lichen, moss and algae.
A. Emperor and Adelie penguins. There are seventeen species of penguins in Antarctic waters.
A. The ice is too cold.
A. Too many to count. I hope to go to the rookery near Casey.
A. Yes, Elephant seals and Weddell seals.
A. It is all taken back to Australia,
A. Ice bike, snow buggy, 4 wheel drive snow vehicle.
A. Doctors give almost any sort of medicine.
Created : 12 September
1996