Introducing the Antarctica StoryMap Series

This page includes a series of four Antarctica StoryMap Collections introducing Antarctica, launched as a complete collection in September 2021. They are suitable for UK key stage 3 to GCSE (age ~14 to 16).

The Antarctica StoryMap Series comprises 18 individual StoryMaps, arranged into four Antarctica StoryMap Collections, forming a comprehensive body of work that introduces the concept of Antarctica, it’s biome and wildlife, its climate and sea level rise potential, and people exploring, living and working in Antarctica.

• An Introduction to Antarctica
• Antarctic Wildlife
• People in Antarctica
• Antarctica and Climate Change.

Each single StoryMap is estimated to take around 1 hr (or 1 double lesson) to work through and complete, and each collection can stand alone or they can be used together to explore and understand the Antarctic biome.

Awards and Prizes

The team are delighted to announce that the Antarctica StoryMap Series was awarded a Silver Publishers’ Award by the Geographical Association!

This StoryMap collection has also been shortlisted for the 2022 ESRI Customer Success Awards under category 4: Community Engagement. Check it out here.

Free teaching resources

The Antarctica StoryMap Series is supported by a Scheme of Work for each StoryMap and a peer-reviewed article in Teaching Geography.

These four ESRI Antarctica StoryMap Collections are aimed at KS3 to KS4 students, and beginners who are interested in learning about Antarctica. They are supported by some introductory articles and were supported and developed in conjunction with pedagogical consultants and teachers. Please consult the Scheme of Work that accompanies each StoryMap Collection to see how they may fit into your teaching.

These Antarctica StoryMap Collections are a great resource for home or in-classroom learning, building on skills in GIS and mapping and data analysis. By completing the series of activities throughout the StoryMaps, and interacting with the resources, you will finish with a clear understanding about some of the key topics in Antarctica!

Other storymaps that might be of interest are highlighted here.

Date of Publication

The complete Antarctica StoryMap Series was launched on 20^th September 2021.

Individual Collections were launched as follows:

• Introduction to Antarctica: 15^th March 2021
• Wildlife in Antarctica: 15^th March 2021
• Climate change in Antarctica: 12^th July 2021
• People in Antarctica: 20^th September 2021

Funding and Contributors

These freely available resources were produced by an interdisciplinary team, including scientific experts (Bethan Davies, Huw Griffiths, Klaus Dodds, Peter Neff, Sam Royston, British Antarctic Survey, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, Michael Hambrey), technical experts from ESRI UK, and school teachers. They were produced by Laura Boyall and Jen Thornton, with help from Benjamin Samingpai and Chloe Trimmer. The project was funded by the Antarctic Science Bursary.

The Antarctica StoryMap Collections were funded by an educational bursary from Antarctic Science Ltd.

The StoryMaps were supported by the British Antarctic Survey, ESRI, Antarctic Heritage Trust, Royal Holloway University of London and Geography Southwest! We also thank numerous scientific advisors and contributors, who have helped to ensure that these resources are accurate, up to date, and unique.