Welcome to the LAST edition of "Continental Curiosity"! I hope most of you have enjoyed yourselves and this series over the past weeks. I would personally like to thank everyone who did read this, and whoever also gave me comments and encouragement through the weeks. This week is all about Antarctica! Let's learn about our last continent!
Interesting Fact:
Did you know?
The population of Antarctica consists of no permanent residents or any native population! Impressive! (In some way)
The population in Antarctica is various in many ways. In summer, there about 4,000 residents, and 25,000 tourists! Did you imagine that people actually visit this continent? Not me! In winter, the population ranges from 1,000 - 2,000 residents. The land size of Antarctica is 1.4 times the size of the USA! The first time anyone ever set foot on this continent was in 1821, by the ancient Greeks. Also, the South Pole was first reached in 1911! The highest point would be, Mt. Vinson at over 16,000 feet. Yes, they do have mountains on this continent! The lowest temperature happens to be, -128.6F
Wildlife:
Did you know?
There may not be very many animals living on this continent, but what does is pretty magnificent! This week's two animals are the king penguin, and the leopard seal. The king penguin is a very elegant penguin, and is the second largest species, being 33 pounds big. Surrounded by colorful, bright feathers all over the body and beak, they are the brightest of all penguins. There are about 3 million living today! Now for the leopard seal's spotlight. The leopard seal is one of the largest predators in Antarctica, just smaller than the killer whale. They are mainly built for speed, and range from 20-30 pounds in weight. Always seen on ice, and not land, the leopard seal's main prey is the penguin! Watch out king penguin.
Ice Landforms:
Did you know?
Antarctica happens to have 70% of the world's frozen freshwater, and 90% of the world's ice! Only about 17 miles of Antarctica does NOT have ice surrounding it. They have what's known as the "Ross Shelf", which in perspective is as large as France! Imagine that? Another shelf known as the "Ronne-Filchner Shelf" is as large as Spain! Some of the other landforms of Antarctica are glaciers, mountains, valleys, and plains. Now, let's move to the fun sections!
Unscramble Arctic Animal Game
Just like the past weeks, we will give you animals' names and you have to unscramble them. Then when you think you have them all, send your answers to Iamtodd for your prizes. Now for the recognition of last week's winners. First place went to Brunetty2, second place went to Heidipie, and third place went to, Jennavev7! Congratulations!
Prizes:
1st place = 500
2nd place = 300
3rd place = 150
Hwlea
Aesl
Hsif
Krsah
Rnet
Gensnupi
Hrmpis
Bcars
Quids
Doc
Upsctoo
Ilkrl
Antarctica Final Pop-Quiz
Just like last week, I will give you five to six questions and you will answer them, not in complete sentences. Yes, you can ALWAYS look back, but how good did you really read through the information. Answers will be sent to Iamtodd, and Iamtodd only, not the BBS for your prize. Last week's winners were: first place went to Brunetty2, second place went to Iamadolly, and third place went to Maddog212! Great work you guys!
Prizes:
1st place = 150
2nd place = 100
3rd place = 80
1. How many tourists usually visit in the summer? (Decimal)
2. How much bigger is Antarctica than the USA?
3. What penguin is the brightest of all other penguins?
4. The leopard seal is just slightly smaller than what other animal?
5. What ice shelf is as big as France?
6. What ice shelf is as big as Spain?
I would personally again, like to thank everyone for their support and compliments. Getting this done is not as easy as it seems, trust me. Getting in all the games, information, pictures, etc, it's just not that easy. I just want to thank everyone for their encouragement. Big thanks for Slurpee15 who helped a lot with ideas and mainly the games. Thanks everyone for your opinions (even when not so good), and for people who gave me tips about how to improve. I'm sorry for the people who thought this was boring, but learning was never supposed to be fun and exciting, but thanks for reading!
Author's Note: Sources:
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/antarctica%20fact%20file%20index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica
