The educational programme LATITUDE60! organized one of the biggest events of the International Polar Year in Portugal on on the 29 June 2007: the national contest “discovering the Polar Regions!” More than 600 children and nearly 50 schools were present at the Lisbon event.

At present, LATITUDE60! is a leading educational program with IPY, with more than 170 schools involved, more than 300 teachers and thousands of students from all over Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira) involved.

The contest had 6 categories: scientific essay, polar writer, website, audiovisual, art and “build an igloo”, and was open to children of all ages, from kindergarten to university level. More than 500 submissions were received nationally and more than 70 received awarded. The top prize was a trip to the Antarctic (in collaboration with Students on Ice)!!!

There were various activities during the day, including an exhibition of several hundreds of works submitted, an exhibition of the igloos (some of them pretty big!), delivery of the prizes of the national contest, exhibition of two mini-documentaries about polar science, and seminars given by polar scientists.

This event was coordinated by the Centre of Marine Sciences, Univ. Algarve (Portugal), Centre of Geographical studies, Univ. Lisbon (Portugal) and the Association of Geography Teachers (Portugal), and sponsored by Ciência Viva - National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture (Portugal).

LATITUDE 60! also took part in LIVE EARTH 2007 (broadcast live across the world in London, Xangai, Sydney, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, among others) and Portuguese polar scientists will continue to explain IPY research and education for the Portuguese audience.

Let the IPY continue...

José Xavier and Gonçalo Vieira
(Portuguese Committee for the International Polar Year)



Winners that won the trip to the Antarctic: Miguel, João, Irina, Inês, Andreia. Maria Inês and Marta are on stand-by (if more places are available on the expedition).

Primary image: Some of the students and teachers present in Lisbon at the Knowledge Pavillion