At the end of August, an unusual expedition under Russian leadership will leave for the Arctic Ocean. One of the participants is J

There are many resources available on the internet for exploring the poles with a virtual globe such as Google Earth or NASA World WInd. The list below contains all the relevant polar resources that we are aware of. (Note: These links are to external sites; IPY.org is not responsible for their content.) The Polar View Earth observation program publishes a wide range of layers for the Antarctic, including data on sea ice coverage, ice drift, drift buoys, large icebergs, the location of various research vessels, and the location of over 120 Antarctic research ...

The IPY Chart maps endorsed projects according to their approximate subject (horizontally) and geographical location (vertically). Left to Right: Earth, Land, People, Ocean, Ice, Atmosphere, Space, Education & Outreach Top to Bottom: Arctic, Both Poles, Antarctic. This latest version presents 228 endorsed IPY proposals: 166 in science and 52 in education and outreach. The number in each hexagon refers to the proposal ID number in the IPY Full Proposal database (scroll to the bottom of the page). An associated spreadsheet provides the full project names and lead persons for each p...

July 2-6, 2007: Antarctica New Zealand and the Royal Society of New Zealand are proud to announce a conference celebrating 50 years of New Zealand's involvement in the Antarctic. The conference aims to present the successes of the past (International Geophysical Year to present day) and enthuse New Zealand about its future in Antarctica. This five-day conference combines invited talks from national and international speakers, presentations from artists, media and students, film screenings, panel discussions, poster sessions, and social functions. In particular five key themes within Antarctic science and policy will be explored throughout the conference:

Getting the photo of your shadow on the IPY Day map takes two steps: A. Uploading the photo to the web, using a free Flickr account. B. Placing the photo on the map using a free Tagzania account. A. Uploading the photo to the web, using a free Flickr account. If you don't already have a Flickr account, you'll need to sign up at http://www.flickr.com/ Log on to Flickr.com. Click on "Upload photos". Upload your photo using the default settings. Remember the URL (web address) of the photo's page on Flickr. It looks something like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourusername/987654321/ ...

Until today any journey in the ice-infested waters of the Arctic Ocean was a journey into the unknown with no up-to-date detailed map of the ice conditions readily available in such a remote region of the world. Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) are now able to provide the latest satellite image from the European Space Agency satellite, Envisat and the Canadian Radarsat-1 satellite to any International Polar Year (IPY) expedition in the Arctic Ocean. Users will be able to connect to KSAT in Troms

On the way to our final destination in South Africa we have reached much milder climatic conditions. We have definitely left the cold of the Antarctic behind us. Staying outside would normally be be nice and comfortable at these latitudes in the Indian Ocean, but another low pressure has arrived. Along with it has come very stormy winds and rough seas, making venturing out onto the decks of the Polarstern impossible. Stuck inside, our geologists have made another interesting discovery in the lab with their parasound equipment. In one of their nightly data checks, the scientists discovered evidence of a previously unknown Seamount. until now, this oceanic mountain range has not been found by any satellite and it is not marked on any map. It was with great excitement that this...

The sea near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, is -2° C, but the water is not frozen at that temperature. Why? In this activity, students can explore some of the properties of water and ice by making their own ice cream. MATERIALS: (per pair of students) 2 heavy duty ziploc bags per student—1 large and 1 small ½ cup milk 1 Tablespoon sugar ½ teapoon vanilla Ice salt 2 spoons 2 bowls DIRECTIONS: 1. Place the milk, vanilla and sugar in the small Ziploc bag and carefully close it, being sure there are no leaks. 2. Place the small bag inside the larger one. 3. Surround the small bag with ice to ½ the large bag capacity. 4. Give each pair of students a differen...

On March 1 2007, students at schools around the world marked the advent of International Polar year by conducting an ice experiment. They then told the IPY community and the world by pinning a virtual balloon onto a web-based map showing exactly where they were. Read this Blog to find out how the activity went. One of the main themes of the International Polar Year is the study of Earth’s changing ice and snow, and its impact on our planet and our lives. On 1 March 2007, students and teachers around the world were invited to help launch the IPY in your classrooms. This Breaking The Ice flyer (PDF), currently available in ...

ANDRILL’s website provides a wide range of information and activities from simple interactives, photos and images, videos, interviews and blogs from the field, and hands-on inquiry activities developed by the ARISE teachers, to an explanation of the science of drilling for sediments and developing a paleoclimate record from the evidence found in the sediment core samples. This site includes information on ice sheets and ice shelves, drill rig technology. Educators’ journals from the field in Antarctica explain the science in words and photos for non-technical audiences and children. Teachers can sign up to receive polar science curriculum materials and e-mail updates and link to many other worthwhile websites. Activity: On ...