hypothermia - Teaching On Ice

H: Hypothermia

Early in their training, Phil and the team learnt about hypothermia and how to keep themselves warm in Antarctic conditions. Unfortunately their first attempt at practising survival didn't go too well, as Phil wrote:

"Considering I died on Monday I’m not feeling too bad. The cause of my death was hypothermia – a slow way to go, but relatively painless. My brain slowly cooled causing me to become passive and disorientated. Finally I drifted into unconsciousness and death.

But although the method of my death wasn’t too bad, the reason for my death was really annoying. We (my team and I) forgot our stoves, which meant we couldn’t melt snow, which meant we couldn’t cook food and, as we’re in Antarctica, that very quickly led to us expiring."

A few months later, and the team were busy trying on their special clothing which will play an important part in preventing hypothermia. Phil wrote an activity for secondary students using clothing sort cards.

Keeping with the temperature theme, primary pupils will enjoy these numeracy games: thermometer and hot cup of tea.

We finally have our kit, but rather than tell you how it will keep me warm, see if your KS 3 or 4 students can work it out for you!

1. Print the attached clothing layers sort cards and make some copies

2. They will need to do a bit of research to be able to match the items with the correct descriptions

3. Here are the answers.

In Antarctica we are going to look at how our diet, as well as our body’s make-up, affects our ability to cope. One half of the team will be on a high fat diet, the other on a balanced diet. The balanced diet is likely to be more palatable, but heavier to haul around. The high fat diet should keep the diner warmer, if they can eat it all.

The different diets could be a cause of friction in the team. If so, this will be picked up in the psychological mood questionnaires we will be filling in each day … big brother will have reached Antarctica!

Are there any simple experiments that you would like us to run on the ice? I would like to choose two or three and send you back the results direct from Antarctica. 

"Does your spit freeze before it hits the ground?" is already on the list …