psychological testing - Teaching On Ice

Phil has written two lesson plans based on his experience of recording and analysing data on weather and psychological effects. The lessons are for Key Stage 3 and 4 students and draw upon a data spreadsheet, a questionnaire, and a previous entry on this blog.

The lessons explore the effects of an extreme environment on humans, and include:

• creating a graph
• interpreting evidence
• generating a hypothesis
• note-taking
• creating a questionnaire
• presentation

Download the lesson plans, questionnaire and spreadsheet from the links below.

Lesson plans
Weather data spreadsheet
Daily questionnaire

15th December
I spent yesterday evening talking to the on-site doctor, Hans Christian, about the psychology of Antarctic expeditions, in particular sledge hauls to the South Pole (approximately 1100km) and climbs to the summit of Vinson (the highest peak in Antarctica at approximately 4900m). His answer follows on nicely from yesterday’s update, as the key factor determining an expeditioner's mood state is the weather.

If the weather is good then things tend to go as well as your training allows. If the weather is bad then you struggle more, you’re in more pain, you don’t do the distances/height gains that you need and you start to think that you might not make the Pole/summit. Other factors that also affect mood are your food, any injuries you have and how your kit is performing.

Even on our relatively tame trip we certainly experienced a lot of what Hans Christian talked about.

• When the weather was bad we were confined to tents which rapidly caused frustration, particularly towards the end when we were racing against the calendar (and the weather) to get back to Patriot Hills. To try and release that tension we tended to do something active and fun after our periods of lie-up (kite sledging and ice climbing being the best).
• Days when you didn’t like the evening meal (chilli con carne) were difficult and days when you had tortillas, fish and a nice evening meal were definitely better. The major problem is that no matter how nice your diet (Jordan’s luxury cereal, Dairy Milk, etc) after 20 days you start to despise it.
• Our mood started to sink on the ski back due to blisters forming. During the final 17 hours of hauling the mood fell as the mountaineering boots we had to wear started to create large blisters. It improved again when the surface allowed us to change into our mukluk boots which are far more comfortable and didn’t aggravate existing blisters.
• We had no problems with equipment breaking, but when the comms equipment wouldn’t let us send dispatches or make telephone calls it caused a degree of friction.

The bad weather that we are currently experiencing is causing problems with both the climbers and the people heading to the Pole. The people hauling sledges are struggling to make the distances they want as the snow has caused a layer of powder, which increases friction and makes crevasses harder to see. The climbers are finding strong winds and poor visibility difficult.

I am currently sat in the Sports Science Labs of Portsmouth University undergoing fitness tests and cold challenges. The aim is to get baseline data so that, by taking more results when we return, we can see how our bodies have changed in the cold, harsh environment of Antarctica. We have already got one set of results from our previous visit in May.

Reasons to be cheerful:

• I'm fitter now than I was in May. My VO2 max is now 65.9, up from 63.1. To find out your own VO2 max click here.
• I am more muscular than I was in May, and muscle is a good insulator.
• My blood tests have come back normal.
• I'm packed.
• Very soon I won't have to be annoyed about the papers being full of information on reality TV shows instead of proper news.

Resons to be concerned:

• My weight has dropped by 1kg to 71.5kg (so my headline is wrong, I may have a mesomorph somatotype - I'm muscular - but I'm certainly no mountain). This weight loss is due to having less fat, which would also have been a good insulator.
• My ECG results (heart trace) have been referred to a specialist!
• I've got to spend the next hour in a walk-in freezer, wearing only swimming shorts and wired up to every type of measurement device possible. This test will tell me at what temperature I start sweating and shivering.
• Despite hating the programme, I still want to know who wins celebrity ballroom dancing, or whatever it's called!

Tomorrow is kit check and panic buying day, then Saturday we're off!