Hi, I’m Freya.
My Uncle Bob has sent me a postcard from the coldest continent on Earth, Antarctica.
Let's see if we can work out where he is!
Chrissie: Freya, open up! It’s freezing out here!
Freya: Hey Chrissie, you know about Antarctica, I need your help!
Uncle Bob is on an expedition to the South Pole, and he sent me a photo of his frozen baked beans but I don’t know where to place it on the map.
Chrissie: Well, Antarctica is way down in the middle of the Southern Ocean, so we’ll need a map that’s looking right down on it.
Freya: Ah, that’s better, it looks loads bigger than the UK!
And it looks like it’s completely covered in snow and ice.
Where could Uncle Bob have been?
Chrissie: Well Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world, so maybe he sheltered near those big mountains that run down the middle.
Let’s visit that one, Vinson Massif!
Freya: That’s a huge mountain, more than three times higher than the biggest mountain in the UK!
And look, the clock says that it’s nearly midnight but the sun is shining.
Chrissie: Yeah, during the summer in Antarctica the sun never sets so it’s light all the time!
Freya: I don’t think Uncle Bob was here.
Chrissie: Let’s try the Antarctica Peninsula, with the sea all around it!
Freya: Look at all the floating ice.
Chrissie: Yeah, the ice goes over the land and the sea, and scientists have noticed that the warm sea water is melting some of the ice, causing sea levels to rise all around the world!
Oh no, a blizzard!
Freya: Is that some people?
Chrissie: Haha, nothing lives on Antarctica apart from a few animals, like penguins!
The only people here are scientists.
In fact, he was probably at one of the research stations, like this one, investigating ways to protect the planet!
Freya: This must be where he took his photo!
Chrissie: You need to see this place in the winter though.
Freya: Ooh, the amazing Southern Lights over the South Pole!
It’s giving me chills!
Chrissie: No, sorry, I left the garage door open! Hahaha.
Antarctica is a desert - but it's not hot, it's really, really cold. It's called a desert because it hardly ever rains.
The South Pole is near the middle of Antarctica. That's the very bottom of the planet. In parts of Antarctica the winter temperature can be minus 60°C.
Nobody lives in Antarctica permanently. Some scientists stay there to work and carry out research. They may spend months indoors in the research stations. When the weather gets bad, they are cut-off from the rest of the world.
Living in Antarctica is extremely different to living in Europe. Why do you think this is?
Do you what we saw in Antarctica?
Watch this video to see more of Antarctica!
Watch this short video from BBC Bitesize to see more of wildlife and nature that can be found in Antarctica.
World words
Blizzard - a very big snowstorm blown around by extreme winds.
Mountain - an area of land that is higher than 600 metres and usually has a peak.
Ocean - a very large area of salty water.
Peninsula - an area of land that extends out from a larger piece of land and is mostly surrounded by water.