Pre-assessment for Antarctica

I gave my pre-assessment to the students today and it went about how I would have predicted. I had pictures of different animals that you would find in the Antarctic and the Arctic regions and then asked the students to circle the animals they thought lived in Antarctica. They all circled penguins but the rest were pretty random.

I then asked the students what they know about Antarctica. I was surprised when some of them said they didn't know anything. I thought that they all would say that it is cold and icy. Others gave a little more detail.

My next question was what they know about penguins. Most of them said that they slide on their bellies or that they waddle. None said that they are white and black. A few kids said that they did not know anything about penguins. I wonder if maybe they thought the answer was too easy and was looking for something less obvious. We started reading Mr. Poppers Penguins and a few of the students quoted lines from the book about penguins.

My last question was why is it important to learn about Antarctica. Many of the students said they did not know. A lot said because it is a dangerous place and a few said in case we go there.

I am really looking forward to teaching them about Antarctica and I am glad that they do not already know a lot about the continent. It will be interesting to compare the pre and post assessments.