1. Southern Life Homepage
“Southern Life” – A Digital Breakout activity designed to engage middle and high school students (and adults) in an exploration of Antarctica’s diverse and unique ecosystem. Students explore the Southern Continent’s history (including the Antarctic Treaty) and some of the latest technologies applied to analyze changes in Antarctica’s aquatic food web and ecosystem.
PROS:
The activity is extremely engaging for middle school students.
Students who completed the breakout as designed increased their knowledge of Antarctica’s history and ecosystem and noted the “coolness” of the technology used (e.g., drones/whale observations; gliders) and the “Whale Tale” Directional lock was a favorite.
CONS:
1. Students cannot access through their Google accounts. They must log out of Google and then open “Southern Life” from my Science by the Sea webpage.
2. Students accidentally and purposefully discovered the answer key to the digital locks through EARTH’s website.

2. Science by the Sea Homepage: Access activity through “Digital Breakout” link.

3. Southern Life Homepage – DEMONSTRATE Menu and graphic links
MENU ITEMS correspond with GRAPHIC LINKS; allows students to access the site pages and documents from multiple points.

4. Southern Life Homepage (CONTINUED) – DEMONSTRATE Menu and graphic links
MENU ITEMS correspond with GRAPHIC LINKS; allows students to access the site pages and documents from multiple points.

5. Pre-Assessment Introduction
Good Day to Incorporate this Activity: ANTARCTICA DAY!! PROTOCOL:
I field-tested the "Southern Life Digital Breakout" activity after a Pre-Assessment and a brief introduction to Antarctica using a PPT I designed a few years ago.
The Pre-assessment identified their current understanding of Antarctica (geology, ecosystem, geo/political) using a Google Form – See the Google Form on EARTH website.
Students completed an Activity Sheet based on information they obtained during the breakout activity.
Students completed a post-assessment after they completed the breakout activity to assess the learning outcomes.

6. Overview of the various types of LOCKS and the information obtained through the website.
SNOTES: Coordinates and hints (Research Station; Antarctica) on a page with a Google Map link  PALMER

7. Date from the Antarctic Treaty  DATE LOCK

8. KRILL
Word Search revealed familiar and common name terms except for the scientific name for KRILL (Students who “Googled” the name, found the 5 letters needed.)

9. Some students (younger/lower learning levels) may need a preview of these links prior to the start of the Breakout. Open the links outside of the breakout to expose students to these new technologies (e.g. drones, tag sensors, and glider flights) and provide a better understanding of how these are used to explore the ecosystem. Information on the Activity Sheet is found in these links but no locks are solved from here.

10. More information provided for the Activity Sheet from these links and Josh’s PDF. The various graphs also highlight the lock  CHLOROPHYLL

11. The “Digital Eye in the Sky” may be viewed with the class prior to starting the breakout.

12. The video can be accessed outside of the breakout activity.

13. The Tag Sensor link also links to a video recorded by Nancy and Jacqueline during EARTH 2017….

14. The kids unanimously thought this was the “COOLEST” lock of all
The kids unanimously thought this was the “COOLEST” lock of all. The DIRECTIONAL lock follows the path of the pitches, rolls, dives, and surfaces recorded by the “Whale of a Rollercoaster” activity.

15. THE ANSWER KEY CANNOT BE PUBLISHED ON THE INTERNET
The answer has to be hidden from the EARTH Website. Several teams inadvertently and purposefully found the answer key through web searches. This through a major glitch into the activity.