Antarctic Encounter for Science Students

On 2 March, I went to Kelly Tarlton’s with my Year 12 Biology class to learn more about adaptations in an extreme environment for our internal.

During our trip, we attended a lecture led by Janine, one of the staff at Kelly Tarlton’s, about adaptations of Antarctic animals and how these adaptations assist in the survival of certain species. In this lecture, we passed around artifacts like the feathers of an Antarctic penguin to see the adaptations we’ve been learning about up close. I learned that these feathers are unique compared to other bird feathers because they have a distinct curve to them. We also got to hold the tail feathers from an Antarctic penguin.

What was even cooler was that we then got to meet some very friendly and playful real-life penguins in the penguin enclosure, who loved coming up to the glass and saying hi. My class had a great day at Kelly Tarlton’s. If you haven’t been since you were a kid or haven’t been at all you should definitely go. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Summer Rowsell, Year 12