Bears On Ice begins Oct. 13, 2003. See a preview by taking Sample Pages links shown above.

Introduction: This site allows students to experience Antarctica through the eyes of two Geobears, Berkley and OzGold, who sailed on the Aurora Australis with their Australian, friend and helper, Gordon Bain. Berkley came from Illinois from the 4th grade classroom of Betty Trummel, while OzGold came from Gordon's home in Tasmania. These Bears have traveled to Antarctica and back, have had many adventures and have lived to tell the tale. They have brought back information and photographs that will help you share their adventures.

The bears will post their information every weekday starting October 13. We hope that students in Grades 4-6 will follow along. There is no cost for participating, though we would like feedback so we can improve our next adventure.

The Photo pages contain photographs taken throughout their journey and a few they borrowed from a GeoBear named Brownie. New photos are added every day with short descriptions of what is happening in each one. Links to more information and "thinking questions" are posed for classes that want more information.

The Data pages contain the numerical data about the voyage. These reports include the position of the ship (latitude and longitude) as well as many environmental conditions, such as sea temperature, air temperature, any ice that was encountered, etc. Some also include a brief update of events. The data lend themselves well to graphing and many other math activities.

The Information pages contain first-person accounts that go into more detail about some of their more exciting adventures, or ship procedures that need a bit more explanation than is offered in the daily reports.. Most of them were written by Berkley or OzGold, but a few were written by Gordon. There are links to several of these from the Photo pages where appropriate. These, along with the linked Special Reports, can serve as relaible sources for research reports.