5 Free Antarctica Worksheets (free printables)

If you are learning about the continent of Antarctica with the kids you are going to love our free Antarctica worksheets.

With this free geography worksheet, you will learn all about the continent of Antarctica. Including the explorers that traveled there.

Included in the Antarctica worksheets are the following:

1 x map labeling,
an Antarctica fact sheet,
Write a biography on Antarctica explorers
Antarctica word search,
Antarctica country word scramble.

I have also included answer sheets for all of the worksheets. These are aimed at kids in upper elementary and middle school but can be used with any age group.

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Table of Contents

Fun Facts about Antarctica

Fun and interesting facts about Antarctica that kids will enjoy:

Antarctica is home to the emperor penguin. The largest species of penguin, which can grow up to four feet tall! (download our free life cycle of a penguin worksheets)
Despite the cold, some creatures still manage to survive in Antarctica. Such as the Antarctic fur seal and the Weddell seal.
Antarctica is the only continent without any countries, cities, or permanent residents. It’s like a giant ice wilderness!
The ice on Antarctica is so thick (up to 4.7 km in some places!) that it actually depresses the continent’s bedrock by more than 1 km.
Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth. With some areas getting less precipitation than the Sahara Desert.
The South Pole, located in Antarctica, receives 24 hours of sunlight during the summer and 24 hours of darkness during the winter!
If you were to visit Antarctica, you would need to bring your own food and supplies. As there are no restaurants or grocery stores on the continent.
Some scientists believe that there may be hidden lakes and rivers beneath the ice in Antarctica, which could potentially support life.
Antarctica is a great place to study climate change, as the ice holds a record of the Earth’s past climate going back thousands of years!
The first explorers to reach the South Pole were Roald Amundsen of Norway and his team in 1911. Beating the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his team by just a few weeks.

Map of Antarctica worksheet

Draw a compass rose over the map of Antarctica, and then label the areas shown.

Nearly all of the areas, ice shelves, or seas are named after explorers that discovered them.

I highly recommend you play the mapology world map game to add to this unit study. This is also included in our favorite geography board games.

Antarctica Fact Sheet

There are 10 questions about the continent of Antarctica.

How many countries are in Antarctica? 0
How many permanent residents are there in Antarctica? 0
How big is the continent of Antarctica? 5.275 million mi²
What is the total population of Antarctica? at any given time up to 5,000 scientists
What is the tallest mountain in Antarctica? Mount Vinson
What is the average temperature in Antarctica? -71 degrees Fahrenheit
What oceans are in Antarctica? Southern (Antarctic) Ocean.
What is the biggest river in Antarctica? The Onyx River
Is Antarctica a desert? Why or why not? YES. A desert is defined by the amount of precipitation (rain, snow, mist, and fog) in an area.
What countries have territories in Antarctica? 7 countries (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom) maintain territorial claims in Antarctica. But the United States and most other countries do not recognize those claims.

For even more fun learning about the world I highly recommend the World card game.

Antarctica Word Search

The Antarctica words can be found, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, frontwards, or backward! Just to make it that much more difficult.

I have also added the word search answers, as some of the words are a little tricky to find!

Tip: I recommend either using a highlighter pen or circling around the letters. Do not cross the letters out if you have found a word, as it may be used in another word!

The 18 words to find are:

Antarctica
Glacier
Blizzard
Global
Warming
Frostbite
Atmosphere
Climate
Cold
Amundsen
Ice Shelf
Iceberg
Latitude
Expedition
South Pole
Continent
Penguins
Whales

Word search printables are an excellent school activity for when the kids just need a break. They are educational, but more importantly, they are fun.

Antarctica Word Scramble

There are no clues in our free word scramble, other than the 12 words to unscramble are famous Antarctica explorers.

The 12 explorers to find are: (I have included an answer sheet with the download.)

James Clark Ross
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Roald Amundsen
Ernest Shackleton
Charles Wilkes
Douglas Mawson
Bellinghausen
William Bankes Amery (not an explorer but included as the Amery Ice Shelf was named after him.)
Wilhelm Filchner
Carl A. Larsen
David Brunt
James Weddell

This free word scramble printable is great either for the classroom, the library, or homeschooling.

Antarctica Explorers

The last worksheet is all about the most famous Antarctica explorers, in fact, they all have named something on the continent. Whether it is an ice shelf, a sea, or a land.

The students need to research one of the explorers and then write a biography about them.

I have added links to resources they can use:

Roald Amundsen (interesting fact – Roald Dahl was named after him!)
Ernest Shackleton
James Clark Ross
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Charles Wilkes
Bellinghausen
Douglas Mawson – named the William Bankes Amery after a British civil servant who represented the UK government in Australia.
Wilhelm Filchner
Carl A. Larsen
James Weddell

Books about Antarctica for kids

These are our favorite geography books for kids:

Except Antarctica a hilarious picture animal book
A kid’s guide to Antarctica
Antarctica a continent of wonder
Dreamy Antarctica
Where is Antarctica?
The Frozen Worlds: The Astonishing Nature of the Arctic and Antarctic (The Magic and Mystery of Nature)

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Other free geography printables

Tips for downloading the free files

Below is a blue cloud with an arrow pointing downward. Underneath that is a large sign-up box where you need to add your name and email address, and press I NEED THIS NOW!

Within minutes you will be sent the free PDF directly to your email address, so you can print it out and start using it immediately.

Sometimes emails get a little wonky, so if you can’t see it, please check your spam folder where I am sure it is hiding.

Download the free printable Antarctica worksheets

This printable Antarctica worksheet is free to print but is for personal or classroom use only. Scroll to the bottom of the page to get the pdf file.

Make sure you choose the correct paper size and click on the shrink to fit button. All of our free printables for kids work better when printed on cardstock (this is the one we use and love.)

Last Updated on 2 October 2023 by homeschoolof1