Your application to build a new research station has been approved by SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research). Assuming that you have the appropriate funding how would you build it? Where would you put it and what sort of facilities would you require? For this lesson, you belong to a group in charge of building a station.

There are a number of obstacles to building a permanent station in Antarctica. First of all, if you build it on ice, it will move around which could alter the structure of any buildings. Blowing snow in Antarctica can completely bury buildings.

Step 1:
Let's assume that there will be 150 people in the station during the Austral summer and only 30 people in the winter. Divide up into five groups. Assign each group to be responsible for one of the following jobs:

Habitat Support Unit
Transportation and Engineering Unit
Science and Technology Unit
Control Centre Unit
Health and Recreation Unit

Once you've decided who should perform what jobs, is to find a location for the station.

The Antarctic Treaty was written in 1959 and basically states that nobody owns any territorial regions of Antarctica. Claims still exist in Antarctica however and are illustrated in the image above (obtained from the National Geographic Site). Lets assume that you are allowed to establish your base in a region occupied by your home country or a country that is friendly to yours. The environmental conditions along the coast are a little more habitable than the interior of Antarctica, but temperatures still drop below 0^o C in the summer. These areas are mountainous and close to the ocean.

Step 2:
Work in each of your groups to come brainstorm all of the necessary facilities you will need at the station.

Step 3:
Work with other groups to see where overlap occurs and where you need to have connections to the other units at the station.

Step 4:
Work together to come up with a design of the overall structure. If your really ambitious you can create a 3-D model, or sketch floor plans of the different buildings.

This lesson was provided from the Live From Antarctica Program supported by NSF and NASA.