Extreme Habitats

Students engaged with extreme habitats around the world, exploring extreme cold environments in Antarctica, the Arctic and Mt. Everest using Google Earth street view.

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Each student thought about and discussed available resources, energy sources and adaptations needed to thrive in extreme cold, such as using antifreeze proteins.

We then discussed the importance of geology and tectonic plates in the creation of trenches and ridges, and how these geological locations shape adaptations to high pressure. Together, we used Google Earth to see tectonic plate boundaries on a global scale and highlighted the Ring of Fire — a series of tectonic boundaries surrounding much of the Pacific Ocean and home to hundreds of volcanoes, hydrothermal vents and the deepest trenches on Earth.

Finally we discussed, in more detail, halophiles (“salt-loving”) and acidophiles (“acid-loving extremophiles), and used Google Earth to explore the Maras Salt Mine in Peru.