EnglishCBSE Class 12 · Journey to the End of the Earth

Journey to the End of the Earth Class 12: Why Antarctica Matters

Updated 18 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Tishani Doshi says Antarctica is the place to go to study the Earth's past, present and future. It once formed part of Gondwana with India, holds 90 per cent of the planet's ice and half-million-year-old carbon records, and its simple ecosystem, built on phytoplankton, shows that small changes have big effects. Students on Ice takes young people there so that future policy-makers can act.

Notice how Antarctica connects Earth's past, present and future: ancient Gondwana and ice records, a phytoplankton-based ecosystem, and young people who may act

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People

The journey. The author travels from Madras to Antarctica aboard the Russian research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy with Students on Ice. Her trip covers nine time zones, six checkpoints and three bodies of water, over 100 hours by car, aeroplane and ship.

Gondwana. About 650 million years ago, the supercontinent Gondwana existed, centred around present-day Antarctica, with a warmer climate and rich plant and animal life. It broke up around the time the dinosaurs died out. India moved north and pushed against Asia to form the Himalayas; South America drifted to join North America, opening the Drake Passage and keeping Antarctica frozen. The author is moved that India and Antarctica were once part of one landmass.

Records in the ice. Antarctica stores 90 per cent of the Earth's ice. It has never had a human population, and its ice cores hold half-million-year-old carbon records. That is why she says that to study the Earth's past, present and future, Antarctica is the place to go. Visiting it helps us understand geology, evolution, extinction, ozone and carbon.

Human impact. Human civilisation is only about 12,000 years old, yet humans have spread cities, competed with other species for resources and burnt fossil fuels, creating a blanket of carbon dioxide around the world and raising temperatures.

Phytoplankton. In the simple Antarctic ecosystem, microscopic phytoplankton, the grasses of the sea, nourish the whole Southern Ocean food chain. These single-celled plants use the sun's energy to assimilate carbon and make organic compounds by photosynthesis. If ozone depletion harms them, the whole food chain and the carbon cycle suffer. The lesson: take care of the small things and the big things will fall into place.

Students on Ice. Led by the Canadian Geoff Green, the programme stopped taking celebrities and rich curiosity-seekers and now takes high school students, so that future policy-makers can see glaciers retreating and ice shelves collapsing and understand that global warming is real, at an age when they are ready to absorb, learn and, most importantly, act.

Walking on the ocean. Near the Antarctic Circle the ship is stopped by ice, and all 52 people walk on an ice pack a metre thick over 180 metres of sea, with seals sunning nearby. The author realises that everything connects. Her closing thought is that a lot can happen in a million years, but a day can make a great difference.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

take care of the small things and the big things will fall into place
Author: On the phytoplankton.
Small changes in the environment have big effects.
everything does indeed connect
Author: Walking on the frozen ocean.
All life and systems on Earth are linked.
a lot can happen in a million years, but what a difference a day makes!
Author: Concluding thought.
Geological change is slow, but a single experience can change young minds.

Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People: key facts

Why Antarctica: 90 per cent of Earth's ice
half-million-year-old carbon records
no human population
simple ecosystem
past of Gondwana; Place to study past, present and future.
Gondwana: About 650 million years ago
centred on Antarctica
warmer
India moved north (Himalayas)
Drake Passage keeps Antarctica frozen; Broke up around the dinosaurs' extinction.
Walking on the ocean: 52 people
ice pack one metre thick
180 metres of sea
seals nearby; Realisation: everything connects.

How to answer Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People questions

Use this for 40-50 word questions on why Antarctica matters, Gondwana, phytoplankton and Geoff Green's reasons, and the 120-150 word question on climate change and the role of young people.

1Identify which idea is being asked: past (Gondwana, ice cores), present (human impact) or future (young people).
2Give one exact fact: 90 per cent, half a million years, 650 million years, 52 people.
3Explain what the fact shows.
4Link to the author's message: everything connects, act now.
5Close with a hopeful note about youth.

Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Small changes, big effects

Suppose a school pond is cleaned and its tiny algae thrive; within weeks, small fish and frogs also increase.

Which idea from the chapter does this illustrate?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Microscopic phytoplankton support the whole food chain.
A small change at the base has big effects.

Answer: It illustrates the author's idea that a small change at the base of a food chain, like phytoplankton, has big results for the whole system. Take care of the small things and the big things follow.

Memory hook: Protect the base of the chain.

Seeing is believing

Suppose a class visits a dry river bed that once held water and the students, shocked, start a water-saving campaign.

Which idea does this match?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Geoff Green takes students to see glaciers retreating.
Seeing the effect makes them ready to act.

Answer: It matches Geoff Green's plan to take students to Antarctica to see glaciers retreating, so that they understand global warming and act when they become policy-makers.

Memory hook: Seeing leads to acting.

Tricks to remember Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

90, 650, 12,000
90 per cent ice, 650 million years of Gondwana, 12,000 years of civilisation.
Use it when: Key numbers.
Past, present, future
Gondwana (past), fossil fuels (present), students (future).
Use it when: Structure of long answers.
Grasses of the sea
Phytoplankton are the grasses of the Southern Ocean.
Use it when: Metaphor recall.

Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: What is Gondwana? · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Gondwana was:
(a) a Russian ship
(b) a supercontinent that once included India and Antarctica
(c) the name of a student group
(d) a type of ice pack

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Gondwana was the supercontinent centred around Antarctica, of which India was a part (1 mark).

Answer: (b) a supercontinent that once included India and Antarctica

Example 2: Who runs Students on Ice? · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level

Who leads the Students on Ice programme, and whom does he now take there?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Geoff Green, from Canada (0.5).
High school students (0.5).

Answer: Geoff Green leads it; it now takes high school students.

Example 3: Why Antarctica? · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Two features make Antarctica unusually useful to scientists studying climate: what is stored in its ice and the fact that no people have settled there. Explain how each helps. Answer in 40-50 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Ice cores hold half-million-year-old carbon records (1).
It has never had a human population, so it shows climate effects clearly (1).

Answer: Antarctica holds 90 per cent of the Earth's ice, and its ice cores carry carbon records half a million years old, which show the past. It has never had a human population, so changes in its ice and ecosystem reveal present climate effects and warn about the future.

Example 4: Phytoplankton · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Why does the author call phytoplankton the 'grasses of the sea', and what lesson do they teach? Answer in 40-50 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

They nourish the whole Southern Ocean food chain and make food by photosynthesis (1).
Small changes, like ozone depletion harming them, affect everything: take care of small things (1).

Answer: Like grasses on land, phytoplankton are the base of the food chain. These single-celled plants use sunlight for photosynthesis and nourish the Southern Ocean's life. If ozone depletion harms them, the whole chain and the carbon cycle suffer, so small changes have big results.

Example 5: Climate change and young people · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

How does the chapter link climate change with the role of young people? Answer in 120-150 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Human impact: fossil fuels, a blanket of carbon dioxide (1).
Antarctica shows the effects: ice cores, retreating glaciers (1).
Geoff Green's decision to take students (1).
Students may become policy-makers who act (1).
Author's hopeful ending (1).

Answer: The chapter says that humans, in about 12,000 years of civilisation, have burnt fossil fuels and wrapped the world in a blanket of carbon dioxide, raising temperatures. Antarctica, with its half-million-year-old ice records and retreating glaciers, shows the effects most clearly. Geoff Green therefore stopped taking celebrities and now takes high school students there, so that they see the retreating glaciers and collapsing ice shelves for themselves. Young people are at an age to absorb, learn and, most importantly, act, and they will become the policy-makers of the future. Walking together on the frozen ocean, the author realises that everything connects. After two weeks with idealistic teenagers, she ends on a hopeful note: much can change in a day.

Where students lose marks in Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Confusing the numbers
Many figures in the chapter.
Wrong working
Antarctica has 50 per cent of the Earth's ice.
Right working
Antarctica holds 90 per cent of the Earth's ice.
Do this: Remember 90, 650, 12,000.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Not linking phytoplankton to the food chain
Reading as a science fact only.
Wrong working
Phytoplankton are small plants in the sea.
Right working
They nourish the whole food chain; harming them harms everything.
Do this: Add the lesson about small things.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Forgetting the youth message
Focusing on science.
Wrong working
The chapter is only about climate science.
Right working
It also says young people who see the effects may act as policy-makers.
Do this: End with Students on Ice.
Usually costs: Content marks.

Exam tips

Use exact numbers: 90 per cent, 650 million years, 12,000 years, 52 people.
Organise long answers as past, present and future.
Always end with the hopeful role of young people.

Practice questions on Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
The author compares Antarctica's whiteness to:
(a) a ping-pong ball
(b) a mirror
(c) a snow globe
(d) a desert
Hint
Simile of a game.
Answer
(a) a ping-pong ball
Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level
What is the name of the Russian research vessel in the chapter?
Hint
Akademik...
Answer
Akademik Shokalskiy.
Q3 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Human civilisation is about 12,000 years old and Gondwana existed about 650 million years ago. How many times older is Gondwana than civilisation (to the nearest thousand), and what contrast does the author draw? Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
650,000,000 divided by 12,000.
Answer
650,000,000 divided by 12,000 is about 54,167, so roughly 54,000 times. The contrast shows how brief human history is, yet in this short time humans have changed the planet by burning fossil fuels and warming it, which gives the author's warning extra force.
Q4 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
How did the Drake Passage help keep Antarctica frozen? Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
South America and North America.
Answer
After Gondwana broke up, South America drifted north to join North America. This opened the Drake Passage, a stretch of water between South America and Antarctica, which helped isolate Antarctica and keep it frozen. The chapter links these movements of land to the continent's present icy state.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Show how the chapter moves from the distant past of Gondwana to the hopes of today's students, and what this movement suggests about responsibility. Answer in 120-150 words.
Hint
Past, present, future.
Answer
The chapter begins in deep time: about 650 million years ago India and Antarctica were parts of Gondwana, which broke up as the continents drifted, forming the Himalayas and opening the Drake Passage. Ice cores then connect that distant past with half a million years of carbon records. In the present, humans, in only about 12,000 years of civilisation, have burnt fossil fuels and warmed the planet, and even a continent with no inhabitants shows the effect. The chapter then turns to the future: Geoff Green takes students to see glaciers retreating so that, as policy-makers, they will act. The movement from past to present to future suggests that knowledge of the planet's history brings a duty to protect it, and that responsibility passes to the young.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Antarctica is the storehouse of what share of the planet's ice?Show answer
90 per cent.
2.How many people walked on the ice pack?Show answer
Fifty-two.
3.Who leads Students on Ice?Show answer
Geoff Green.
4.What are phytoplankton called in the chapter?Show answer
The grasses of the sea.

Why Antarctica Matters: Gondwana, Phytoplankton and Young People: frequently asked questions

Why is Antarctica important for studying climate?

Its ice cores hold half-million-year-old carbon records and it has never had a human population.

Who wrote Journey to the End of the Earth?

Tishani Doshi.

What is the message of the chapter?

Everything is connected, small changes have big effects, and young people can act to protect the planet.