National Science Foundation
Terri Edillon
Communications Specialist
National Science Foundation
Alexandria
Virginia
K-12 Educational Programs
NSF Office of Polar Programs Antarctic Animal Trading Cards, K-5
National Science Foundation
Jessica De Soria
Terri Edillon, Project Manager, Art Director, and Editor
Mike Lucibella, Writer
Alex Dirksen, Illustrator

The Office of Polar Programs (OPP), within the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), National Science Foundation (NSF), fosters world-class Arctic and Antarctic science through funded grants in all areas of fundamental science and engineering to U.S. researchers and through the provision of infrastructure and logistics for that science. In an effort to improve our outreach materials for a frequent audience of ours, elementary-aged students, we decided to develop a set of 12 fun, engaging trading cards to foster awareness of some well-known and not-so-well-known Antarctic animals. The cards feature illustrations and several facts for each creature.
The target audience for these trading cards are K-5 students.
The cards have been really well received by elementary school kids, teachers, and parents and we've gotten a lot of direct feedback through emails and social media. Though we have been unable to directly gauge popularity through in-person conferences and outreach events this past year, we anticipate these being frequently requested giveaways.
I think a terrific thing about these cards is the DIY capability! With many outreach events and conferences being virtual this past year and kids attending school from home, it's been especially important to have this option available for audiences in a downloadable form that's easy to assemble.
This project was truly a team effort and the final product encompasses the talents of several people.
https://www.nsf.gov/news/classroom/images/arctic/OPP_AntarcticAnimals_DIY_2020_GD_v1.3jd_508_Final.pdf