AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Antarctica is a desert. It does not rain or snow a lot there. When it snows, the snow does not melt and builds up over many years to make large, thick sheets of ice, called ice sheets. Antarctica is made up of lots of ice in the form of glaciers, ice shelves and icebergs.

Detailed explanation-2: -While Antarctica is classified as a desert, many of the nearby islands are considered tundra, including the South Shetland Islands, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

Detailed explanation-3: -The largest desert on Earth is Antarctica, which covers 14.2 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles). It is also the coldest desert on Earth, even colder than the planet’s other polar desert, the Arctic. Composed of mostly ice flats, Antarctica has reached temperatures as low as-89°C (-128.2°F).

Detailed explanation-4: -Antarctica is covered in ice and has minimum temperatures that reach below a chilling-80˚C (-112˚F). But Antarctica receives very little rain and snow, which makes it a desert. The low amount of rain or other precipitation that falls from the clouds, like snow or sleet, is often what defines a desert.

Detailed explanation-5: -Antarctica is the only continent to contain only one biome: the polar regions of the south pole! The species native to this continent feature exciting adaptations, and students can deduce why no examples of amphibian or reptile species are found there.