Speaker 1: The feeling of getting to Antarctica for the first time
Speaker 1: and seeing the landscape is the most amazing experience ever.
Speaker 1: We fly down on planes and we land on a
Speaker 1: runway that's made of ice, so when you step off,
Speaker 1: you're wearing all of your cold weather gear to keep
Speaker 1: you safe and warm in the cold environment. And the
Speaker 1: first time you step off the plane, the first breath
Speaker 1: that you take is so cold it almost almost hurts
Speaker 1: your lungs because you're not quite expecting it to be
Speaker 1: as cold as it is.
Speaker 2: That right there is engineer Maddie Jordan. Now, engineering is
Speaker 2: always fascinating, but especially so when you have to work
Speaker 2: in the coldest place on Earth. That's because Maddie works
Speaker 2: in Antarctica, where he builds and maintains all sorts of
Speaker 2: stuff from how to science labs for all the researchers
Speaker 2: who do incredible science down there, and he also enjoys
Speaker 2: hanging out with penguins. Welcome to Growing Up, the Lingo
Speaker 2: Kids podcast that encourages kids to dream big and discover
Speaker 2: who they want to be. Join us on an epic
Speaker 2: adventure to uncover the secrets behind awesome skills, cool hobbies
Speaker 2: and the incredible journeys of people who followed their dreams.
Speaker 3: This sand castle is huge, Emily. I love the walls,
Speaker 3: the towers and the little windows.
Speaker 2: We did a great job of Louise. Now, just a
Speaker 2: few more scoops of sand to make sure the base
Speaker 2: is really strong.
Speaker 3: There. No, Emily, it's still missing something.
Speaker 2: What's that, Louise, ha a flag on the tippy top there.
Speaker 3: Now it looks like a real castle. Now we can
Speaker 3: make the rest of the sand kingdom. Let's make houses
Speaker 3: and a little town with the bakery at the barber shop.
Speaker 2: And hold on, Louise. If a big wave comes, it'll
Speaker 2: crash the sand castle.
Speaker 3: Oh, you're right, we need.
Speaker 2: To protect it. Got any ideas?
Speaker 3: So we can't stop the waves? No, so what if
Speaker 3: we make a hole like around the whole castle?
Speaker 2: Uh huh?
Speaker 3: So when the water comes, it fills it up.
Speaker 2: That's a good idea, Louise. Instead of hitting the castle,
Speaker 2: the water will fill the We got it.
Speaker 3: Pass me that shovel, Emily.
Speaker 2: Here you go like this, Emily, it looks like a circle.
Speaker 2: All right. Oh, watch out for that wave, Louise.
Speaker 3: Whoa, that was close, Emily.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that circle you drew was a great idea. Sounds
Speaker 2: like you were thinking just like an engineer, Louise.
Speaker 3: An engineer, yep.
Speaker 2: An engineer is someone who tries to solve problems. For example,
Speaker 2: we just had a problem, which was how to make
Speaker 2: water not hit the castle, and you came up with
Speaker 2: a solution.
Speaker 3: Oh, I get it. So if I'd lose a toy
Speaker 3: and I find it, then I'm an engineer.
Speaker 2: Well not quite, Louise. You see, in order to solve problems,
Speaker 2: engineers build things, just like you made that circle and
Speaker 2: the sand. Engineers are all around us.
Speaker 3: Really, where are they, Emily?
Speaker 2: Well see this water bottle I have right here. It
Speaker 2: was made by an engineer.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, And what about those beach houses over there?
Speaker 2: They were made by engineers too.
Speaker 3: In the car we got to go to the beach with.
Speaker 2: An engineer made the car and the road too. Engineering
Speaker 2: is all around us, Louise. That's why we're having an
Speaker 2: engineer on the grown up Talking Game show today.
Speaker 3: Really, no way, Please tell me it's someone who builds
Speaker 3: sand castles.
Speaker 2: Well, he does build things, but not from sand. He
Speaker 2: makes buildings on ice.
Speaker 3: Ice. No way.
Speaker 2: His name is Maddie Jordan. He's one of a kind
Speaker 2: because he works in the coldest place in the world.
Speaker 2: Very few engineers in the world get to be there.
Speaker 3: Where's that, Emily.
Speaker 2: It's called Antarctica and Tarctica.
Speaker 3: You got it.
Speaker 2: Antarctica is a very large continent made entirely of a
Speaker 2: and it's at the very south of our planet.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 3: I see, But wait, if it's so cold, do many
Speaker 3: people live over there, Emily?
Speaker 2: Actually very few people do. In fact, it's the only
Speaker 2: place on Earth without countries. No one lives there full time.
Speaker 3: Wait does that mean the only people there are just visiting?
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 2: The weather conditions are so harsh that the only people
Speaker 2: who go there go for work.
Speaker 3: That's amazing, Emily. But what are they working on there?
Speaker 2: Well, lots of scientists go there to study wildlife, you see.
Speaker 2: There's lots of animals in Antarctica, seals, birds, whales, and
Speaker 2: of course penguins.
Speaker 3: I love penguins, Emily. I wonder what it's like to
Speaker 3: be in the cold all the time.
Speaker 2: Speaking of cold, let's get some ice cream to cool
Speaker 2: off from this heat and get ready to talk to
Speaker 2: this Antarctic man.
Speaker 5: Sure, let's go. Oh brain freeze, Emily.
Speaker 3: Do you think living in Antarctica is like having a
Speaker 3: brain freeze all the time.
Speaker 2: Well, I wouldn't put it like that, but it is
Speaker 2: very cold and very dark. You see, groups of scientists
Speaker 2: go to Antarctica every year to study our planet's climate,
Speaker 2: and they need good places to stay while they're there.
Speaker 2: Imagine this, Louis. They can only stay there for nine
Speaker 2: months at a time because of the freezing cold and darkness.
Speaker 3: I've got chills just from thinking about it. How do
Speaker 3: they stay warm? Do they make a fire?
Speaker 2: Well that's where our guests comes in. These Antarctic visitors
Speaker 2: need light and heat, so engineers like Maddie build shelters
Speaker 2: for them to be safe. Isn't it great that he
Speaker 2: gets to work in one of the most special places
Speaker 2: on the planet.
Speaker 3: So Maddy gets to solve problems and build amazing things
Speaker 3: on ice.
Speaker 2: That's right?
Speaker 3: Oh wow, I have so many questions. Let's go.
Speaker 2: Welcome to our growing up talking game show. Please welcome
Speaker 2: our very special guest for today, Maddie Jordan, an engineer
Speaker 2: who's also a true Antarcticon. He's been called Antarctica's biggest influencer,
Speaker 2: and he's one of the few people in the world
Speaker 2: who gets to live in Antarctica for most of the year.
Speaker 2: Please welcome Maddie Jordan. So let's get to know each
Speaker 2: other a little better. Maddie, my first question is why
Speaker 2: did you become an engineer in Antarctica.
Speaker 1: I think for me this all kick started with being
Speaker 1: born in a place like Australia, where we have hot
Speaker 1: and dry summers. I was always used to spending my
Speaker 1: free time at the beach and I didn't actually say
Speaker 1: snow until I was nineteen years old, so I think
Speaker 1: that was one of the one of the drivers.
Speaker 3: That's so cool. I've only seen snow a couple of times.
Speaker 3: And as being an engineer in Antarctica any different than
Speaker 3: being an engineer anywhere else.
Speaker 4: There are a lot of things that we do need
Speaker 4: to consider.
Speaker 1: So generally, if you're building in a city, in a
Speaker 1: town somewhere, you usually have access to things like a
Speaker 1: hardware store or somewhere where you can go and get
Speaker 1: resupplies if you run out of nuts and bolts and
Speaker 1: things like that.
Speaker 4: But we can't do that in Antarctica.
Speaker 3: There's no stores in Antarctica. So what do you have
Speaker 3: to do? Do you bring everything with you exactly?
Speaker 1: We have to plan really well to make sure that
Speaker 1: we've got everything that we need. Another thing to consider
Speaker 1: is that we ultimately need to be self sufficient.
Speaker 3: Self suff self.
Speaker 2: Sufficient, self sufficient, you got it. Self sufficient means that
Speaker 2: you can have everything you need without outside I'd help.
Speaker 3: Oh it sounds like you're going through another planet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how do you have food and water in Antarctica? Maddie.
Speaker 1: So we live in a place where we produce our
Speaker 1: own drinking water, where we need to treat all of
Speaker 1: our waste.
Speaker 4: We need to generate our own power.
Speaker 1: We actually take the sea water from the ocean, convert
Speaker 1: that to drinking water, and then that becomes the water
Speaker 1: that we use. So we have to think about everything
Speaker 1: that you would have basically in a small town to
Speaker 1: live and work safely.
Speaker 2: That's why engineers are so important in Antarctica.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they need to think of everything to live there. Maddie.
Speaker 3: I have a question. Have you ever seen penguins up close?
Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, I just think they're the funniest and the
Speaker 1: silliest little animals.
Speaker 3: Oh oh that's so cool. I love penguins. What are
Speaker 3: they like? I love how they look like they're in
Speaker 3: suits all the time. Are they grumpy? Are they happy?
Speaker 1: So penguins are really, really funny. And I think the
Speaker 1: thing that fascinates me with penguins is that's just how
Speaker 1: curious they are.
Speaker 3: Really, what are they curious about?
Speaker 1: They're really interested in things that aren't quite normal for them.
Speaker 1: So I remember one occasion we saw some and they
Speaker 1: were a really long way away.
Speaker 3: Did you get closer?
Speaker 1: We've got some rules around how close we're allowed to
Speaker 1: approach them, so we need to stay more than ten
Speaker 1: meters away from the wildlife. But if we sit down
Speaker 1: and wait for the wildlife to approach us, then it's
Speaker 1: okay because the wildlife feels comfortable.
Speaker 2: That must be so magical, Maddie and I think it's
Speaker 2: always good to remind ourselves that we need to have
Speaker 2: a safe distance from wildlife so that we can respect
Speaker 2: their environment.
Speaker 3: So what happened with the penguins, Maddie.
Speaker 4: We just sat down and waited.
Speaker 1: About fifteen minutes later, they waddled over as they do,
Speaker 1: these great big emperor penguins, which can grow to one
Speaker 1: point two meters, which is about the same size as
Speaker 1: a young child, sort.
Speaker 4: Of like a five six seven year old child.
Speaker 3: That's almost my size, And my mom calls me a
Speaker 3: little penguins sometimes, and.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's because you're so curious all the time. I
Speaker 2: the Oh, that's sweet. And how do penguins express their curiosity, Maddie.
Speaker 1: So they come up really close and they look around,
Speaker 1: they give you a sniff. They might, you know, put
Speaker 1: their beat down on your boots or something like that,
Speaker 1: just to check out what this.
Speaker 4: Strange thing is.
Speaker 3: And what do they do next.
Speaker 4: Once they've come over and said hello, they just walk off.
Speaker 3: Working in Antarctica sounds great. You can hang out with
Speaker 3: the penguins and everything, except for the cold. I prefer
Speaker 3: the sunshine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the cold's definitely not for everyone. But Maddie, I
Speaker 2: understand you actually prefer to be an Antarctica during the
Speaker 2: winter when it's even colder. Why is that?
Speaker 1: My favorite thing in Antarctica was getting to spend the
Speaker 1: winter down there. Pretty much every day when I walked outside,
Speaker 1: I could see the Aurora, the Southern lights, Aurora Australis
Speaker 1: in the sky, and seeing the Milky Way and the moon,
Speaker 1: and just being in this environment with no light pollution,
Speaker 1: away from cities, with no noise.
Speaker 3: Wait, what was that aurora?
Speaker 2: Yes? Oh, there are these very beautiful bright lights that
Speaker 2: cover the night sky. When you're really close to the
Speaker 2: North or South Pole and the south they're known as
Speaker 2: the Aurora Australis or the Southern Lights.
Speaker 3: Oh like fireworks, No, I really want to go to Antarctica.
Speaker 3: I want to see them.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite things to do was just to
Speaker 1: go outside of my own lie down in the snow,
Speaker 1: look up at the sky and the stars and the aurora,
Speaker 1: and just be in an environment that's got no noise.
Speaker 1: There's no traffic, there's no people, you know, shouting, there's
Speaker 1: no conversations. You can just get away from it and
Speaker 1: hear complete silence.
Speaker 2: That sounds so amazing, Maddie. Oh, I'd love to see that. Now,
Speaker 2: tell us a little bit about your work down in Antarctica.
Speaker 2: What do you love the most about being an engineer there.
Speaker 1: We had a team of seventeen people at the research
Speaker 1: station that I was based at, Scott Base, and we
Speaker 1: were all working together to make sure that the base
Speaker 1: was ready for the upcoming summer. We essentially just make
Speaker 1: sure that the base is ready for when the scientists
Speaker 1: come back, that everything's stocked, resupplied, cleaned, so that when
Speaker 1: they get back there they're ready to just dive into
Speaker 1: their research and do the work.
Speaker 4: That they're doing, so we kept the lights on.
Speaker 2: So you basically make sure the buildings where you live
Speaker 2: and work are in good condition and properly heated. That's
Speaker 2: super important.
Speaker 3: Yeah, can you imagine if the heat didn't work, Maddie.
Speaker 3: I want to go to Antarctica and meet the penguins.
Speaker 3: How can I work there? Like you?
Speaker 1: I think for kids, there is a need for people
Speaker 1: to continue the research and the work that we do
Speaker 1: in Antarctica. So if there are kids out there that
Speaker 1: have an interest in biology, they can go and study penguins.
Speaker 1: If there are kids out there that have an interest
Speaker 1: in space, they can go and study physics and astrophysics
Speaker 1: in Antarctica. If people have an interest in ice or glaciers,
Speaker 1: they can go and study glaciology and antarctica.
Speaker 4: So there are many options.
Speaker 1: But I think now with kids that are growing up
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, they are the ones ultimately that
Speaker 1: are going to continue all of the amazing climate research
Speaker 1: and science that's happening to make the planet a better
Speaker 1: place to live in.
Speaker 2: Really, that's so inspiring. People with all sorts of interests
Speaker 2: can see this one of a kind place on Earth.
Speaker 3: I'm in for the penguins.
Speaker 2: So I just have one last question, Mattie. Where would
Speaker 2: you like your job to take you next?
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good question. I don't think I'm done
Speaker 1: with Antarctica. I think I will always stay involved in
Speaker 1: Antarctica in some way. I think for me, this is
Speaker 1: my passion, this is something that I love, and I
Speaker 1: don't I just can't see myself doing anything different. I
Speaker 1: think now that I found I found my passion, I
Speaker 1: found what I love, and I don't think I'm ever
Speaker 1: going to let it go.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for the wonderful chat, Maddie. Now
Speaker 2: it's game time.
Speaker 3: Yes, game on, Maddie. Today, I want to play this
Speaker 3: or that. So I'm just going to give you two options.
Speaker 3: You have to choose between the two of them, and
Speaker 3: then you can just choose as fast as you can
Speaker 3: whichever one you prefer. Are you ready?
Speaker 4: Absolutely awesome?
Speaker 3: So first question, get to Intoxica by ship or by plane?
Speaker 1: I would rather go to Antarctic get by a plane
Speaker 1: because I get really seasick.
Speaker 3: Okay, perfect Number two. Summer or winter.
Speaker 1: I prefer the winter just because of the natural environment
Speaker 1: and the experiences that we get seeing the auroras and
Speaker 1: the stars, that for me is really special.
Speaker 3: Okay, next one, sea ice or land ice.
Speaker 1: Or that's that's a tough question because there are like
Speaker 1: multiple different forms of land ice. I'll say I prefer
Speaker 1: sea ice because that's where we see the penguins.
Speaker 3: Penguin team is my team. And speaking of which, next one,
Speaker 3: talking to penguins or talking to seals.
Speaker 1: Oh, definitely the ability to talk to penguins. That for
Speaker 1: me would be the most amazing thing. I would love
Speaker 1: to know what's going on in the penguins brain.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 2: Can I do the next one, Louise?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 2: Emily Maddie, if you were walking around in Antarctica, would
Speaker 2: you prefer going to the deepest part of the ice
Speaker 2: or to the highest peak of an Antarctic mountain.
Speaker 1: I'd probably go to the highest peak of an Antarctic mountain.
Speaker 1: The tallest mountain in Antarctica is Vincent massif and I
Speaker 1: think the view from the top of that would be
Speaker 1: pretty spectacular.
Speaker 3: Amazing. Thanks for playing with us, Maddie.
Speaker 2: What do you think about being an Antarctic engineer, Louise.
Speaker 3: It's so cool being an engineer because you can solve
Speaker 3: so many different problems. You can build buildings, but also
Speaker 3: cars and help other people do what they love the most,
Speaker 3: like scientists and penguins.
Speaker 2: That's right. And what about Antarctica.
Speaker 3: Oh, Antarctica is one of the most magical places in
Speaker 3: the world. You get ice, lots of ice for ice cream,
Speaker 3: and you can help out scientists over there too.
Speaker 2: I totally want to go there someday.
Speaker 3: Me too, Emily. Oh, and we can see how to
Speaker 3: penguins you bet.
Speaker 2: Thanks for tagging along on this episode of Growing Up
Speaker 2: all about Antarctic engineering, exploring and building in the most
Speaker 2: remote place on Earth to solve problems and make the
Speaker 2: world a better place. Remember, little listener, dream big, and
Speaker 2: always stay curious. Luis, are you ready for more adventure?
Speaker 2: Wait there's more Yep, there is loads more to explore
Speaker 2: on the world's number one learning app for kids, Lingo Kids.
Speaker 2: It has tons of videos, games and podcasts just like
Speaker 2: this one, and every single one is fun and educational.
Speaker 2: Download the Lingo Kids app today for free.
Speaker 3: Laads can seen the side there based by paper of