Fun for kids

One of the jobs down here is to liaise with various schools who are studying about Antarctica. The doctor and one of the Met observers has this particular honour this year and during the week the doctor was fielding some weather based questions, so he asked us three on the Meteorology team to provide some answers.

Here are my attempts:

Q. We have found out that it does not rain in Antarctica it only snows. Is that true? (Joshua). 
A. No, sometimes it rains cats and dogs (but hailing taxis hurts more).

Q. We also learnt that there are only two seasons. (Genesis)
A. That's right, there's only two seasons: salt and pepper.

Q. Is it true it is always light in summer? 
A. Generally speaking, yes, but it depends on where you are on the continent.

Q. Is it true that it is a desert? (Bethany) It is the coldest, windiest and driest place on earth? 
A. Yep, definitely a dessert, that's why it's white. We live on an ice-cream continent and there's chocolate underneath.

Q. What kind of force does the wind use? (Joshua again)  
A. Considering what we've been eating, I'd say the force of some pretty strong bowels.

Q. We love to learn about Antartctica. (Heta). We learnt that it has 90% of the world's ice. How did the snow get there? 
A. The elves brought it in using trucks pulled by giant snow dogs.

Q. Is it true it is the 5th largest continent? (Temayana) 
A. Yes

Q. How do you survive the wind? 
A. Put Mark B in his room.

Q. How cold is it in Antarctica? 
A. Cold enough to freeze a person stiff within 5min. I think the coldest recorded temp was -89.9ºC at Vostok station.

Q. How cold does it get at Casey Station? 
A. Around -35ºC in the depths of winter, which is why we cut a hole in the sea ice and go swimming.

Q. Is it true the hottest day was minus 10? 
A. Probably somewhere, but our hottest temp so far this season was about +5ºC. Although the radiant heat at ground level was about +19ºC (according to moss researcher Jess on one of her 24hr monitoring days).

Q. Has a penguin ever tried to attack you? 
A. Yes, but I was on Macquarie Island at the time. A king penguin saw me trying to steal one of its royal followers and it ran up to me squawking and beating me with its wing. Finally it pecked me on the nose and I let go. I felt very ashamed by being beaten up by a penguin and don't like to talk about it. Thanks for bringing that up - jerks.

Here's the game for those at home, which answers are true and which ones aren't?