Sandra Markle book is an exploration into scientific efforts to preserve and explore the polar regions. She relates how she feels these deserts of ice are crucial for sustaining the world's life, even though apparently nothing lives on the surface (with the exception of a small midge fly, a permanent resident of Antarctica). She engages her students through experimental activities to help them understand the concepts behind many of the pioneering efforts. The difficulties of sustaining life in these harsh barren environments is one of the facts she tries to impress upon her readers. Looking at some of the dynamic and cyclical changes in these polar areas is one of the reasons scientists are so interested in making in-roads into these areas. Each chapter begins with a "They are..." followed by what "they", the scientists, are doing to understand the fragile existence and timelessness of the poles.

Some of the various reasons given for exploring and excavating these polar areas, is to discover the pathways of deep-sea water currents, excavate ice cores to discover secrets about earth's prehistory, track polar bears and penguins to discover their seasonal habits, monitor krill populations, investigate the aurora borealis to see if it can be used as an alternative energy resource, and test artificial environments for their use as possible space survival stations. This book also has a lot of interesting information about glaciers: how they form, where they are usually located, how they effect the earth, and how they move over time. This is a great book for an elementary school student interested in glaciers, or any student (ages 8-12) interested in the various in-roads scientists have made in learning about these mysterious areas of our globe. ( )