My husband is spending a few weeks flying over Antarctica as part of a NASA mission to study ice in the area. This has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to learn about the Antarctic, southern Chile and penguins.
We bought an inexpensive globe at Barnes and Noble for about $30 so we can show the boys where "Daddy" is. We've been lucky, as NASA has online tracking resources so we can track "Daddy's" route over the area when he's flying: http://asp-tracker.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/
However, the Web site http://www.flightaware.com will let you track conventional airline flights anywhere in the world.
No matter where we are traveling, National Geographic's Web site provides a host of resources, some tailored just for kids. We learned about Italy from the site earlier in the year, when my husband had a business trip there (which we missed, sadly).
We'll be learning more about Antarctica from this National Geographic site later this morning. Anarctica: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/antarctica/
You don't have to go to the South Pole to get your kids excited about new places, though cute penguins help. A destination two hours away may be just as exciting to young minds. So, buy a globe, get online and learn about our world.
Kirsten W. Larson 