Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi together with Alexander Kirilov, acting director general of Russian Arctic National Park, taught the lesson "The Arctic Region as Russia's Façade" to 10^th graders from Moscow's school No. 1288, the ministry's website reads. The lesson was dedicated to Polar Explorer Day.

"We must tell our children about the importance of the Arctic, historic stages in its exploration, polar animals and climate conditions. In my opinion, every school student must know this. It is very important that the first class on this topic is being held before a landmark date in history. Eighty years ago, the first drifting ice station headed by legendary polar explorer Ivan Papanin became operational near the North Pole," the minister said.

The school students showed the most interest in hydrocarbon resources in the Russian Arctic; the history of discovering large deposits; the future of the drifting polar research stations in the context of climate change; and the construction of the North Pole ice-resistant self-propelled platform.

At the end of the lesson, Sergei Donskoi viewed the exhibition that school students prepared in the run-up to the Year of the Environment.