Beyond Penguins's List: Interdisciplinary Polar Science Unit

This photo gallery allows teachers and students to browse polar images by keyword or by Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears issue. Each image includes credit and use information.

A two-page printable graphic organizer (pdf document) about the Arctic and Antarctica. The first page can be used before learning to activate students' prior knowledge about the polar regions and encourage them to pose questions to frame their learning. The second page is a matrix for recording and comparing information about the Arctic, Antarctica, and students' hometown.

This blog post discusses how teachers can use the Arctic and Antarctica to teach elementary students map skills. Lessons and activities are highlighted for teaching about maps, the equator and hemispheres, latitude and longitude, and Earth's magnetic field.

Making maps with homemade salt dough incorporates kinesthetic experience into geography activities. The maps can be used as a learning activity or an assessment with a variety of tasks and age levels.

This formative assessment probe is designed to assess student misconceptions about the weather and climate at the North and South Poles.

This article discusses misconceptions students may have about weather, climate change, and polar weather and climate. The article also includes formative assessment tools and lessons and activities to shape students' understanding.

This article from the NSTA journal, Science and Children, offers literature-based activities to teach students about the Sun and the "reasons" for the seasons. The article is free for NSTA members and $0.99 for nonmembers.

In this real time data project from CIESE, students observe and track weather in their hometown and two additional locations to learn about weather, factors influencing weather and climate, and weather forecasting. Students also build weather instruments and analyze data using graphs, charts, and averages.

The British Antarctic Survey homepage includes weather data for a variety of Antarctic locations.

This interactive map of the Arctic region allows students to obtain current weather data by clicking on cities, towns, and villages.

In this lesson, students use observations, activities, and videos to learn basic facts about the Sun. Students also model the mechanics of day and night and use solar energy to make a tasty treat.

This nonfiction article is written for use with upper-elementary students (grades 4-5). Students learn about two of Saturn's moons, albedo, the relationship between heat absorption and temperature, and how decreasing sea ice in the Arctic actually contributes to further melting. Modified versions are available for students in grades K-1 and grades 2-3, or any student needing a simplified version. At each grade level, the article is available in three forms: text-only documents, printable illustrated books, and electronic books with audio narration.

After a brief discussion of heat transfer processes in general, this activity will focus on radiation. Students will investigate how different surfaces absorb heat and apply their experience with the surfaces to interpret real-world situations.

This article highlights lessons for primary students that focus on understanding the sun's energy, using a thermometer, and discovering the idea that dark colors absorb more energy. Students in the upper elementary grades test various substances and soil types and begin to make the connection to the difference in albedo between ice, water, and land."

In this introductory activity, students will be introduced to the concept of adaptation by exploring how a polar bear's body adapts to survive in the harsh environment in which it lives. Written for students in grade 4, but can be modified for use with grades K-5.

Students will learn about the polar bear's body coverings and how they help it to survive in the Arctic climate. The activities include a trip to the North Carolina Zoological park and a hands-on experiment to facilitate this goal, followed by reflection on and communication of what they have learned using a variety of media including art and literature. Written for grade 4, but can be modified for use with grades K-5.

In this activity, students simulate the nesting, feeding, and migration of the Arctic Tern.

Your students follow six Adelie penguin families via data and pictures, updated daily. Students can create field books and record observations, weather conditions, and nest status. Typically runs from November to January.

Students create a mobile of Arctic animals that depend on each other for food.

This lesson provides a simple introduction to the Inuit culture of Canada. By reading this picture book, students will discover the unique lifestyles of these Native Americans including the wildlife which are an important part of their lives.