Polar Animals
Explore animals of the Arctic and Antarctic, polar bears, Arctic foxes, and walruses in the north; penguins, seals, and albatrosses in the south, and understand how polar animals survive extreme cold through thick fur or blubber, huddling behaviour, and seasonal changes like white winter coats
What a learner can do afterwards
- Names at least 3 animals each from the Arctic and Antarctic
- Explains at least two adaptations for surviving cold (blubber, thick fur, huddling, white camouflage)
- Knows polar bears live only in the Arctic and penguins only in the Antarctic/Southern Hemisphere
1 · Read
Earth has two icy ends: the Arctic at the very top (the north) and the Antarctic at the very bottom (the south). Different animals live at each pole, and they never meet in the wild. In the Arctic you will find polar bears, Arctic foxes, and walruses. In the Antarctic you will find penguins, seals, and albatrosses.
A polar bear swims through freezing Arctic water. Under its fur is a thick layer of blubber, a kind of fat, that keeps its body warm. Far away in Antarctica, hundreds of emperor penguins huddle close together in a tight group. Each penguin blocks the wind for its neighbours, so the whole group stays warmer.
Polar bears live only in the Arctic, at the north pole. Wild penguins live in the southern half of the world, and none live in the Arctic, so polar bears and penguins never meet in the wild. Some Arctic animals, like the Arctic fox, also grow a white winter coat that camouflages them in the snow, then turn brown again in summer.
Polar animals survive extreme cold with blubber, thick fur, and huddling, and Arctic animals like polar bears never share the wild with Antarctic animals like penguins.
More to read
Module 7: Mammal Responses to Climate Change in the Past and the Future with Neotoma Explorer
Earth has two frozen ends. The Arctic sits on top of the world, and the Antarctic sits at the bottom. In the Arctic live polar bears, Arctic foxes, walruses, and seals. In the Antarctic live penguins, more seals, and great whales. Polar bears live only in the north. Penguins live only in the south. They never meet.
How do these animals stand the cold? Blubber, a thick layer of fat under the skin, works like a warm coat. Thick fur traps heat too. Penguins huddle in crowds to share warmth. And white fur blends into snow, hiding hunters and hunted alike. Where an animal lives depends a lot on temperature. When the world warms or cools, the cold edges move, and polar animals must move with them.
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2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.