Comparing Arctic & Antarctic
Compare the Arctic and Antarctic in detail — the Arctic is an ocean covered by floating sea ice with surrounding land masses (Canada, Russia, Greenland, Scandinavia), while Antarctica is a continent larger than Europe buried under ice up to 4 km thick; polar bears, Arctic foxes, and walruses live only in the Arctic while penguins, leopard seals, and albatrosses are found only in the Antarctic
What a learner can do afterwards
- State that the Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by land (name at least two bordering countries), while Antarctica is a continent covered by ice sheet up to 4 km thick
- Correctly assign at least three animals to the Arctic and three to the Antarctic
- Name at least two differences in human presence: indigenous peoples in the Arctic vs research stations only in Antarctica
The lesson
You already know the Arctic is a frozen ocean and Antarctica is a frozen continent. Now let's compare them closely: which countries touch the Arctic, how thick Antarctica's ice really is, and which animals belong to each place.
In the Arctic, people called the Inuit have lived on the ice and hunted for thousands of years. Antarctica has never had people living there. Today, only scientists visit, staying at research stations to study the ice and animals.
Here's a way to picture the ice: stacking ten Eiffel Towers on top of each other would still not reach the top of Antarctica's thickest ice, which can reach 4 kilometers deep.
The Arctic is a frozen ocean bordered by countries and native peoples, while Antarctica is a huge ice-covered continent with only scientists and its own set of animals.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 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.