Polar Bears and the Harsh Arctic Environment
Grade Levels: 3 - 5
Objectives
- Students will use vocabulary related to polar bears.
- Students will explore how adaptations help polar bears survive in their harsh Arctic environment.
Materials
- Polar Bears Worksheet
- Polar Bears website (http://www.sfscience.com/english/grade_5/unit_A/chap_3/act_1/1.htm)
- Bears website (http://www.sfzoo.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=13241&orgkey=1900)
Procedures
- Introduce key vocabulary: adaptation, environment, food chain, hibernate, predator, prey.
- Have students visit Polar Bears.
- Ask students to complete the Polar Bears Worksheet using the information found at Bears.
- Encourage students to write additional polar bear facts on the back of their worksheets.
- Students can work individually or with partners.
- Set up a time when students can share their discoveries.
Assessment
Use a rubric to assess students' ability to navigate the Internet, record interesting information, contribute to class discussion, and understand how polar bears adapt to their Arctic environment.
Extension Activities
- Direct students to learn about other animals from the Arctic. Have them select one of the Arctic animals to compare and contrast with the polar bear.
- Challenge students to play an interactive matching game called Polar Pairs (http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/game). As they play, students will learn about the habits and habitats of Arctic animals. Suggest that partners use the game as a model to make their own matching game using polar bear facts.
Standards Correlations
National Science Education Standards
http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/index.html
Students develop an understanding that:
- there is an organization of simple food chains and food webs.
- each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
- an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment.
National Educational Technology Standards
http://cnets.iste.org/
Students:
- are proficient in the use of technology.
- use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
