Animals of Polar Regions: Information

Various Animals

The Antarctic Connection

Choose your animal and then scroll way down for short snippets of information on the different animals and birds. The nice thing about this information is they provide the same information for all the featured animals and birds. Thus, it is easy to use the information to construct concept maps. The slide show feature works only in certain browsers.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Cool Antarctica: Antarctic Wildlife

Appropriate for grades 4-9, the students can scroll down to see the common names and scientific names of many different types of wildlife. The links go to a page with a description of the animal, many graphics and answers to questions students may have about the animal. The descriptions are short and easy-to-read.

Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment
Nature of Science Standard 11: Understands the nature of scientific knowledge
Nature of Science Standard 12: Understands the nature of scientific inquiry

National Marine Mammal Laboratory EdWeb

This index helps students find appropriate and accurate information on a many different types of seals and whales seen in Antarctica and the Arctic.The pictures are great and the facts are easy to read in most of these resources. The pictures are from NOAA and thus available for educator use, but copyright must be cited.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Enchanted Learning - Antarctic Animal Printouts

A series of information sheets and print-outs on Animals of the Antarctic, most provide labeled diagrams and short information sheets. Perfect for use in a short research project.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Wildlife of the Arctic

Written from the perspective of an Inuit elder, this site talks about the role of different wildlife as food for the Inuit. Use the links on the right to learn about different animals. Probably best for older kids. Would go well with a unit on nutrition.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Enchanted Learning - Arctic Animal Printouts

Like the Antarctic Animals series mentioned above, there are labeled diagrams and short information sheets for approximately 30 different animals. Perfect for use in a short research project.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Hinterland Who's Who of the Arctic

Published by the Canadian Wildlife Service, this site provides accurate information about a large number of Arctic birds and mammals. Take links on the left side of the page to see other pages. Each article contains at least one graphic. This makes a good site for student research on Animals of the Arctic. You can also download PDF files on each animal if computer access is limited.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Birds

Pete & Barbara's Penguin Pages - Antarctica

Lots of educational information provided here. The index makes it simple to find the information needed and the information is provided in short snippets. This site is perfect for getting students started on a penguin research project or for a WebQuest or Track about penguins. The authors also will answer questions from students who have already read the material and who ask thoughtful questions. It's an opportunity to practice letter-writing skills and ask questions of an expert. Library media specialists will also appreciate the information they provide about good books on the topic.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment.

Adelie Penguins-Antarctic

Lots of good information for students grades 5-9 about this funny and amazing creature. At the bottom of the page is a sound file that allows you to hear the sounds made by these penguins. This site also provides links to similar pages on Emperor Penguins (again with sound), Killer whales, and Minke whales. A nice site for student research.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Research on Emperor Penguins - Antarctic

Wonderful online videos will help students, grades 2-9, learn more about how scientists study the habits of the Emperor penguin. Students in the lower grades will find the story of Snowflake, the rare white penguin, very interesting. The slides and movies are quite clear and beautiful and increase student interest in penguins.

Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment
Nature of Science Standard 11: Understands the nature of scientific knowledge
Nature of Science Standard 12: Understands the nature of scientific inquiry

Antarctic Birds

70 South provides a one page description for over 25 types of birds including a variety of Albatross, Petrels, Scuas, and Terns. Take the links in their right-hand navigation menu to see the descriptions. Almost all have a nice photograph and statistics on hatching time, size and weight. Good for comparative study and graphing.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Mammals

Seal Cam (Antarctic)

Describes the difficulty of photographing Weddell seals in their native habitat. You can see things from the seal's point of view in the movies provided along the left side of this site. Kids love these little movies!

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment
Nature of Science Standard 11: Understands the nature of scientific knowledge

Feenick's Polar Bear Scientific Information

Answers many questions about the polar bear and has reliable information from Seaworld Polar Bear pages. Has been reorganized to help answer typical research paper questions.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Serious Arctic

Provided by the BBC, the Interactive Polar Bear provides an interesting way to learn some facts about this interesting animal. The diaries and video diaries follow the work of a team of high school students as they learn how to drive dog sleds.

Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Fish and Crustaceans

AWI: Ice Tour - Krill

A short description and a couple of pictures of krill.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)
Life Science Standard 6: . Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

Antarctic Fish

A one page list of the fish found in the Antarctic region. The list gives the scientific name and a one-sentence description.

Life Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms (animal features)