Polar bears - learn about their adaptations to the cold, their natural history, etc. Watch a video, create polar bear webpage, jokes, Christmas ornament. Compare/contrast to other bears (size, habits, proportions of head to body, range, food)

Arctic mammals - there are a lot! Learn about them, develop a classification key, a bulletin board of pictures, follow their migrations (caribou, for instance), uses (musk ox?)

Whales, seals, walrus - learn about the different species, rookeries, feeding strategies, family groupings. Make a classification key, puppets, mobile.

Food webs - arctic and Antarctic, terrestrial as well for arctic. Draw, cut out pictures, do flash cards, make a food pyramid of shoe boxes.

Adaptations of polar aquatic creatures - blubber, antifreeze, for example Importance of krill to polar ecosystems

Arctic cultures - Migration history, appearance, lifestyle, language. Create a personal totem, make kayak or umiak models, try beading or carving (soap?), make an "icehouse " (gallon milk cartons? Styrofoam?) , tan a small skin

Insulation and albedo activities - blubber glove, Project WET activity about keeping an ice cube from melting, temperature of dark surfaces versus light, etc.

Arctic words - a whole new vocabulary! Investigate some of the Inuit words for snow or ice; make a Jeopardy or Bingo game, alphabet

Arctic and Antarctic exploration and explorers - map activities, timelines, skits, reports (Matthew Henson for Black History month, for example), survival activities

Antarctic legislation - the only land mass on earth that belongs to everyone

Physical Science - the ionosphere, magnetosphere, radiation belts, the Aurora borealis (and Aurora australis), electromagnetic spectrum

Seasons - still many misconceptions among students and adults

Polar astronomy - views from both poles
True, geographical, magnetic North Poles, declination
Navigation, Great Circles, examination of how native peoples navigated?

Oceanography: Arctic Conveyor Belt for oceanic circulation, water masses (Antarctic Bottom Water, North Atlantic Deep Water, for example), currents, Coriolis Effect, changes in sea level

Pack ice, sea ice - connections to global warming and sea level rise, impacts on polar ecosystems (permafrost in the tundra, migration patterns)

Global climate change over time - ice cores! Drilling on land and ship

Ocean exploration - new frontiers, new technology. Satellites, ROVs, modular scientific stations, sno-cats, polar gear

Science careers

Meteorites - many fall on Antarctica!

Earth Observations - satellites (wide array of NOAA and others)
Undersea/ Under the ice- Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous
Underwater Vehicles (AUV), information available at the MATE website: www.marinetech.org/rov_competition/index.php