The Arctic Triptych

We have a reproducible unit on data analysis called “The Arctic Triptych.”  Here are classroom activities to go with the unit:

• The arctic triptych we’re thinking of here is a trio of animals: arctic wolves, polar bears, and seals. Have students research these three animals individually and then gather into work groups. Have each group create a graphic organizer — for example, a table comparing the three animals’ size and other basic info, a map showing where they live, or a mind map for each animal. Plan as a class so that each group’s creation covers a different set of data. Use the graphic organizers to make a bulletin board.
• Set up a big chart or space on the board to gather data. As students do their research, gather number sentences they discover: “There are 33 species of seals,” for example. Use this list of number sentences in math practice examples throughout the unit.
• At the end of the unit, have students divide into two teams. Have each team create word problems using the data collected during the unit. Swap problems, so that each team answers the questions the other team created. Have a math bee with the questions.
• One of the reproducibles in the unit uses data from the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year, $650 billion project with more than 2,700 scientists seeking to identify all the species that live in the ocean. Encourage students to explore the website of the project and write reports.
• Once you’ve learned about the Census, set aside a section of your bulletin board to collect news stories on it. You can also set a Google Alert to make sure you get online news.
• One of the conclusions of the Census is that the population of the oceans is changing. This project didn’t include marine mammals like the polar bear and seal, and of course it didn’t include the arctic wolf. Ask students to consider whether the three arctic mammals in the picture above would be affected by changes in the population of ocean habitats. Put students in pairs to research the question and then regroup to discuss the question as a class. Practice making “if-then” statements using the information and ideas they come up with.
• Polar bears eat seals. Polar bears don’t eat wolves, nor do wolves eat seals. Does this mean that wolves are not in the same food web as the polar bear and the seal? Discuss the idea of a food chain and of a food web.
• The three arctic animals above have something unusual in common: all three turn up in folklore as shape-shifters or werebeasts. Werewolves are common in European folklore. Selkies, seal people who can take off their skins and live as humans, are found in the folklore of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, and Scandinavia. Norway has “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” the fairy tale of a polar bear who is actually an enchanted prince, and early Norse mythology has werebear warriors. The Arctic Triptych unit has reproducible reading pages for two of these stories. Have students find and read such tales, and then create stories of their own about werebeasts.
• Study the arctic circle, where all these animals are found. Map the territories of the three animals, and learn about the people who live in this region.
• Data from the Census of Marine Life shows that arthropods are the largest number of species in the sea, just as they are the largest number of species on earth. Compare the numbers of arthropods and mammals in both settings. Clearly, insects and spiders and crustaceans have the numbers. And yet if we watch the news or read books on the arctic, we see much more discussion of these three mammals than of flies or shrimp. Why? Ask students to develop a hypothesis and write about it. Possible answers, if you need an example, might be because we’re mammals ourselves, or because seals are cuter than mosquitoes. Encourage students to brainstorm and use lateral thinking to develop their hypotheses
• The habitat of arctic animals is being affected by climate change. Use global warming lesson plans to study this issue. The National Wildlife Federation has a discussion of the effect of global warming on polar bears with links to a variety of related articles. Yet there are also people who believe that polar bears are not actually in any danger, and others who feel that the extinction of polar bears would be acceptable. (I haven’t found any good articles taking either of these positions for classroom reading; if you have a suggestion, please add it in the comments  — thanks!) Seals and wolves are not currently considered endangered, but their habitat is certainly changing. An article from the National Resource Defense Council summarizes the main effects. Organize a classroom debate on whether or not this is a problem.
• Following the debate or any of the writing assignments in this post, discuss how students collected and used data to make up their minds about questions and to support their positions. As a class, create three goals to work toward to improve students’ use of data. Possible goals might be to avoid unsupported claims, to check sources before accepting data, or to use math to understand statistics more completely before using them as support.

Here are a couple of our worksheets for young students:

• Polar animal writing page is a pdf file leading young students to write a sentence each about some polar animals and then to create a paragraph. It’s for little ones, but flexible — it could be a brainstorming tool for older elementary writers.
• Polar animals counting page for preschool or kindergarten features cute polar animals — there is a penguin, but there’s also a note to share with the kids explaining that the penguin lives at the South Pole. Do a little map or globe work to clarify.

For your classroom:

• Arctic Plants & Animals Mini Bulletin Board
• Cartoon Polar Bears Bulletin Board
• The World of the Polar Bear
• Plush Polar Bear Cuddlekin 30″
• Cuddlekins Wolf
• Safari Ltd Arctic Toob