This page includes links to resources to go along with my Arctic Unit! Find the Arctic Unit and other nature-based learning materials in my Shop!
1.) Arctic Animal Research Project: suggested resources (external links)
- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game website includes profiles for many Alaskan animals, including animals found above the Arctic circle.
- Websites for National Parks, State Parks, and other Natural Areas often have information on local species. Did you know there are parks and other natural areas that lie partially or entirely above the Arctic circle? Here are a few:
- The website of Shubenacadie Wildlife Park includes species profiles for Arctic birds and mammals
- The National Wildlife Federation has profiles of US animals organized by category – including some Arctic animals found in Alaska.
- View the San Diego Zoo website for information and species profiles for a variety of animals, including some Arctic animals
- If you are researching an Arctic bird species, try visiting the following bird websites:
- The Audubon website’s search bar can help you find info on many different birds
- Cornell’s All About Birds is another great website for info on birds
- USGS’s Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter has information to help identify North American birds
- If you picked a marine mammal, fish, or other aquatic animal, you will likely find a species profile for your animal on the NOAA Fisheries website
2.) Sea Ice – satellite imagery (external links)
- Sea Ice Imagery (recent)
- Find today’s satellite images of sea ice on the National Snow and Ice Data Center website.
- To view previous months, scroll down until you see “Archives” on the right side of the screen and select the month and year you want to view.
- Sea Ice Imagery (1990s to present)
- View this animation from NASA’s Earth Observatory of the summer and winter sea ice extent from the 1990s to the present
3.) Additional free lesson plans – resources for instructors (external links)
I’ve put together this list of free lesson plans on Arctic-related topics including animal adaptations, food webs, sea ice, and climate change. These lesson plans will go well with my Arctic unit and are great for adapting and expanding upon the unit.
- California Academy of Sciences offers this free Habitat Adaptation Match-Up activity with worksheets. This is not an Arctic lesson – it focuses on marine species. But it definitely could be helpful for learning about adaptations in general (grades 1-3)
- PBS has a Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers lesson plan – great to introduce these terms if they are new to your students! (grades 3-5)
- Impacts of Climate Change lesson plan, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (~5th grade)
- PBS offers an Arctic Animals and a Changing Climate lesson plan (grades 5-8)
- Study Earth’s orbit, seasons, and more with this Reasons For the Seasons webpage (multiple resources and lessons) from Cornell University’s Middle School Portal 2 website (~grades 6-8)
- Investigating Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic and Antarctic lesson plan from My NASA Data (grades 6-12)
- Here is a wonderful, hands-on climate change lesson for older students, initially developed by O’Reilly, C.M., D.C. Richardson, and R.D. Gougis as part of Project EDDIE: Climate Change. For the activity, students will graph real ice core data and use it to compare past and current trends in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations! Requires Microsoft Excel or similar software. (~upper high school & beyond)
- CU Boulder put together this big list of Ice Lesson Plans (various grade levels)
- NOAA’s Ocean Explorer website includes links for several Arctic Lesson Plans (various grade levels)
- Ohio State University’s Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears website includes tons of teaching materials and lesson plans for activities related to climate change, sea ice, arctic animals, and much more (various grade levels)
- Find a sunrise and sunset calendar for your location, from timeanddate.com (not a grade-specific activity)
- Arctic seasons model from NASA website (grade not specified)
4.) References (external links)
These include reference websites, books, and materials I used to fact-check the information within the Arctic Unit as well as websites you may find helpful when gathering background information on this unit’s topic. Use the links below to enjoy the wealth of information these references offer!
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game (n.d.). Animals. Available: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm
- All About Birds (n.d.). Bird Guide. Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, snowy owl, tundra swan. Available: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
- Audubon (n.d.). Guide to North American Birds. Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, snowy owl, tundra swan. Available: https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide
- Center for Biological Diversity (n.d.). ARCTIC FOX } Alopex lagopus. Natural History. Available: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/Arctic_fox/natural_history.html
- National Geographic (n.d.). Arctic (encyclopedic entry). Available: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Arctic/
- National Park Service (2019). Wildlife of the Arctic. Available: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/Arctic/wildlife.htm
- National Snow and Ice Data Center (n.d.). Sea Ice. Available: https://nsidc.org/learn/parts-cryosphere/sea-ice/why-sea-ice-matters
- NOAA Fisheries (2022). Ice Seal Research in Alaska. Available: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/marine-mammal-protection/ice-seal-research-alaska
- NOAA Fisheries (n.d.). Species Directory. Beluga whale, humpback whale, narwhal. Available: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species-directory. Available: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species-directory
- PBS (2022). Reindeer Fact Sheet. Available: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/reindeer-fact-sheet/
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (n.d.). Reindeer (Caribou). Available: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/reindeer-caribou
- Scott, M., Hansen, K., by Stevens, J., Simmon, R. (2016). Sea Ice. NASA Earth Observatory. Available: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/SeaIce
- Shubenacadie Wildlife Park (n.d.). Arctic Wolf. Available: https://wildlifepark.novascotia.ca/animals/Arctic-wolf.asp
- Younger, S. (2023). Arctic Sea Ice 6th Lowest on Record; Antarctic Sees Record Low Growth. NASA Global Climate Change. Available: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3284/Arctic-sea-ice-6th-lowest-on-record-antArctic-sees-record-low-growth/
For the Arctic Unit, I also used an OpenAI tool to assist with selecting grade-appropriate word choices in some of my writing
- OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (September 25 Version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
