Did You Know That: BOOKS TO READ Where is the Arctic?
The Story of Admiral Peary at the North Pole by 1. Inuit live in the Arctic. Zachary Kent (Chicago: Childrens Press, 1988). 2. Other than scientists, no people live in Grades 3 through 5. Antarctica. 3. Polar bears live only in the Arctic. Arctic Explorer: The Story of Matthew Henson by 4. Antarctica is home to penguins. Jeri Ferris (Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1989). Grades 3 through 6. 5. Seals are found in seas in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Matthew Henson by Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson (Milwaukee: Raaintree Childrens Books, 1988). For younger readers.
Who Live in the Arctic? Arctic Memories by Normee Ekoomiak (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1988). Through grade 5. People of many different cultures inhabit the Arctic. They live in various countries, but all A Closer Look at Arctic Lands by Jill Hughes (New have adapted to living in the North. Eskimos, York: Cloucester Press, 1987). Grades 2 through 4. or Inuit, live in Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
Q: What do you call 50 There are many animals in the Arctic. Some penguins in the Arctic? of the most familiar are polar bears, caribou, arctic fox, walrus, seals, reindeer, and lots of Where is the North Pole? birds. Some live in the Arctic all year, others What is the weather like? visit in the warmer months.
Who lives in the Arctic?
There are around 1,700 different types of Antarctica.
plants growing in the Arctic, about 900 of in live Penguins
: Lost, really lost really Lost, : A them are flowers. These plants grow quickly . in the brief period of summer when there is constant daylight. The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Bowdoin College 9500 College Station Brunswick, Maine 04011-8495
www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum Phone: 207-725-3416 Email: [email protected] Compiled by Diann Wood, Class of 2003 Made possible by the support and generosity of the Friends of Bowdoin. Bowdoin College ©PMAM Where is the Arctic? While everyone agrees that the Arctic re- Arctic vs. Antarctic Matching gion includes the North Pole, the exact Can you find the Arctic on the map? The boundaries of the Arctic depend on which People often confuse the Arctic with Antarcti- Arctic region is in the northern part of the definition you use. ca. Both regions are very cold but Antarctica is earth. It is at the top of the globe and in- a continent, land surrounded by water, and the cludes three different continents: North Arctic is water surrounded by land. They are Arctic Region Definitions: America, Europe, and Asia. Most of the also at opposite ends of the globe. Arctic consists of a body of water called 1. Any area north of the Arctic Circle, the Arctic Ocean. where the sun does not set at least one Draw a line from the word to the definition. night of the year. The Arctic Circle is an invisible line 2. The area north of the tree line, where Antarctica This animal around the northern part of the earth. All trees cannot grow. lives only places north of the Arctic Circle experience 3. The place where summer temperatures around the at least one full summer day of sunlight. are below 50º F. Antarctic That is 24 hours of daylight. In the winter 4. Land where the ground is permanently the areas north of the Arctic Circle experi- frozen year round. Arctic Ocean This animal ence at least one full day of darkness. lives only in the Arctic Imagine you are at the North Pole. It is at What is the Weather Like? the northernmost point in the world and is North Pole Area surround- in the very center of the map below. You The Arctic is usually cold and the air is ing the North are now in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. dry. Much of the Arctic is frozen all year. Pole You should be all wet, but because the Arc- tic is a very cold place, the Arctic Ocean is Winter in the Arctic: In the winter, the South Pole A point in the frozen most of the time. You can stand on North Pole is tilted away from the sun. middle of the sea ice at the North Pole, but the sea ice is This means that during this period the sun Antarctic conti- always moving. never rises above the horizon. nent
View of the top of the world. Children wake up, go to school, and play in Polar Bear Land that sur- the dark. Temperatures can drop to -50º F rounds the or lower. It is so cold that cars need special South Pole heaters to start. Seals Northernmost Summer in the Arctic: During the sum- point in the mer the Arctic is tilted towards the sun so world there is sunlight almost all day and all night. In the summer months because the Penguin Animals that sun stays out longer the Arctic warms up to live in the about 45º F. Sometimes in July or August it Arctic and can warm up to 70º F! Antarctic