A Polar Bear's Life: Emerging from the Den

Positives

• This video provides engaging footage of polar bears in their natural habitats.
• This resource also provides graphics and diagrams to help aid comprehension of what is causing climate change. 

Additional Prerequisites

• It may help younger students' comprehension to pause the video for discussion at 2:10 when the narrator transitions from polar bear facts to an explanation of why sea ice is melting. 
• Students should have basic background knowledge on fossil fuels, their uses, and their prevalence. 

Differentiation

• In language arts classes, ask students to write a persuasive paper about moving to more renewable energy sources, citing the damaging effects of fossil fuels. 
• Ask younger students to draw pictures with labels describing why stable, predictable sea ice is so important to polar bear families, focusing on facts learned in the video about polar bear behavior and needs. 
• In art classes, use this mural depicting desperate polar bears or this mural showcasing the interaction between polar bears and humans to inspire students to create their own work of art about polar bears.
• Social studies classes could discuss the ways that people are coping with the threats posed by the climate crisis after seeing how polar bears are already being affected. 
• Allow students time to explore other resources from Polar Bears International to discover more fun facts, coloring sheets, and information. 
• Other related resources include this video about what melting sea ice means for some species and this lesson plan and experiment that helps students further understand melting sea ice.