This video explains the differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic.
Students will learn about the differences in temperature and climate between the two polar regions, as well as the animals and other forms of life found in each region.
The resource includes an interactive assessment, a dig deeper section, and a discussion board.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The difference between the Arctic and Antarctic are clearly explained with animated visuals.
The assessment and discussion questions allow students to reflect on what they learned.
Additional Prerequisites
Students must create an account with an email address to answer the quiz questions.
Students must be 13 years of age or older to create an account.
Teachers can create an account to save student answers and embed lessons in Google Classroom.
Several of the links in the Dig Deeper section are broken.
Differentiation
This is a great resource to use as part of a unit or lesson about biomes and climates around the world.
Social studies and geography classes could use this video in a lesson about polar regions.
Additional resources on this topic include this interactive textbook lesson about polar climates and this video about ice core research in the poles.
Scientist Notes
The video illustrates the climate variability in the Arctic and Antarctic region. In as much as global warming has impacted on these regions, they also act as climate controls in temperate and tropical environments. The resource is insightful and ideal for classroom use.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
3-ESS2-2 Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.2.6-8 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics.
D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why environmental characteristics vary among different world regions.
