Antarctica & Arctic Unit Study Resources

You can focus on one or both polar regions with these Antarctica and Arctic Unit Study Resources.

Being from Montana, I often felt like we practically lived at the North Pole during the long,, often harsh winter months. I remember one time being afraid that a polar bear would come and get me. The Arctic isn’t just the North Pole or cold, freezing temperatures, though. There are fascinating things there from the native Inuit people to the animals that flourish despite the frigid air. Doing a unit study on Earth’s polar regions is a great way to teach your kids about this part of the Earth that most people wouldn’t even consider calling home or exploring.

Antarctica & Arctic Unit Study Resources

Here are some great Polar Unit Study Resources for getting started.

Arctic Lesson Plan Ideas

OSU has a section Lesson Plans about Arctic Peoples called Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.

Columbia offers a variety Polar Curriculum and project ideas that include lesson plans for middle school and high school. We found the studies on mapping Antarctica using radar interesting.

Antarctica Lesson Plan Ideas

YMI shares a lesson plan on Antarctica and Weather for grades 2 – 6.

Museum of Texas Tech University has downloadable Antarctic Lesson plans that are geared towards 3rd and 4th grades but could easily be modified for other elementary grades.

The Science Museum of Virginia provides this Antarctic Educators Guide that accompanies BBC Earth: Antarctica. There is useful information in this full-color pdf whether you choose to watch the documentary of not.

Arctic Printables

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has an Arctic and Inuit Lapbook.

Antarctica Printables

There’s a free Printable of Antarctica at Teachervison that would be good for many types of lesson plan activities.

TIME for Kids has some Antarctica Printables that could be great resources for a lesson plan.

Polar Experiments and crafts

This experiment on How Animals Stay Warm in Icy Cold Water with blubber from scientific American is pretty awesome!

Demonstrate how unique snowflakes are and how they form with this simple Borax Snowflake Experiment from Kid Minds.

Arctic Videos and Clips

This video on the Wild Polar Bears – Predator of the Arctic Ocean by Wild Animals Documentary is a great video for kids. It is a full 48 minutes long.

The Incredible Origins and History of the Inuit People is a 30 minute segment about the Inuit way of life, from their migration across the Arctic to the development of their unique culture, language. Learn about their survival skills in one of the world’s harshest environments.