Polar Bears Life on Ice

Ms. Acker2 The North Pole Did you know that there really is no land at the North Pole? There’s only a polar ice cap, floating in the Arctic Ocean. The ice is constantly shifting and cracking.

Ms. Acker3 Home Sweet Home Most animals cannot survive in this harsh environment, however, this is the home of the largest predator in the world– can you guess what it is? The polar bear!

Ms. Acker4 Where in the World? Polar bears live in the Arctic, a region at the top of the world extending from the North Pole to parts of Asia, Europe, and North America. Most of the Arctic is ocean, and it is usually covered with ice.

Ms. Acker5 Map of Artic Ocean Click here to view Polar Bears Live in the Artic

Ms. Acker6 Rain or Shine Arctic winters are long and cold, and summers are short and cool. Ice covers most of the ocean surface year-round, causing subfreezing temperatures much of the time. They get less than 10 inches of rain per year! To Check the current weather at the North Pole click here!To Check the current weather at the North Pole click here!

Ms. Acker7 Furry Friends Other mammals live here too. There are seals, walruses, and fox. Click here to learn about Walrus Click here to learn more about the artic fox Click here to learn more about seals

Ms. Acker8 Larger than Life The largest of them all is the polar bear. An average male polar bear weighs half a ton and stands eight feet tall.

Ms. Acker9 For the Record The largest polar bear, according to Guinness World Records 2006, measured almost twelve feet tall and 1,960 pounds! This is as tall most giraffes!

Ms. Acker10 Dinner Time! Polar bears spend most of their time on the ice or in the water, where they hunt their favorite food - the ringed seal. Their white fur helps the bear sneak up on seals that are laying on the ice. HEELP!

Ms. Acker11 Hunting Season If the bear sees a seal's breathing hole, it waits by the hole and drags the seal out as soon as its head appears. In the summer it is harder to catch seals, so before summer comes, the bears eat as much as they can to get fat, then live off the fat in their bodies.

Ms. Acker12 Let’s get Wet Polar bears can swim up to 50 miles without stopping. They have a 4-5 inch coat of blubber that keeps them from freezing. Watch polar bears at SanDiego Zoo Live!

Ms. Acker13 Criminal Activity? Sometimes polar bears go into towns and villages. They can break into buildings to find food. They are not shot, but brought back to the wild

Ms. Acker14 Just for Fun People sometimes go swimming in the freezing cold water in the winter. They call themselves polar bear clubs. Too bad they don’t have the blubber too! Click here to create your own polar bear cartoonClick here to create your own polar bear cartoon!

Ms. Acker15 Use Your Imagination! Get a sheet of paper and write a short story (about 1 page long) about a polar bear using the information you just learned. Be sure to have your beginning, middle and end. You can choose your own setting and characters. For the middle choose a problem or event. In the end make sure you have a solution to that problem or end to the event.