Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Gilyeat, and I'm going to be your geography teacher for today.

The lesson we are going to be learning is called Arctic Wildlife, so it's part of the Cold Places unit, and we're going to be learning about what different types of animals live in the Arctic, what special features help them live in the Arctic, and we're going to have a particular focus on polar bears.

So we're gonna look at the special features of polar bears, how they live, and how that changes throughout the year.

And then we're going to finish the lesson thinking about what potential threats there are to polar bears going forward into the future.

We've got loads of interesting things to learn about, and I'm looking forward to teaching you.

So our lesson outcome for today is that you can identify some of the wildlife found in the Arctic and explain how it is affected by seasonal change.

So we're going to be looking at lots of different animals that live in the Arctic and we're going to look at what special features that help them live there.

And the one that we're gonna focus on the most is polar bears, and look at how their life changes throughout the year.

We'll then finish on looking at what potential threats there are to polar bears going into the future.

So we've got five keywords for us today.

Most of these keywords are the animals that we are going to be learning about.

Now, to start off with, I'm going to go through the keywords, and I would like you to repeat them back to me to make sure that we are pronouncing them correctly.

So the first one, polar bear, reindeer, Arctic fox, walrus, and climate change is our last keyword for today.

So you may have heard of polar bears before.

So a polar bear is a large, white bear found in the Arctic and nearby areas.

Reindeer is a type of deer that lives in the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.

An Arctic fox is a small, white fox that lives in the Arctic regions in the Northern Hemisphere.

Now, if you remember, Northern Hemisphere means that it's north of the equator line, which is the line that runs around the middle of the planet.

A walrus is a large marine mammal that lives in Arctic seas.

Marine means that it lives in the ocean.

Climate change is a large-scale and long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.

So it's not about the day-to-day changes that we see in the weather outside.

It's about the large-scale, so it's happening globally, and long-term, over a long period of time, change that we're seeing in the climate.

You might have heard of it on the news before because it's a very relevant topic and the main thing that is happening really is that the Earth's temperature is increasing, which is having lots of different impacts.

So we're gonna learn about how this is affecting polar bears today.

We've got two key learning cycles for today's lesson.

The first one we're gonna focus on is animals of the Arctic, looking at what different types of animals there are there and how they have adapted or what special features they have got which help them live in such an extreme environment.

Then we're gonna focus on polar bears a bit more directly, and we're gonna think about the potential threats there are to polar bears' existence going into the future.

There are lots of different animals found in the Arctic region, and here are just some of them.

On the photograph on the left, we've got a reindeer.

Okay, so this is a type of deer.

You might have heard of reindeers before.

You hear about them at Christmas.

You've got a walrus in the middle.

So this is a special mammal because partly it lives in the ocean, but partly it lives on land.

And we've got an Arctic fox there on the right, which is a little bit hard to spot because it's so white, and it's in the snow, and it's turned white, or it is white for a very special reason that we're going to learn about.

Now there are lots more different types of animals that live in the Arctic region, but there wouldn't be enough time to go through them all for today's lesson.

So there's just three to get us going.

A good bit of research for you to do would be to see what other animals there are that live in the Arctic.

Animals in the Arctic have special features which help them survive within that environment.

The Arctic is very cold, and there are parts of the year when there is hardly any sunlight.

So the animals that do live there need to be very special to help them live in such an extreme environment.

Some of the special features which animals have include the colour of their coat or fur and how thick their fur is.

On the slide, I've got a picture of an Arctic fox.

I'd like you to pause the video.

Can you think of any special features which the Arctic fox has, which you think may help it survive within the Arctic environment? One of the features is white fur to help hide it from predators.

Predators are animals which will eat other ones.

So because it's white, that means that it blends in with the background a little bit.

So it's harder for other animals to spot it.

Has lots of fur to keep the animal warm.

Can you spot any other ones? Now what I'd like you to do is match up the picture with the correct animal name to check our understanding.

I've got the reindeer on the left, the walrus, and the Arctic fox on the right, Polar bears are the top predator.

So the predator is the animal which the other ones are scared of because it can attack and eat lots of animals.

So they tend to be quite big animals, and there tend to not be as many of them, okay? Polar bears right at the top.

They can weigh up to 800 kilogrammes.

So that's pretty heavy, almost 10 times as heavy as the normal human being.

Polar bears have special features that help them live in the Arctic.

One of the ones is strong paws for catching prey.

Their paws also tend to be quite big so that when they walk on the snow that the paw doesn't sink into the snow as easily.

If it's got a larger area, the paw will more likely stay on the top of the snow.

So I'll pause the video.

Can you spot any other things which will help the polar bear survive in the environment? So, some other ones.

So, I did say that one about the large paws, which can help them walk in the snow.

White fur for camouflage to protect it from many things which might potentially eat it or attack it.

And it's got a thick layer of fur to keep warm.

Now polar bears are actually, underneath that fur have also got quite a lot of fat as well.

So that's two extra cosy layers to keep it warm in the cold environment.

Polar bears hibernate during the winter to conserve energy.

Hibernate means that they go to sleep for long periods of time.

Now what I mean by conserving energy is keeping as much energy as they can.

Every day, when you go to school or go about your normal life, you use energy.

Use that energy to think.

You use energy to move around.

You use energy to keep warm.

There are lots of different ways that you use energy.

When you go to sleep at night, you use less energy.

Now because it is so cold there, a lot of the animals use a lot of their energy for just staying alive and keeping warm, and it's even harder for them in the winter.

So polar bears aren't the only ones that do this, but they are one of the main ones.

They decide to go to sleep for nearly the whole winter, and then they won't be using as much energy, and it'll be easier for them to stay alive.

When the summer comes round, they come back out to play, and they'll be ready fighting fit to go looking for some food In the summer, polar bears use the sea ice to help them hunt.

Sea ice is frozen sea, basically.

So in areas of the Arctic, the top layer of the ocean has actually frozen because of the cold temperatures.

Now polar bears are really, really sneaky, and they use this sea ice to help them hunt.

So what they'll often do is use little holes in the sea ice to see any seals that there might be coming.

And if they spot a seal, they can quickly pounce on them, and have it as their prey, or their dinner.

So to check our understanding, I've got a quick question here.

Which of the following is not a feature of a polar bear's? Is it A, large paws; B, white fur; or C, large ears? Pause the video and either do it yourself or talk to the person you sat next to.

The answer's C, large ears.

Now polar bears actually have quite small ears, and the reason they have small ears is so that they don't lose much heat from them.

Now our first task for today's lesson is I would like you to complete the table below.

You could either do this on your worksheet, or if you prefer, you could do it on your own piece of paper, or you could talk to the person sat next to you and go through it together.

So on the left hand side of the table, I have got the feature of the polar bear.

So the large paws, thick layer of fur and fat, white fur, and hibernates.

That means it goes to sleep for a long time in the winter.

What I would like you to do is on the right hand side of the table, explain why that helps the polar bear or how that helps the polar bear survive.

To start off with, I will do the first one with you.

So large paws mean that when the polar bear walks, it doesn't sink in the snow.

So pause the video and spend some time on this task.

Let's go through the answers.

Large paws so it can walk in the snow more easily.

A thick layer of fur and fat to keep the polar bear warm in freezing conditions.

White fur to keep the polar bear camouflaged from predators and to help the polar bear hunt.

And hibernates in the winter helps the predator, sorry, helps the polar bear conserve energy.

So it keeps its energy for itself.

We are now moving on to our second learning cycle, which is looking at polar bears under threat.

Threat means dangers or problems which the polar bear may face.

As I said earlier in the video, sea ice is frozen sea, and the polar bears use that to hunt.

Now in the Arctic, the the sea ice is usually greatest, so that means that there is more of it, in March.

The reason for that is because March is the end of the Arctic winter, and that means that it's been colder and therefore more of the sea has frozen.

There is the least amount of sea ice in September, and that is because September is the end of the Arctic summer, and that means it's had the whole of the summer for a lot of the sea ice to actually melt.

One of our key words for today is climate change.

Now climate change is the long-term change in the Earth's climate.

Now what we are seeing, sadly, is that the Earth is getting warmer due to things that humans are doing, such as driving our cars, and flying planes, and factory.

The use of factories is releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which is making our planet warmer.

Now, as the Earth is getting warmer, that is meaning that more and more of the sea ice is melting.

Let's check our understanding.

Why is there less sea ice each year? Is it A, because there's less snowfall; B, because of climate change; or C, because of ocean currents? Pause the video and either discuss with your partner or do your own answer.

The answer's B, because of climate change.

As I said earlier, polar bears use the sea ice to hunt because they can more easily pounce on things like seals, which they might want to have for dinner.

However, because that sea ice is melting, it is making it harder and harder for polar bears to hunt.

And that means that they are getting less and less food, which just means they don't have as much energy.

Sadly, this is meaning that some polar bears are dying early because of this, because of less sea ice.

Let's check our understanding.

So the loss of sea ice is making it harder for polar bears to survive.

Is that true or false? That's true.

Can you justify your answer? Is it A, because polar bears' main food is sea ice, or B, because polar bears use the sea ice to hunt from? The answer's B, because polar bears use sea ice to hunt from.

Now our second main task for today's lesson is you are going to design a poster making people aware of why polar bears are under threat.

Some of the things that you could include in your poster are how do polar bears live, what do they use sea ice for, what is happening to the sea ice and why, and how is the change in sea ice affecting the polar bears? You could do your poster on a piece of paper.

You could do your poster online on a Word document.

You could, if you wanted to, create a PowerPoint presentation.

It's totally up to you.

If possible, it would be great if you could include pictures of polar bears and their environments to show how it's been affected and how they are under threat.

So pause the video and spend a good chunk of time getting as much information and detail as you possibly can onto your poster.

On the slide here I've got information which you could have included on your poster.

That includes polar bears live on the sea ice in the summer; in the winter they hibernate to conserve energy; polar bears use the sea ice to help them hunt, as they are able to pounce on their prey; the sea ice is melting due to climate change; this is meaning polar bears are losing their homes and finding it harder to hunt.

How much of that information did you get on your poster? Maybe you could pause the video and see if you could add a little bit of extra detail.

On the slide here, we have a summary of today's lesson on the Arctic wildlife.

There are many different animals that live in the Arctic.

The ones that we learned about were walruses, polar bears, and the Arctic fox.

Polar bears depend on the sea ice as it helps them hunt in the summer.

But unfortunately, climate change is leading to some of that sea ice melting, which is putting the polar bears' habitat under threat.

The habitat means the area or the place where the polar bear lives.

So I've had an absolutely fantastic time teaching you today, and this lesson is so topical because there's lots of things which climate change is doing at the moment, which is affecting different animals around the world.

What you could do as a bit of extra research is find out what other animals are being affected by climate change in the Arctic.

Try and share as much information as you've learned today with your friends and family, 'cause it's super important that we all know about this.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day, and I'll see you soon.