ANIMALS:
POLAR BEARS

POLAR BEAR LESSON

Directions:

Print the Polar Bears reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt

     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.  Most animals cannot survive in this harsh environment, however, this is the home of the largest predator in the world:  the polar bear.  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.

     Other mammals do live here.  There are seals, walruses, and fox.  The largest of them all is the polar bear.  An average male polar bear weighs half a ton and stands eight feet tall.  The largest polar bear, according to Guinness World Records 2006, measured almost twelve feet tall and 1,960 pounds!  Females usually weigh about half as much as males.

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