Arctic

Arctic region

These websites have lots of information about where the Arctic is, how big it is, the landscape and how cold this region gets.

Britannica School Middle

Britannica School is part of EPIC, a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.

• Search for 'arctic region'.

• Select the article Arctic regions to read about the location, land, climate and what permafrost means to this region.

• Remember to explore Images & Videos from the top of the page.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6 pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Active Wild

Active Wild is a British educational website put together by writers, editors and researchers who love nature and learning.

• The tab Explore the Rainforest has a drop down menu, so go to Explore the Arctic.

• This page has a good explanation about what and where the Arctic region is, including quick facts and videos.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

Arctic people

Inuit, Yupik, Inupiat and Eskimo are some of the names of the groups of people who life here. These websites explain how they live and survive in this part of the frozen planet.

Britannica School Middle

Revisit this database to find out about the people who live here, what they are called, their language and what are their main occupations.

• Use to the words 'Arctic people' in the search box

• Choose an article, like American Arctic people or Eskimo (people)

Tips: You can change the reading level from the top of the page by selecting to go higher or lower as you are comfortable reading.

The Canadian Encyclopedia

The Canadian Encyclopedia is about the people, culture, history and landscape of Canada. It has some useful information about the people in the Arctic region.

• Select the search icon and enter the words 'Arctic people' into the search box.

• Look down the page to the article called Arctic Indigenous Peoples in Canada to read about the Inuit community and their lifestyle.

Tips: Some websites have .au, .nz, .uk, ca or other codes in their url. This can tell you which country this website comes from eg .au is from Australia or .nz is from New Zealand. You can check the About link on the website for more information.

National Snow & Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)

The NSIDC supports research into areas that are frozen for most parts of the year like the polar regions.

• Use the keywords 'Arctic people' in the search box.

• Read the article Arctic People about their lives, occupations and what it's like in the Modern Arctic cities and towns.

Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

Plants and animals

The Arctic region is home to lots of different flora (plants like fungi and lichen) and fauna (animal life like the polar bear and Arctic fox).

A-Z Animals

A-Z of Animals was developed in 2008 as a resource for animal facts and information for all ages. All content is approved before being published.

• Go to A to Z Listing of Animals and select Location from the menu.

• Look down to Arctic Ocean to read about the Polar Bear.

• The link to Canada has information about the Arctic Hare, Arctic Wolf and Arctic Fox.

Tips: Some websites have advertisements (or ads) which ask us to buy something or tell us to ‘click here’. It’s best to ignore these ads and focus on the information we’re looking for.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

This site is an online magazine belonging to the Ohio State University in America that aims to teach students about the Polar region.

• From the homepage find the link called Polar Plants, then go to Plants of the Arctic and Antarctic.

• Again from the homepage select the link Polar Animals and read the Feature Story about the White Wolf.

Tips: A website’s address (URL) can give you a hint about how reliable it is. Look for addresses in the results that include .gov or .edu in the URL. These are quality sites from overseas government or educational organisations.

Arctic Centre University of Lapland

This website belongs to the University of Lapland, a region in the Arctic that belongs to Finland.

• The tab Arctic region has links to the article Blossoming Arctic that has images of flowers and and information on plants here.

Tips: You may see a message about cookies on this website. Cookies are a kind of data collector that is used by some websites to collect information about their users.

Climate change

Explore the websites below to learn more about global warming and its impact on the Arctic.

Climate Kids

This site from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in America is about the impacts on the planet and how it causes change.

• Try the search words 'Climate change Arctic'.

• This will bring up Winners and Losers in the Arctic, an article about the impact of climate change on Whales and Polar Bears.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg climate change Arctic. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

This site belongs to WWF, a non profit organisation that takes up causes like climate change and its impact on animals and the environment.

• Try searching for 'Climate change Arctic'.

• Read Arctic Climate Change and Threats to polar bear to understand how loss of habitat due to climate change can affect animals.

Tips: Websites from some non profit organisation ask us to donate money. It is best to talk to an adult before sending any of your details.

Exploration

People have always been curious about the polar regions. These websites are a good way to learn about the history of exploration of the North Pole and the challenges the explorers had.

Polar Discovery

This site is about five major scientific explorations to the Arctic and Antarctic region by the Polar Discovery team.

• The tab Arctic: Frozen Ocean has a link to an Exploration Timeline.

• This explains who explored this area from 330 BC till 2007 to 2008 which was the International Polar Year.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!

Britannica School Middle

This EPIC database can be searched in two ways:

• search for 'arctic exploration' and read polar exploration to read about the history of polar exploration, or

• select Biographies from the main page and enter in Roald Amundsen or Robert E Peary to read about two famous explorers of this region.

Books

There are some great books on the Arctic region. Check out your local public or school library to see what they have.

Here are some suggestions:

• Arctic hero by Catherine Johnson

• The Arctic challenge by Bear Grylls

• Polar bears : survival on the ice by Jason Viola

• Climate change in the Arctic by Stuart Baker.

SCIS no: 1934839