First Grade, Science, Set One

Here is a list of resources we used for learning about the Arctic:

• Ice Bears by Brenda Z. Guiberson -- this book is really great because it doesn't just spew out facts, but puts the facts in a story.
• All Kinds of Habitats by Sally Hewitt -- I used this book the first day of school to introduce the subject. I'll probably get it from the library to introduce each biome.
• Survival at 40 Below by Debbie S. Miller -- another great book that puts facts into a story. We also got our list of (more than) 10 animals that live in the Arctic from this book.
• A Tundra Food Chain by Rebecca Hogue Wojahn -- K. loves this book. You pick an animal and turn to the page designated, then read about it and then choose what it had for dinner last night, turn to that page, learn about it, choose what it had for dinner last night, etc. until you get to plants. There is a lot of information in this book, so to keep it at a 1st grade level we are skipping quite a bit, but it is definitely a book to re-visit when she is older.
• Call of the White Fox by Willis Lindquist -- I read this during our family reading time.
• Nutik & Amaroq Play Ball by Jean Craighead George -- picture story book about a boy and his dog in the arctic
• The Call of the Wolves by Jim Murphy -- a picture story book about wolves in the arctic
• What if There Were no Lemmings? by Suxanne Siade -- I skipped some of this book because it got too politically correct for my taste, but the paintings are great.
• Arctic Adventures by Raquel Rivera -- this book has four stories. Pick and choose which to read.
• These books we just used to research information about animals and plants:
• The Arctic by Wayne Lynch
• Arctic A to Z by Wayne Lynch
• Pole to Pole by Barbara Taylor

• I printed out pages that have a space for an animal's name, its picture (we found them on the internet), three lines to write something interesting about the animal, and she circles either Nocturnal or Diurnal, and Carnivore, Herbivore, or Omnivore.
• One day we looked through our books for ten plants that grew in the Arctic. The next day we looked on-line for pictures of them. I printed out pictures (1-inch high). K. cut them out and glued them by their names.

Here is the list of resources we used for learning about the Antarctic:

• A Penguin Year by Susan Bonners -- learn all about the Adelie penguins in a story format
• Icy Antarctic Waters by Wendy Pfeffer -- has lots of interesting information in an easy-to-read format, especially information about Emperor Penguins, Minke Whales, and Weddell Seals
• Exploring Our World: Polar Regions by Terry Jennings -- has a good diagram and explanation of a glacier. There is information on both the Arctic and Antarctic.
• Penguins! by Gail Gibbons -- a good fact book
• Antarctica by Allan Fowler -- this a a "Rookie Read-About Geography" book, and although it does not give a bunch of information, it is a good book for very young children. It can also be used as a starting point for childen. example: "This book says that some birds and insects live in Antarctica. Let's look in these other books and see what birds live there."
• Antarctic Journal by Meredith Hooper -- picture book, but really a journal about her summer at Antarctica. Don't try to read the entire book at one time.

Here are books I wish we had been able to get to (I didn't think there would be so many good books about Antarctica!):

• The Antarctic Habitat by Molly Aloian and Bobby Kalman
• Amazing Arctic & Antarctic Projects You Can Build Yourself by Carmella Van Vleet
• Antarctic Antics by Judy Sierra -- this is a book of penguin poems
• March of the Penguins from the film by Luc Jacquet
• Antarctica by Lynn M. Stone
• Animals Robert Scott Saw by Sandra Markle

On our last day we made a chart of how the Arctic and Antarctic were Alike and Different. In trying to answer a couple questions, we found the Polar Discovery website. We didn't get to look at everything, so K. wants to be sure to visit it again.