C Curriculum Explorer
Science·Polar Regions·conceptual

Arctic vs Antarctic

Know that the Arctic (North Pole) and Antarctic (South Pole) are very different — the Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by land where people and polar bears live, while the Antarctic is a huge ice-covered continent surrounded by ocean where penguins live but no people live permanently

Suggested ages 5–7

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Evidence of understanding

  • State that the Arctic is a frozen ocean surrounded by land, while the Antarctic is a continent covered in ice surrounded by ocean
  • Explain that polar bears live in the Arctic and penguins live in the Antarctic, not the other way around
  • Know that people (like the Inuit) live in the Arctic but nobody lives permanently in Antarctica

Assessment prompt

Can Arctic vs Antarctic explain the big difference between the two poles — that the Arctic is frozen sea with land around it, while the Antarctic is a frozen continent with sea around it?

Standards alignment

No external standards are linked to this topic.