Explore the Frozen Polar Regions with Seven Cross-Curricular Activities
Transport your Year 2 students to the world's coldest habitats with this comprehensive resource featuring seven engaging activities that explore polar ecosystems, wildlife adaptations, and geography through science, art, and hands-on investigation.
Seven Complete Activities Included:
-
Polar Habitats Collage: Create stunning artwork depicting the Arctic and Antarctic! Explore icy landscapes, frozen seas, and the unique features of polar regions while developing artistic skills and understanding of these extreme habitats
-
Antarctica Map: Discover Earth's coldest continent! Explore maps showing Antarctica's location, size, and features, learning about this frozen wilderness at the bottom of the world while developing geographical knowledge and map skills
-
Polar Animal Adaptations: Investigate how animals survive in freezing conditions! Explore adaptations like thick fur, blubber, white camouflage, and huddling behaviour in polar bears, penguins, seals, and other polar animals—understanding how creatures thrive in extreme cold
-
Food Chains In Antarctica: Discover who eats whom in polar waters! Explore Antarctic food chains from tiny krill to massive whales, understanding how energy flows through polar ecosystems and why krill are so important to Antarctic life
-
Blubber Investigation: Experience how blubber keeps polar animals warm! Conduct a hands-on experiment using shortening or margarine to simulate blubber, discovering how this thick layer of fat insulates animals from icy water
-
Waterproof Feathers Investigation: Explore how penguin feathers repel water! Investigate waterproofing by testing different materials and understanding how penguins' special feathers keep them dry and warm in freezing Antarctic waters
-
Create Antarctica: Build a 3D polar scene! Use craft materials, cotton wool, and creativity to construct a miniature Antarctic landscape complete with ice, snow, and polar animals—bringing this distant frozen world into the classroom
Why Teachers Choose This Resource:
-
Cross-Curricular Excellence: Seamlessly combines Science (habitats, adaptations), Geography (world locations), and Art & Design
-
Curriculum-Aligned: Supports Year 2 Science objectives for living things and their habitats and KS1 Geography objectives
-
Hands-On Investigations: Practical experiments that make polar adaptations tangible and understandable
-
Ready to Use: Complete lesson plans with learning objectives, equipment lists, and step-by-step instructions
-
Age-Appropriate: Activities specifically designed for 6-7 year olds with achievable, engaging tasks
-
Develops Multiple Skills: Builds scientific knowledge, geographical understanding, and investigative abilities
-
Environmental Awareness: Introduces children to polar conservation and climate change impacts
Perfect For:
- Year 2 Science lessons on living things and their habitats
- KS1 Geography lessons on world habitats and locations
- Cross-curricular polar regions topic work
- Homeschool science and geography curriculum
- Building understanding of extreme environments and adaptations
- Developing environmental awareness and conservation understanding
Learning Outcomes:
Through these activities, children will identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited, understand how polar habitats provide for the basic needs of specially adapted animals, explore how polar animals are adapted to survive extreme cold, locate polar regions on world maps, understand simple polar food chains, investigate insulation and waterproofing through practical experiments, and develop awareness of polar ecosystems and conservation.
What Makes This Resource Special:
Polar regions are among Earth's most extreme and fascinating habitats. These activities bring the frozen poles to life, helping children understand not just what polar regions are like, but how incredible animals have adapted to survive there. The hands-on investigations—testing blubber insulation and waterproof feathers—make abstract adaptation concepts concrete and memorable.
Understanding Adaptation:
The blubber and waterproof feather investigations are particularly powerful because children experience adaptations firsthand. By feeling how blubber insulates against icy water or how waterproofing keeps feathers dry, children develop genuine understanding of how these adaptations help animals survive—making biology real, tangible, and fascinating.
Building Global Awareness:
Understanding polar regions helps children develop global awareness and environmental consciousness. By learning about Antarctica and the Arctic, children begin to understand Earth's climate zones, the importance of ice to our planet, and why protecting polar regions matters—building the foundation for environmental responsibility and climate awareness.
Bring the polar regions to your classroom! These engaging activities help Year 2 students discover Earth's frozen habitats through hands-on investigation and creative exploration that combines science, geography, and art—building knowledge, curiosity, and environmental awareness while making distant polar regions tangible and inspiring.
