Polar Worlds

Captain Cook was the first ever recorded person to cross both the Arctic and Antarctic circles. Students will research simplified accounts of Cook’s voyages in these regions and come face to face with some of the creatures encountered by Cook in these frozen lands. Students will gain an understanding of the extreme temperatures endured and how animals and people have adapted to survive in these challenging parts of the world.

Session aim:

• To explore the different ways that both animals and people can adapt to live in extreme climates.

Session objectives:

• Listen to stories about Captain James Cook’s time in the Arctic and Antarctic.
• Recognise the different ways animals are adapted to extreme climates.
• Memorise the difference between the Arctic and Antarctic.

Curriculum links (Department for Education):

• Geography: “identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)”.
• Geography: “use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied”.
• Science: “identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat”.
• Science: “identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution”.