The March of the Polar Bears

What is today’s lesson about?

Lesson Objectives All - will analyse maps and time data to decide if any changes have happened. Most – will understand the effect of global warming on a particular species. Some – will be able to consider the impact of human activity on the environment.

Key words Climate Global warming Greenhouse effect Latitude Longitude Trend

Task 1: A polar bear resume Your first task is to complete a fact sheet about Polar bears. At the top of your fact sheet you will be given a couple of hyperlinks to help you fill in your fact sheet

The future of the polar bear The polar regions of the Earth (Arctic and Antarctic) have some of the most extreme temperatures, usually well below freezing all year. The arctic polar region is mainly sea ice floating upon the Arctic ocean. Scientists expect and are observing that global warming will impact the polar regions and the expanse of sea ice first. Even a few degrees increase in temperature will cause sea ice to melt or break away and float into warmer waters. The melting of polar sea ice will trigger more climate and weather changes and greatly impact the animals who live in the arctic region i.e. the polar bear.

Task 2: Arctic climate data You will be given a help sheet which tells you how to obtain some real data from the Arctic near Canada. You need to download the six pieces of data and use it to decide if there is any evidence of global warming over a ten year period.

Handy hints to help you interpret the data…. Which is the warmest year in the region? What is the difference? Which year has the largest snow-ice amount? How much is that difference? Do the line graphs show any trend over the years to suggest global warming? Are there any seasonal changes which explain polar bear behaviour?

Lesson Objectives All - will analyse maps and time data to decide if any changes have happened. Most – will understand the effect of global warming on a particular species. Some – will be able to consider the impact of human activity on the environment.

What other information would help you decide if Global warming is really impacting me and my friends?

Task 3 - We’re going on a (polar) bear hunt… You are going to be able to track some polar bears which wear devices around their necks. The devices send regular signals back to a satellite. Note – only female bears can be tracked as they will not fit properly around a male polar bear as his neck is too big!

1) Change the date to start in Sept )You can choose to track either Hudson Bay or Beaufort sea 3) Make sure you have zoomed out for enough coverage

4) You need to make sure your ice layer and path layer are both clicked

5) Slowly drag the time bar until a polar bear appears 6) Click on the information about her. This will allow you to track the distance she travels each month and what the ice layer is like. Repeat this for another polar bear.

What amazing facts did you find out? Approximately when and how long do Polar bears hibernate for and why? (hint: link this to the ice sheet). How far did the bears walk and why? How might this data inform scientists about the impact of climate change on polar bears? What would you predict the tracking data will show in 20 years time and why?

Plenary - 20 second summary Can you summarise what we learnt today in 20 seconds? Rehearse so that you are ready if you are selected

Lesson Objectives All - will analyse maps and time data to decide if any changes have happened. Most – will understand the effect of global warming on a particular species. Some – will be able to consider the impact of human activity on the environment.