The children learned that the polar bear’s habitat is changing because of global warming.  Pollution is causing the world to warm up and the ice is melting in the Arctic.  The polar bears need the ice to hunt for their favorite food, seals.  The polar bear waits at a hole in the ice for a seal to come to the surface to breathe.  Then the polar bear grabs it.  Yummy!

The children designed a man-made habitat for a polar bear to live in.  They had to decide what features it would have to include in order for the polar bear to live comfortably.  Then they drew a picture of what it would look like.  Finally, they constructed the habitats out of paper and foam.

Visit your child’s blogfolio to see what s/he would look like living in a polar bear’s habitat.

Thank you Ms. Chow for the wonderful pictures.

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis is one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena.  The Arctic, home of the polar bears, is the best place to see this colourful light show. 

The children created two images with the same theme, the Arctic environment complete with polar bears and Northern Lights.  They used different processes, materials and techniques in each picture.  In one, they used torn strips of paper to represent The Northern Lights.  In the other, they used a painted palm print to symbolise a polar bear and coloured chalk to in the background. [metaslider id=4540]

The children of Division 8 went on an expedition to explore the Arctic environment using virtual reality technology.  They were able to immerse themselves in the polar bear’s habitat to see what it is like to live there.   

The children envisioned themselves as a polar bear in the Arctic.  They imagined what a polar bear would experience through its senses.  The children recounted what they thought it would see (ice fields, snow drifts), feel (snow crunching under their paws, blowing snow), smell (seals under the ice, salty ocean air), taste (blubber, fish) and hear (roaring walruses, ice floes breaking).   To hear what your child said, visit his/her blogfolio.

Thank you to Ms. Chow for providing us with this wonderful learning experience.