BV Earth Ed Guide Online Fnl

8/2/2019 BV Earth Ed Guide Online Fnl

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EDUCATORS GUIDE


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Educators Guide

is an inspiring vision: a glorious

celebration o a lucky planet and a unique

educational experience. Designed to spark

a students curiosity and imagination with

its scale and drama, the lm provides aspectacular introduction to key themes o

scientic and geographical study.

The educators guide extends themes the

lm introduces, supplying background notes

and study materials. Five topics have been

selected: The Earth and the Sun, The Great

Migrations, Adaptation and Habitat, Predators

and Prey, and Lie Cycles. Each is supported

by activities and games, ranging rom simple

just or un card games with an educational

ocus to ull-scale science projects involving

students in eldwork within their own locality.

This guide is designed to assist educators

in creating materials to harness the

educational value o in their own

region. The activities are grouped or dierent

age ranges and can all be adapted up ordown the age range to suit local curriculum

requirements. Equally, it is intended that

educators should select rom the suggested

activities those that most suit the educational

context within which they will be used.

gives students the opportunity

o a lietime. It allows them to voyage across

their home planet to witness or themselves

the astonishing variety and beauty o lie in

the world they inhabit, and which they

will inherit.

Introduction


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Educators Guide

Contents

k- NatioNal scieNce educatioN staNdards . . . . . . . . . 03

the earth aNd the suN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08

Solar Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08

The Tilted Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .09The Changing Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .09

The Sun and the Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

The Sun and the Water Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

The Okavango Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

The Desert Trek o the Kalahari Elephants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Aivii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

the great migratioNs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Caribou Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

The 4,000-mile journey o the Humpback Whale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Above the Roo o the World: The Demoiselle Cranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Aivii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

adaptatioN aNd habitat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The Polar Bear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

The Arican Elephant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

The Humpback Whale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Aivii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

predators aNd prey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The Lions o Chobe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

The Cheetah Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

The Great White Shark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Aivii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

life cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

The Arican Elephant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

The Polar Bear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

The Humpback Whale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50The Mandarin Duck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

The Bird o Paradise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Aivii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53


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earth Educators Guide 3

C O N T E N T T O P I C A R E A S

Science as Inquiry Science in Personal andSocial Perspectives

History and Natureof Science

Earth and Space ScienceLife Sciences

K-12 NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS

THE EARTH AND THE SUN

NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS TASK NUMBER BY GRADE

Topic Area Develop Understanding Of: Grades K-2 (Pg. 17) Grades 3-6 (Pg. 18) Grades 7-12 (Pg. 19)

Understandings about scientific inquiry Tasks 5 & 6 Tasks 1-3 & 5-8 Tasks 1-3

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Task 5 Tasks 1-3 & 5-8 Tasks 1-3

Organisms and environments Tasks 6 & 7

Objects in the sky Tasks 1-5

Changes in earth and sky Tasks 1-5

Structure of the earth system Tasks 1-8

Earth in the solar system Tasks 1-8

Energy in the earth system Tasks 1-3

Characteristics and changes in populations Tasks 6 & 7

Science and technology in society Task 6

Environmental quality Tasks 3-5

Natural and human-induced hazards Tasks 3-5

Nature of scientific knowledge Tasks 1-3

EDUCATORS GUIDE


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THE GREAT MIGRATIONS



Understandings about scientific inquiry Tasks 2 & 3 Tasks 1-3 Tasks 1-4

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Task 2 & 3 Tasks 1-3 Tasks 2-4

Structure and function in living systems Tasks 1-3

Regulation and behavior Tasks 1-4

Populations and ecosystems Tasks 1-3

Diversity and adaptations of organisms Tasks 1-4

Interdependence of organisms Tasks 1-4

Matter, energy, and organization in living systems Tasks 1-4

Behavior of organisms Tasks 1-4

Changes in earth and sky Tasks 1-3

Characteristics and changes in populations Task 3

Changes in environment Task 3

Populations, resources, and environments Task 3

Natural hazards Task 3

Risks and benefits Task 3

Natural and human-induced hazards Task 3

Nature of scientific knowledge Tasks 2 & 3



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ADAPTATION AND HABITAT


Topic Area Develop Understanding Of: Grades K-2 (Pg.35) Grades 3-6 (Pg.36) Grades 7-12 (Pg.37)

Understandings about scientific inquiry Tasks 1-3 Tasks 1-3 & 7-8 Tasks 1 & 2

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Tasks 1-3 Tasks 1-3 & 7-8 Tasks 1 & 2

Characteristics of organisms Tasks 1-3

Organisms and environments Tasks 1-3

Structure and function in living systems Tasks 1-5 & 7-8

Regulation and behavior Tasks 1-5 & 7-8


Diversity and adaptations of organisms Tasks 1-8

Interdependence of organisms Tasks 1 & 2

Matter, energy, and organization in living systems Tasks 1 & 2

Behavior of organisms Tasks 1 & 2

Changes in environment Task 3

Natural and human-induced hazards Tasks 1 & 2

Environmental quality Tasks 1 & 2

Nature of scientific knowledge Tasks 7 & 8



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PREDATOR AND PREY


Topic Area Develop Understanding Of: Grades K-2 (Pg.44) Grades 3-6 (Pg.44) Grades 7-12 (Pg.45)

Understandings about scientific inquiry Tasks 1 & 2 Tasks 1 & 3 Task 3 & 5-6

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Task 2 Task 1 Task 3 & 5-6

Characteristics of organisms Tasks 1 & 2

Organisms and environments Task 2




Diversity and adaptations of organisms Task 3


Matter, energy, and organization in living systems Tasks 1-6


Natural and human-induced hazards Task 6

Environmental quality Task 6



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LIFE CYCLES



Understandings about scientific inquiry Tasks 2-3 & 6-7 Tasks 2-5 Task 1 & 3-4

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry Tasks 2-3 & 6-7 Tasks 2-5 Task 1 & 3-4

Characteristics of organisms Tasks 1-7

Life cycles of organisms Tasks 2-3 & 5-7

Organisms and environments Tasks 1-5


Reproduction and heredity Tasks 1-6


Populations and ecosystems Task 2

Diversity and adaptations of organisms Task 1

Biological evolution Task 1



Natural and human-induced hazards Tasks 1-4

Environmental quality Tasks 3 & 4



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In the fIlm

The relationship between the Earth and the

sun is at the heart oearth. The lm tells

a global story as it travels north to south

showing how the energy o the sun stimulatesand sustains all lie on the planet. This journey

across the Earths surace witnesses the

fow o the suns energy in the rhythm o the

changing seasons; in vast migrations and

explosions o new lie. It shows how nely

balanced the relationship is between Earth

and its lie-giving star, and how urgent the

need to ensure this balance is maintained

or the sake o all lie on the lucky planet.

solar eNergy

The sun is the powerhouse that eeds lie on

Earth. However, the concentration o solar

energy that reaches the planets surace varies

rom north to south across the hemispheres,and along the same latitude at dierent times

o the year, as the Earth travels its yearlong

orbit o the sun.

Due to Earths spherical shape, the suns rays

strike the planet at a more oblique angle in

the latitudes nearer to the north and south

poles. In these areas the suns energy must

pass through more o the Earths atmosphere

and spread out over a greater surace area.

This means they receive less sunlight, and

thereore less energy, than latitudes nearer to

the Equator.

The Earth and the Sun

Educators Guide 8


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the tilted plaNet

A fuke o nature gives the planet its character

and dictates the rhythm o lie or all the living

organisms that populate it: the Earths tilt. The

Earth rotates at an angle o 23.5 degrees rom

the vertical. Around ve billion years ago a

huge asteroid crashed into Earth tilting it at an

angle o exactly 23.5 degrees to the sun.

Without its tilt, the Earth would be a very

dierent planet. While there would still be

climatic variation north to south caused by

the varying concentration o solar energy

reaching the planets surace, there would be

no seasons and no variation in the hours o

daylight and darkness during the year.

the chaNgiNg seasoNs

Due to the tilt, latitudes closer to the poles

experience dramatic seasonal change. During

that arc o the Earths orbit when the north

pole points towards the sun, the northern

hemisphere receives more energy rom it

than the southern, creating summer in the

north and winter in the south. During the arc

o the orbit when the south pole points to the

sun, this position is reversed. Between these

two extremes come the transition seasons

o autumn and spring. The explosion o new

lie in spring, the ruits o summer, the alling

leaves o autumn and the dormant world o

winter are all part o living organisms response

to the increasing and decreasing energy rom

the sun reaching the Earths surace. This

seasonal change is elt ar less dramatically inequatorial regions because there the Earths

tilt has ar less eect. There the year divides

only into wet seasons and dry seasons.

Atmosphere fActs:

Earths atmosphere is made up o gases in

varying quantities: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon

dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone,

water vapor, halocarbons and inert gases

the greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide,

methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, water vapor

and halocarbons make up only 1% o

the atmosphere but they regulate Earths

temperature

greenhouse gases prevent the energy

radiating rom the planets sun-heated

surace rom escaping into space

without the greenhouse gases Earth wouldbe on average 86F (30C) cooler

human activity has increased and continues

to increase the concentration o greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere

burning wood, oil, coal and gas increases

carbon dioxide; deorestation has reduced

the number o trees taking carbon dioxide

out o the atmosphere

the consequence o this is global warming

In the tropics, the regions to the north and

south o the Equator, the same amount o

energy rom the sun passes through less o

the atmosphere and strikes the Earths surace

at a more direct angle than it does urther north

and south. As a result, the Earths surace

here receives the energy o the sun in a more

concentrated way.

In other words, the same amount o energy

hitting the Earth at latitudes closer to the poles

is rst more dispersed in the atmosphere and

then spread more widely over the Earths

surace than it is near to the Equator.

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the suN aNd the forests

forest fActs

orests are rich, biodiverse ecosystems.

They contain animals, trees, shrubs,

fowers, erns, mosses, lichens, ungi

and microscopic soil organisms

orests produce large quantities o oxygen

and absorb large quantities o carbon

dioxide

orests regulate the Earths atmosphere

The orests eatured in earth vividly

demonstrate how the planets living organisms

refect the variation in solar energy reaching

the surace at dierent latitudes and at dierent

times in the year.

66 to 50 north: tAIGA fActs

the Taiga is one o Earths major terrestrial

biomes. It is also called the Boreal Forest ater

Boreas, Greek God o the North Wind

winter lasts or eight months o the year

the short summer has 24 hours o daylight

the average temperature is below reezing

or six months o the year

one-third o all the trees on Earth grow in

the Taiga

the orest supports little animal lie

The Taiga is the most northerly o Earths

orests. The majority o the trees in the Taiga

are coniers. Coniers are evergreen. Keeping

their needles throughout the year means that

as soon as the sun returns theyre ready to

begin photosynthesis, and they dont waste

energy growing new leaves. The dark

coloring o their leaves helps with both

photosynthesis and absorption o heat. Pines,

rs and spruces also adapt to survive at this

latitude. Their leaves are thin, dark green

needles, and they contain little sap so they

dont reeze.

photosYnthesIs fActs

trees and plants absorb energy rom the sun

trees and plants use this to convert carbon

dioxide rom the air and water rom the soil

into ood sugars

trees and plants release oxygen into the air

during photosynthesis. The needles thick

waxy coat helps them to retain the water.

These evergreen trees are always at risk o

their branches being damaged by a build upo heavy snowall, but their shape helps to

minimize the risk.

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Educators Guide 0


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tropIc of cAncer to tropIc of

cAprIcorn: tropIcAl rAInforest

fActs

the tropical rainorest is one o the Earths

major biomes. Rainorests are the most

productive, diverse and dynamic o the landbiomes

tropical rainorests cover less than 3% o the

planets surace but are home to more than

50% o the worlds animal species

one in ve o all the birds on Earth live in the

Amazon rainorest

approximately 80% o all insect species live

in tropical rainorests

tropical rainorests receive 12 hours o

sunlight all year round

average temperature around 80F (25C);

more than 80 in (200 cm) o rainall a year;

average humidity around 80%

environmental actors combine to create

a climate that promotes plant growth year

round

plants o the rainorest generate much o

Earths oxygen

tropical rainorests can be divided into layers

rom the ground up: the orest foor, the

shrub layer, the understory, the canopy and

the overstory

Tropical rainorests are not subject to the same

fuctuations o the suns energy experienced

during the year by the temperate deciduous

and the boreal orests urther north and south.

Tropical rainorests grow all year-round.

Being sunlit or twelve hours, every day, 365

days a year, the plants o the rainorest canphotosynthesize throughout the year and

provide a constant and abundant ood supply

or the rainorest ood chains. This stable ood

supply, combined with stable year round

temperature and abundant rainall, has made

the tropical rainorests the most biodiverse

habitats on the planet.

BIoDIVersItY

The biodiversity o the tropical rainorests is

breathtaking. To list the species would be a

lies work; tropical rainorests are home to

hal o all Earths species. Just 2.5 acres o

rainorest (1 hectare) can contain 250 species

o tree and 1 sq mile (2.5 sq km) can contain

more than 50,000 insect species. A single

bush in the Amazon rainorest can house more

species o ants than are ound in the entire

British Isles, and a single 30-acre plot in the

Peruvian rainorest contains the same number

o rog species as the entire United States o

America. One g tree can eed 30 dierent

species o birds and 5 species o monkeys.

Educators Guide


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the rAInforest lAYers

The plant growth o a tropical rainorest divides

into zones. In the top layer, the overstory or

upper canopy, tall trees break through the

canopy layer and into the sunlight. These

widely spaced trees can be over 130 t (40

meters) in height: they rise above mist and

clouds. The canopy layer below them is

ormed by closely spaced trees o around

65-130 t in height (20-40 meters). These

trees orm an umbrella over the orest, a dense

ceiling o leaves and branches. Beneath the

canopy is the understory. This is the collective

name or multiple lea and branch levels. The

understory is more open than the canopy but

darker. It contains young trees and plants thatcan tolerate a lower light level. The lowest part

o the understory is the shrub layer, which is

only 5-20 t (1.5-6 m) above the orest foor

and contains shrubs and saplings. Finally,

there is the orest foor. This is covered in a thin

layer o decomposing leaves, seeds, ruits

and branches.

The dierent layers o the rainorest are home

to dierent species o plant and animal lie. The

trees teem with lie: its estimated that 70-90%

o lie in the rainorest is ound in the trees.

The fowering and ruiting trees o the canopy

attract a spectacular range o species.

rAInforest ADAptAtIons

The plants o a tropical rainorest are equipped

with numerous adaptations to suit the

conditions. Leaves oten have drip tips and

grooves that enable them to shed water and

prevent ungal and bacterial growth rom

developing. Plants in the understory have

large leaves to help them capture as much

sunlight as possible while trees in the overstory

have smaller leaves which reduce water loss.

Roots are also adapted to the rainorest

environment. The pattern o root growth

helps trees stay upright in moist shallow soil:

buttress and prop roots spread out above

ground to give trees more support than their

shallow root systems provide. Plants likelianas, a type o vine, have their roots on the

ground but climb up trees high into the canopy

to reach sunlight; others like orchids live on the

surace o trees in the canopy where sunlight

reaches.

Animals are equally adapted. Prehensile tails,

loud vocalizations, vivid coloration

and pattern and a ruit diet suit animals

or survival in the rainorest environment.

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the suN aNd the Water cycle

WAter cYcle fActs

water represents only 0.2% o the weight

o the planet

22% o solar radiation reaching the planetssurace heats liquid water turning it to water

vapor

as it cools in the atmosphere water vapor

collects as clouds

water returns to the surace o the Earth as

rain, sleet, hail and snow

each year 9,500 cubic miles (40,000 cubic

km) o water evaporate rom the oceans andall on land

shows on a spectacular scale the

planets water cycle in operation, rom massive

clouds rising above the ocean to the snows

o the Himalayas and the cascading giant

wateralls o the planets great rivers.

the cYcle

The water cycle is the circular journey thatwater makes rom the Earths surace into its

atmosphere and back. For the most part, the

sun is the engine that keeps the water cycle

turning; only a small amount o water vapor is

transerred into the atmosphere by the leaves

o plants.

The sun heats the water in rivers, lakes,

streams and oceans until it changes state,

evaporating and becoming water vapor. As

water vapor rises into the atmosphere it cools

and condenses into tiny droplets orming

clouds. These clouds o water vapor move

with the air currents in the atmosphere across

the seas and the land. As clouds meet, cool air

and the droplets o water vapor combine into

larger, heavier droplets that all back to the

Earth as rain or, at colder temperatures, sleet

or snow.shows how the moist air blowing

rom the Indian Ocean cools as it rises over the

Himalayas and drops moisture as snow.

Some o the water returning to the Earths suracesoaks into the ground, some o it becomes

trapped between layers o rock and is known as

groundwater. Most o it fows downhill as runo,

orming streams, lakes, and rivers, beore nally

returning to the oceans. Rivers can carry rainall

and melted snow immense distances.

Water that alls as snow is delayed in its return

to the ocean because it stays on the ground

until the heat energy rom the sun melts it.Snow that alls on mountain peaks stays there

or a long time because the temperature at the

top o a mountain is so low. There it can turn

into ice and orm glaciers. Hundreds o years

could pass beore the water that alls as snow

on mountains melts and begins its journey

back to the oceans.

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the okaVaNgo delta

WAter In A DrY seAson:

oKAVAnGo fActs

the Okavango delta in Botswana is an

inland wetland

it is one o the largest wetlands in the world

the fooding o the Okavango river created

and replenishes the delta foodplain

to reach the delta, the waters travel more

than 370 miles (600 km) rom their source

during the annual fooding o the Okavango

river the area covered by water extends

beyond permanent swamp land and

increases rom 2 to 2.3 4.6 thousand

square miles (5 to 6 12 thousand square

kilometers ) shows the remarkable transormation

that water brings about on the planets

surace by ocusing on one river and its delta.

The delta o the Okavango supports a vast

diversity o wildlie as a consequence o a lucky

natural phenomenon. The river Okavango

rises in the Angolan Highlands and fows south

into Botswana. The summer wet season in

Botswana and Angola is between November

and March when rainall occurs. However, the

peak o the Okavangos foodwaters does not

reach the delta until August which is during

the local dry season. This is because o the

rivers gradient. Its so shallow as it travels out

o the Angolan Highlands that theres a long

delay in the foodwaters arriving at the delta.

This foodwater makes the delta a lie-savingsource o water or millions o animals during

the regions long dry season.

the desert trek of the

kalahari elephaNts

One species that would not survive without

the Okavangos food are the Arican elephants

that live in the Kalahari Desert. These

savannah elephants have learned to live in thedesert despite its extremely dry climate. Their

liestyle diers rom savannah elephants in that

they travel vast distances searching or ood

and water. At times they may go days without

eating or drinking.

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KAlAhArI elephAnt fActs

these elephants can travel up to 45 miles

(70 km) a day

their home range can be as big as 6,000 sq

miles (15,000 sq km)

when they nd water they can drink as much

as 26 gallons (100 liters) at one sitting and 52

gallons (200 liters) in a day

they can eat 300 lbs o vegetation in a day

(140 kg)

they live in much smaller herds than other

savannah elephants

they socialize and play less as they areoccupied with the search or ood and water

and the need to conserve energy

During the height o summer, elephants

migrate to the wetter parts o their habitat to

nd enough ood and water to survive. The

elephants lmed in are crossing the

Kalahari in southern Arica during the dry

season.

Desert fActs

deserts are one o the Earths major

terrestrial biomes

they cover one-third o the Earths land

surace

deserts are the hottest places on Earth; a

temperature o 136.4F (58C) has been

recorded in the shade at Azizia in Libya

less than 20 percent o the worlds desert

areas are sandy

sub-tropical deserts like the Sahara arehot deserts: they have high temperatures

all year

high altitude deserts or continental deserts

like the central Asian deserts are cold

deserts: they have cold winters

The lack o water propels the desert elephants

on a desperate trek in which they cover

hundreds o miles searching or ood and

water. They head or a place where they know

they will nd these: the Okavango delta.

The guardian o this knowledge is the

matriarch head o the herd. Over many years

she has built up an internal map o where

water is located. She can lead the herd to

sources she has not visited or 20 years.

The journey across the Kalahari to the

Okavango delta is grueling or the elephants.They march or weeks through intense heat

and dust storms, sharing water holes with

the desert lions that threaten both calves and

weaker elephants. Like the elephants, the

lions can tolerate the extremes o the desert

environment. Both can go or two to three

months without drinking water. Ater the

elephants trek across the desert, they nally

reach their destination: a lush green, fooded

landscape that could not contrast more with

the desert. shows them taking ull

advantage o the waters as they drink deeply,

swim and play.

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t e n sn av

the earth aNd the suN: actiVities

Many children nd it very dicult to grasp

the relationship in space between the sun

and the Earth. They oten go through phases

o becoming completely conused.These

activities are designed to encourage children

to begin thinking about this dicult topic.

GrADes K-2: eArth AnD sUn

Learning objective

to understand the changing relationship

between the Earth and the sun

Tasks

1. To understand the relationship between

the Earth and the sun it is necessary rstto understand that the Earth is spherical.

Explore a globe, rotating it and ndingdierent places on it.

2.It is key also to understand that there are

seasons. Talk about the our seasons, or twoseasons, whichever is appropriate. What dochildren know about each o the seasons?

Collect their knowledge in their own Booko the Seasons. For other seasons activitiessee The Great Migrations section.

3.Do children understand that one cycle o theseasons takes a year to complete? Do they

understand what a year is? Investigate acalendar or several years. Can children ndthe day o their birthday? Can they nd it the

ollowing year?

4.Do children understand that the seasonal

cycle continues; that there is spring,summer, autumn and winter (or alternativelywet and dry) every year? Do they remember

things they did in other seasons? Lastwinter? Last summer? Last wet season?

5.Play with shadows. Find a clear patch

where children can stand in the morningon a sunny day and outline each others

shadows. Repeat the process at middayand in late aternoon. What has happenedto the direction and shape o the shadow?

Why do children think this is? It is sucientor children at this age to notice that the sunis in a dierent position in the sky.

6. Talk about other places in the worldchildren have visited or lived in. Do they have

photographs o them? Find these places on

a globe. What can children who have beenthere tell others about things like the weather

or the plants and animals in these places?Make a book o Places on Earth We Know.

7.Become email pals with an individual or a

class in the opposite hemisphere. Exchangemonthly emails about what is happening in

the natural world in each town/village/city.

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t e n sn av

GrADes 3-6:

eArth AnD sUn eXperIments

Learning objective

to investigate the varying relationship

between the Earths surace and the sun

Tasks

1.Make a simple sundial by putting a stick

in the ground. Check it every hour on a

sunny day and record the changes. What

do children conclude rom this? Do they

understand that it is the Earth that is turning,

not the sun moving?

2.Experiment with a rotating globe and astrong light source. In a darkened room

place the light source so that it illuminates

one side o the globe. Children can take

turns rotating the globe and watching the

eect. Place a brightly colored sticker on the

globe where the children live. One child can

be responsible or watching or when

it disappears and another or its return.

What do children think this tells them?

3. I children nd this dicult to grasp using

a globe, play a game in which children

themselves rotate so that they are in turn

acing to, or away rom, a light source.

What do they notice?

4. Talk about summer and winter. What do

children notice about the hours o daylight

and darkness? Is it light or dark when they

get up or go to bed?

5. Track the shadows created in the

environment during the year. Choose atree, or a building, or anything that creates

a well-dened shadow. On the rst sunny

day o each month observe where the apex

o the shadow is at midday. Either make

a permanent mark (i that is possible) or

note down a landmark it reaches. Watch

the changes month to month. Does the

shadow shorten and lengthen? Does it stay

the same?

6.On the rst day o each month check the

time o sunrise and sunset locally. Choose

one or two other locations on the planet

either much urther south or much urther

north. Use the Internet to check sunrise and

sunset times there. Record the inormation

or all the locations in a chart. What do

children notice?

7.Record the temperature outside at the

same time every morning. Plot the results

on a graph. What do children notice?

8.Use large and small spheres to show

how the Earth orbits the sun. The sphere

representing the Earth must rotate, and

must be tilted as the Earth is.

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GrADes 7-12:

the eArths temperAtUre

Learningobjectives:

to understand that the amount o energy

rom the sun reaching the Earths suracevaries with latitude and season

to understand the impact o greenhouse

gases on the retention o the suns energy

and the consequential impact on the Earths

habitats

Tasks

1. In a darkened room, position a rotating

globe so that the northern hemisphere is

angled away rom a strong light source

representing the sun. Students can

experiment with rotating the globe to

observe where the light alls. Choose a point

within the Arctic Circle, mark it and track

its passage rom dark into light. Choose a

place in Antarctica and on the Equator and

repeat the process. Record the ndings

then reverse the experiment by positioning

the globe so the southern hemisphere isangled away. Compare the results.

2.Experiment with a powerul fash light and

the globe. Make sure students understand

that the fash light does not represent the

sun, but represents a quantity o the suns

energy hitting the Earths surace. First shine

the light on the globe at the Equator. Whatdo students notice about the beam on the

surace? Then, keeping the light in exactly

the same orientation and exactly the same

distance rom the globe, move it up or down

so that it shines on the globe at a northerly

or southerly latitude. What do students notice

about the beam? What do they think this tells

them about the energy rom the light, and by

analogy the energy rom the sun?

3.Discuss the relationship between the

increase in greenhouse gases and global

warming. Design a presentation to explain

global warming to an audience who do

not understand it. It has to be clear and

simply expressed or they will not be able

to absorb it.

4.Design a poster to impress on humans

what their actions are doing to the planet

(see the section on the Polar bears habitat,

the Arctic, in Adaptation and Habitat). It

should be vivid, memorable and eature

a catchy slogan.

5.Design a leafet to send to peoples homes

telling them what they can personally do to

limit their impact on the Earths atmosphere.

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In the fIlm

The central theme o is the eect

the suns energy has on lie on the planets

surace, and the seasonal change that results

rom its tilted orbit. As the suns energy

intensies in the northern hemispheres spring,

it releases the tundra rom its blanket o snow

resulting in massive herds o caribou migrating

north to take advantage o the burgeoning

vegetation. As the chill o autumn comes

to the Tibetan steppe, focks o Demoiselle

cranes battlethe winds o the Himalayas

in a nd winter shelter in India.

As the warming sun comes to the Antarctic,

Humpback whales set o rom the tropics or

their eeding grounds there. sweeps

across the surace o the planet to witness

these great migrations. The journeys are

raught with danger. A portion o the migrating

animals will not survive, but by making the

journey, they ensure the survival o their

species as a whole.

The Great Migrations

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t g mn

mIGrAtIon fActs

most migrations are triggered by

environmental changes: ood shortage,

changes in temperature, changes in length

o daylight

only the tropics dont experience these

changes

environmental changes work with a

genetically inherited sense o impending

change to impel animals to migrate

billions o animals migrate, rom the smallest

insect to the Humpback whale

a migration journey may be just a ewhundred eet or thousands o miles over

land, or through air and sea

most animals navigate during their migration

using the sun as their guide

elephants use the sun in combination with

land cues

Humpback whales are thought to use

magnetite in their brains to detect changes in

the Earths magnetic eld

many experienced migratory birds use

landmarks to pilot their way

the caribou trail: the loNgest

oVerlaNd migratioN

cArIBoU fActs

caribou are ound across Northern Europe

and Asia rom Scandinavia to Siberia as wellas in Alaska, Canada and Greenland

they eat grass and plants in summer and

lichen in winter

a emale caribou gives birth to one or two

calves ater about an eight-month gestation

male and emale caribou both have antlers

reindeer are caribou

The caribou undertake the worlds longest

land migration: some 2,000 miles. As spring

arrives in the northern hemisphere and the sun

returns to the Arctic, the thaw moves north

across the tundra and more than three million

caribou ollow. The caribous migration is

matched to the pattern and speed o the melt.

They travel in vast herds searching or resh

pasture and a place to calve, taking advantage

o the new plant growth and the nutrition thiswill oer their newborns.

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ArctIc tUnDrA fActs

the tundra is the most northerly o Earthsmajor terrestrial biomes, circling the globe tothe south o the North Pole

it has very cold winters; short, cool summers

and little rainall

winter temperatures can all to -60F (-51C)

summer temperatures can rise to between

37F (2.7C) and 50F (12.2C)

the soil o the tundra is requently rozen

a meter below the surace is permanent ice:permarost

no trees grow in the tundralonG rAnGe trAVelers

Caribou are built or their epic journey. Their

hooves are large and concave. These act

like snowshoes, holding the caribou up both

on winter snow and on the soggy summer

tundra. In water, they operate as enormous

paddles, propelling the animal orward.

Caribou can swim across ast-fowing rivers

and large lakes with ease. They even have

the added benet o a kind o fotation jacket.The hollow hairs o their coat trap air and help

to keep them afoat. Nevertheless, they take

care when crossing rivers, either scouting or

a sae crossing point or waiting or avorable

conditions in which to cross.

DAnGeroUs encoUnters

Throughout their journey the caribou herds

have to keep constantly on the move. Calves

born on the migration must be on their eetand running the day they emerge. This is a

perilous time or the caribou. Their constant

companions are wolves. They shadow the

herds as they migrate. The wolves hunting

strategy is to run at the caribou, creating

panic and chaos in which they can separate

young calves rom their mothers. Once a wol

is chasing it, the cal has a ty-ty chance o

survival. I it can stay on its eet, it is capable

o outrunning a wol. A caribou can run at 50

miles (80 kilometers) per hour. I it makes one

mistake, the wol will be on the cal.

GreY Wolf fActs

grey wolves travel greater distances than any

other land mammal except the caribou

the wolves may hunt alone, but usually theyhunt in packs o 3 to 30 members

the size o a packs territory in Alaska andCanada is about 600 square miles (1,500 sqkm) but it can be as large as 1,000 square

miles (2,500 sq km)

grey wolves are good swimmers and will

pursue their prey into water

At the other end o the scale, another danger

or the caribou are mosquitoes. These are

widespread in the caribous summer range

and a major irritant to them. I a caribou

spends too much time and energy running

away rom mosquitoes, it will not eat enough

and put on sucient weight in the summer tosee it through the ollowing winter.

sUmmer rAnGe AnD WInter rAnGe

In their summer range the caribou have

access to a rich supply o ood, which means

that both adults and calves can gain weight

and build their strength in order to survive the

ollowing winter. This is crucially important

or the survival o the herd. They head south

again to their winter range oten ater the rst

severe autumn storm. Here the weather is less

harsh and the snow cover less impenetrable,

which means they will still be able to nd ood.

They oten migrate to a dierent area o their

winter range in successive years so they avoid

stripping an area o available ood.

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from the tropics to the polar

seas: the 4,000 mile JourNey of

the humpback Whale

hUmpBAcK fActs

Humpbacks are among the largestmammals on Earth. They can grow up to

around 48 t (15 meters ) long and can weigh

more than 33 tons

they eed on krill and small sh, each whale

eating up to 1.11.65 tons o ood a day

they are ound in all the oceans o the world,

apart rom the Mediterranean and the

extreme Arctic

they mature between 6 and 8 years o age

and a emale may give birth once every 2 to

3 years the gestation period lasts about

12 months

a Humpback whale cal is between 10-15

eet (45 meters) long when its born and

weighs up to 1.1 ton

they can live up to 70 years o age, the

average being about 50

all Humpbacks sing

the whale song varies geographically and is

more oten heard when they are in tropical

waters

t g mn

In tropIcAl WAters

ollows the migration o the Southern

hemisphere population o Humpbacks.

They spend their winter, rom May through

late November, in the warm waters o the

tropics: waters that are suitable or breedingand calving. During these winter months, a

Humpback cal develops rapidly by suckling

requently on its mother and consuming her

high-energy milk: it has a 45-60% at content.

The cal will need all its strength to endure

the epic 4,000-mile journey it will make with

its mother to the waters o the Antarctic

peninsula.

The cals mother doesnt eed at all in these

months; she survives on her blubber. Tropical

waters are comparatively poor in nutrients.

They support a diversity o lie, but not

the large populations o krill and small sh

that a whale needs to eed on. By the time

November comes the whales must migrate

in order to eed on the vast quantities o ood

they will nd in the Antarctic.

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the JoUrneY soUth

Mothers and calves tend to be the last whales

to begin their migration, delaying until the cal

is as strong as possible. The journey south

is long, arduous and potentially perilous or

a young whale and a weak mother whale that

hasnt eaten or our months. On their journey

they will cross hal the globe, rom the tropics

all the way to the edge o Antarctica. The

Humpbacks migration is the longest migration

undertaken by any mammal on the planet.

When theyre migrating, Humpbacks travel at

an average speed o about 5 mph (8 km/hr).

As they leave the calm o the tropical seas

behind them the waters become colder and

rougher. Its essential that the mother and cal

stay close to each other; young Humpback

calves making their rst migratory journey

to Antarctica are particularly vulnerable to

attacks by sharks and Killer whales. To avoid

getting separated and losing track o each

other, mother and cal keep in contact by

slapping their ns on the surace o the water.

They can hear these sound signals above the

roar o the ocean.

The journey or the cal is massively energy

consuming. It conserves energy by swimming

in its mothers slipstream. It positions itsel

just behind the mothers widest diameter,

just underneath and to the side o her dorsal

n. By doing this, it can keep pace with its

mother using only 75% o the eort it would

use otherwise. Nevertheless, even employing

this energy-saving strategy, many calves die oexhaustion during the journey.

the AntArctIc sUmmer

The Humpbacks reach their destination in time

or the brie, three-month Antarctic summer. At

last, ater their 4,000-mile journey, the whales

can eed.

AntArctIc sUmmer fActs

Antarctic waters are rich in nutrients

the continuous 24 hours o daylight insummer produce an annual bloom o

phytoplankton in the Antarctic Ocean

phytoplankton are the basis or the AntarcticOcean ood chain

krill, small shrimp-like creatures, eed on thephytoplankton and multiply in vast numbers

swarms o krill become concentrated in ice-

ree bays and attract whales

The arrival o the whales in the Antarctic

coincides with the melting o the sea ice and

the explosion in numbers o swarming krill.

Humpbacks sometimes eed on the krill co-

operatively using a method called bubble

netting. A group o whales dive perhaps

160 eet (50 meters) below a shoal o krill

then slowly return to the surace in a spiral

ormation, blowing bubbles. These underwater

bubbles create a sort o curtain that herds

the krill together and orces them towards the

surace at the center o the circle. Eventuallythe whales surace, their mouths wide open

as they take in mouthuls o the mass o krill

trapped in the middle o the circle o bubbles.

As the season changes and the sun starts to

sink below the horizon again, the whales will

make their return journey to the warm water o

the tropics.

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aboVe the roof of the

World: the migratioN of

the demoiselle craNes

DemoIselle crAne fActs

Demoiselles are the smallest o the cranes,just 3 t (90 cm) tall and weighing 47 lbs(23 kg)

they have a wing span o 1 t 6 in (50 cm)

they live mainly in grassland areas nearwater but can be ound in deserts wherewater is available

Demoiselles mate or lie and continue theircourtship dance throughout their lives to

maintain their bond

they usually lay their eggs directly on theground and their chicks fedge astest o allcranes at around 55 days

Demoiselle cranes were given their name byQueen Marie Antoinette, because o theirdelicate, maiden-like appearance

Demoiselle cranes undertake one o the mostchallenging migrations in nature. Each year,

thousands o them bid to escape the harshwinters o the Tibetan steppe by fying south.

They fy in a V-ormation at very high altitudes,

up to 25,000 eet (7,620 meters), and keep incontact by constantly calling to each other. Their

destination is the warmer climates o India, but toget there they have to cross the highest mountainrange on Earth: the Himalayas.

hImAlAYA fActs

the planets 14 highest peaks are in the

Himalayas

the highest is Mount Everest at 29,028 eet(8,848 meters)

the Himalayan range o mountains stretchesacross one-tenth o the planet

the Himalayas prevent the cold, dry winds

o the Arctic rom reaching the Indiansubcontinent and keep South Asia warm

they orce the monsoon winds blowing north

rom the tropics to drop their rain as they riseover the mountains

As the sun heats the slopes o the mountains,

warm air rises rom the valleys. The cranes usethe uplit o the thermals to gain height as theyfy towards the summit o the mountains. I the

weather changes, these small, elegant birdscan be bueted so violently by the wind that

they would be orced to give up and delay theirattempt to surmount the peaks to anotherday. They would try again when the sun rises.

As they attempt their crossing, they have tojudge whether or not they have the strength tobattle against the reezing winds around the

peaks. I they turn back they will ace the bitterextremes o winter on the Tibetan steppes.

They must go on i they are to reach theirwinter sanctuary.

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the great migratioNs: actiVities

GrADes K-2: seAsons DIArY

Learning objective:

to understand that the Earth experiences

seasonal change

For children o this age to begin to understandthe concept o migration they need rstto understand that the Earth experiencesseasonal change.

Tasks

1.Several sequences in the lm showseasonal change. The deciduous orest

sequence shows it particularly well,although very young children may havediculty in understanding that a lming trickis used to show change at an acceleratedspeed. How many changes can childrenremember seeing (e.g., lea growth,blossom, spring fowers, animals and theirnew ospring, etc.)?

2.Have the children seen changes like thesein their own environment? Talk about them

and create seasons pictures. Collectthese together into a gallery o picturesor a particular season.

3. Talk about how seasonal change aectshumans. How does it aect the children? Dothey wear dierent clothes? Does what theyeat change? Do their daily activities change(e.g., travelling to school, playing, etc.)?

GrADes 3-6: seAson WAtchInG

Learning objectives:

to develop skills o scientic observation

to understand how environmental change

impacts on animals

Tasks

1.Become a Season Watcher. This canbe done by a class as a group or by anindividual. Start a notebook in which tokeep observations o the natural world.What do children notice about temperature,trees, plants, local wildlie, weather, hourso daylight? Take photographs and make

drawings.

2. Think about how the local environmentchanges seasonally and the eect thismight have on wildlie. Talk about howthese changes trigger migration.

3. Think about the conditions in theenvironments the eatured animals in migrate between. How are theydierent? How are they the same? Record

this inormation in a chart. What impels theanimal to migrate? What does the animalnd in its new location (e.g., ood, water,security rom predators during breeding,more avorable weather conditions)?

4.Plot on a map or globe (real or virtual) theroutes o the migrating animals eatured

in .

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GrADes 7-12: JoUrneYs of lIfe

Learning objective:

to understand the importance o migration

to a species survival

The stories in demonstrate vividly

the epic and perilous nature o the migration

journeys many animals take. Yet, despite the

risks, these annual treks continue, indicating

this behavior must be immensely benecial to

the species as a whole.

Tasks

1.Use the stories o migration in as

the starting point or a discussion o the

part played by migration in the continuingsurvival o a species. How does migration

benet each o the species eatured?

Does it benet them in the same or in

dierent ways?

2.Study migration in the local area. Birds are

a particularly good ocus or a migration

project because some stay in a locality

all year, some visit during a season and

some pass through on their way to another

destination. Monitor the bird population in

an area and make a record o it.

3. Focus on one os migrating animals

and research their journey in urther detail.

How could changes in environmental actors

aect these animals? The caribou are a good

case in point. As land migrating animals, they

have to cope with any obstacle in their way.

Roads and pipelines are known to cause

problems or caribou, defecting them rom

their migratory route. What might be theconsequences or the caribou o obstacles

placed in their path? What would happen i the

caribou were diverted rom the rich vegetation

o their calving areas? How might the impact

o obstacles be limited?

4.Research the navigational devices animals

use to pilot their way on their migrations.

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In the fIlm

reveals a breathtaking vision o the

planets habitats and makes it possible to truly

appreciate just how extreme the contrasts

are between the environments the planets

animals call home. The Polar bear mother and

her cubs emerge rom the crisp, white pristine

snow o the Arctic into a world o ice clis

and rozen ocean as ar as the eye can see.

Thousands o miles south, the Humpback

whale gently supports her cal in the still

and shallow sunlit waters o the tropics. The

Arican elephant and her cal traverse a desert

landscape o parched vegetation and crackingsun-baked earth as they cross the Kalahari,

enveloped in billowing clouds o dust. These

places on Earths surace could not be more

dierent, and each o them is inhabited by one

o Earths great mammals.

hABItAt fActs

a habitat is an environment that provides

an organism plant or animal with the

conditions it needs to live

all living organisms are adapted to the

habitat in which they live

Adaptation and Habitat

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an n h

the polar bear

polAr BeAr fActs

ound throughout the Arctic on ice-covered

waters rom Canada, to Norway, parts othe USA, Russia and Greenland

will travel hundreds o miles in search o ood

can smell seals several kilometers away

can swim 12 miles (20 km) a day

Latin name Ursus maritimus means

sea bear

Polar bears are perectly adapted to the

rozen Arctic world they inhabit. Their habitatexperiences dramatic change during the year.

As the Earth travels on its annual orbit, the

polar sea ice melts in the heat o the summer

sun and reezes again as polar winter comes.

The sequences in show how the Polar

bear is completely equipped or survival in

both these states.

lIfe In A colD clImAte

On average, the temperature in the Arctic

winter drops to -29F (-34C). I a Polar bear is

to survive it has to be able to keep warm. The

black tip o its nose gives a clue to one o itskey adaptations. Beneath the dense yellowish

white ur, a Polar bears skin is black. This dark

color helps it absorb heat rom the sun. As well

as being adapted to take in heat, it is adapted

to keep out cold. Below the skin a Polar bear

has a layer o blubber. This layer o at acts as

an insulator, keeping its body temperature and

metabolic rate the same even i the outside

temperature drops to -29F (-34C). The

bears ur also keeps out the cold. The woolunderneath creates an insulating layer that

keeps the bear warm when its in water. In act,

a Polar bears body is so eective at keeping

warm that Polar bears are sprinters, not

marathon runners! They can only run or short

distances because over longer distances

theyre in danger o overheating!

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hUntInG for fooD

The Polar bear preers to hunt its main oodsource, the Ringed seal, on the Arctic sea ice.

The bears catch the seals as they emergethrough holes in the ice to breed, or when theytake to the ice to give birth. Polar bears are

well adapted or this hunting style. Their whiteur camoufages them very eectively as theylie in wait or their prey. The bear even covers

its black nose with its paws to keep this outo sight! When a seal appears the Polar bear

can move very quickly. It pounces on the sealusing its huge clawed paws. When it eats, aPolar bear can consume a huge quantity o

ood. This gives it the energy to survive in sucha cold climate. It gets all the liquid it needs romits ood so it has no need to drink water.

hIBernAtIon

Polar bears are adapted to survive a oodshortage. Pregnant emale Polar bears

spend winter in a den. They dont go into truehibernation as they give birth during this time.

They do, however, go into a state o lethargy

in the den in which their heart rate slows andthey sleep soundly but are easily roused.

Males and other emales go into walkinghibernation. The bears metabolism alters toa hibernation-like state that conserves energy

and enables it to go or days without ood.This isnt something the Polar bear does onlyin winter. It can do it at any time o year i ood

supplies become scarce. By doing this, it cansurvive a period o hunger out on the sea ice.

WAlKInG on Ice

A Polar bear spends its lie patrolling an icykingdom and its paws are particularly adaptedto do this. The soles have indents. These act

like suction cups to enable the bear to grip.They work in combination with the large non-retractable claws the bear has, one on each

oot. Just like ice picks, these too prevent thebear rom slipping.

the seA BeAr

During the summer months when the sea-icemelts, large tracts o the Polar bears rozenworld turns to water and it has to get around

by swimming, not walking. Its big orelimbsand paws help it swim between islands and

ice fows in search o resh hunting grounds.There are numerous islands in the Arctic.The bears o were lmed on Kong Karls

Land on the Svalbard archipelago north oNorway. Polar bears are strong swimmers.Using their ront paws to propel themselves

and their rear paws to control their direction,they can swim or long distances and have

been spotted 62.14 miles (100 km) oshorerom the nearest landall.

an n h

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an n h

the africaN elephaNt

AfrIcAn elephAnt fActs

adapted or survival in a range o habitats

including desert, swamp, orest, savannah,seashore and mountain

largest living land mammal the largestelephant ever recorded was 12 eet (4

meters) at the shoulder and weighed10 metric tonnes

they may spend 12-18 hours a day eeding

an adult elephant needs over 300 lb (140 kg)o ood a day

can consume up to 50 gallons (200 liters) o

water a day

their ears can be 6 t (200 cm) rom top tobottom

they have a large brain

hide is over 1 inch (3 cm) thick in places

fooD AnD WAter

An elephant needs a huge quantity o ood

and water to live. This is why large herds o

elephants are ound only in ood-rich areas likethe savannahs o southern Arica. In deserts,

where there is little ood and water available,

each herd contains only a small number o

elephants. Elephants oten migrate between

habitats to eed their enormous appetite.

The elephants o the Kalahari Desert in

Botswana, seen in , migrate annually to

the swamps o the Okavango to nd enough

ood and water to live. The elephants large

brain helps it to remember the location oareas where ood and water are seasonally

abundant. Its brain may also enable the

elephant to store other inormation. Hence an

elephant is known to never orget!

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the mUltI-fUnctIon trUnK

Feeding is just one unction o the elephants

remarkable multipurpose adaptation: its trunk.

Elephants eat all sorts o vegetation including

grass, tree oliage, bark, and twigs. An

elephant manipulates ood and brings it to itsmouth using its trunk. The trunk has numerous

tiny muscles that allow the elephant to grasp

branches and twigs. The elephant uses its

trunk much as a human uses its hands. It has

dierent techniques to deal with the dierent

ood types in its varied habitat: pulling up long

grass with the trunk; loosening and kicking

short grass into a pile with its oreeet beore

sweeping it up using the trunk. The Arican

elephant can achieve very ne control with itstrunk because it has two projections at the tip

that act as the equivalent o two ngers. It also

uses the trunk to suck up water and shoot it

into its mouth to drink. An elephant doesnt

drink straight rom its trunk.

tUsKs

Elephants ivory tusks are actually elongated

teeth. They use them to dig out the minerals

they need in their diet and to dig waterholes in

dry riverbeds. These holes, excavated using

the trunk, tusks, and eet, can be several eet

deep. Its thought that their location is learned

rom social interactions.

A socIAl AnImAl

Elephants are social animals. They have

a number o adaptations that help them

maintain communication. Their sensitive

hearing allows them to keep in touch over

long distances. They also use their ears as

signalling devices, oten to warn the herd oapproaching danger. The well-developed

sense o touch in their trunks is used not just

or eeding, but also or social purposes.

lIfe In A hot clImAte

Arican elephants are adapted to survive the

intense heat o the Arican sun. The elephants

surace area is small by comparison with

its total mass. This makes it dicult to lose

excess body heat. Their massive, an-like,

triangular shaped ears act as a cooling

system. They are lled with blood vessels. By

holding them out in the wind, or fapping them,

the elephant can increase the movement o

air over its ears and cool the blood running

through them, thereby regulating its body

temperature. They also use their trunks to

cool themselves by sucking up water, or mud

and dust when theyre bathing (which theylike to do and are seen doing enthusiastically

in ) and spraying it over their body. This

also keeps the elephants hide in condition.

Its thick hide protects it both rom attack by

insects that might spread disease and rom

the rough ground and thorny bushes ound in

the elephants habitats.

Because o their size and weight, its not

easy or an elephant to go unnoticed! Elastic,

spongy cushions on the bottom o its eet

help. They act as shock absorbers and help

elephants move silently.

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the humpback Whale

hUmpBAcK fActs

Humpback whales are ound throughout

the worlds oceans

the Humpbacks Latin name is Megaptera

novaeangliae; megaptera means huge

wings

a Humpbacks fippers are the largest

o any whale, up to one-third the length

o its body

the blubber o a Humpback is the thickest

o all whales

a Humpback whale has approximately

330 pairs o baleen plates instead o teeth

hanging rom its jaw

Humpback whales very small eyes help

them withstand the pressure o a deep

sea dive

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lIfe At the tropIcs AnD the poles

Humpback whales live at the surace o

open oceans and in the shallow coastal

wards. At dierent times o year they occupy

two distinct and dierent areas o their habitat:

one in the tropics and the other in the watersar south and ar north towards the poles.

The tropics are their breeding grounds and

they spend winter here in the warmth o the

tropical seas. The shallow equatorial waters

make good nurseries because they are calm

and contain ew predators. The polar waters

are their eeding grounds. When spring

comes, the Humpbacks and their calves set

o: the northern hemisphere population o

whales going north to the Arctic summer,

the southern hemisphere whales south

to the Antarctic summer.

The Humpbacks enormous fippers and

fuke-shaped tail power it on this journey.

Beneath the whales skin is a layer o blubber.

The Humpback has the thickest blubber

o all whales. It enables this warm-blooded

mammal to conserve energy and heat whenits in the cold water o the poles. When the

whale is wintering in warm tropical waters the

layer o blubber thins out as the whale lives

o it in the absence o other ood.

Summer is eeding time or Humpbacks.

The whales dont eed during the months

they spend in their winter breeding grounds.

Humpbacks are baleen whales. They have

huge plates o long hair-like laments instead

o teeth. These baleen plates hang in rows

rom each side o the upper jaw. They are

strong, fexible and made rom a similar

protein to the human ngernail. They lter vast

quantities o water when the whale opens

its mouth. Humpback whales have throat

grooves that run rom chin to navel. These

enable the whales throat to expand and

allow large volumes o water and ood into

the mouth. As the mouth closes, the whale

presses down with its tongue orcing all thewater out through baleen plates and retaining

the krill that are the whales main ood source.

The polar seas are lled with billions o these

tiny shrimp-like creatures. Thousands o them

are ltered rom each mouthul o water. During

their stay in their summer habitat, the whales

eed on them nonstop.

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adaptatioN aNd habitat: actiVities

GrADes K-2:

Who lIVes Where YoU lIVe?

Learningobjectives:

to observe that dierent habitats are

populated by dierent organisms

to develop skills o observation and

recording

Tasks

1. Talk about the eatured animals in .

What do children notice about where they

live? What is it like where the Polar bearlives? Is it hot or cold? Are there any trees?

What other animals live there? What is it

like where the whale lives? What is it like

where the elephant lives? Draw pictures o

the animal in its habitat. Children can nd

inspiration or these beautiul images in

the lm.

2.Where did other animals in the lm live?

What was it like where the lynx lives? And

the duck amily?

3. Investigate the animals and plants in the

local environment. This could be school orhome-based project or an individual child

or group o children. They can draw a map

or plan o the locality and go on a habitat

walk to observe the plant and animal lie

they see. They could ocus on a patch o

the land around their home, an area o the

school grounds, or a space in the local area.

They can look at sunny areas, shady areas,

damp or dry areas, under stones, in bushes

and trees, on open land, and in water. These

are habitats o dierent scales, but at this

age this matters less than giving children the

opportunity to see that dierent organisms

are living in dierent conditions. They can

record on their plan, using drawings and

writing, the plants and animals they see and

a description o where they saw them.

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GrADes 3-6: ADAptAtIon

Learningobjectives:

to understand that a habitat provides an

animal or plant with the conditions or lie

to understand that dierent animals areound in dierent habitats

to understand that an organism is adapted

to its habitat

Tasks

1. Talk about the dierent habitats thatare eatured in . The lm containsspectacular sequences that will givechildren a real sense o the habitats the lmvisits. What is the Polar bears habitat like?What is the whales habitat like? What isthe elephants habitat like? Make a charto the eatures o each habitat includinginormation on temperature, sunlight, water,vegetation and other animal lie.

2. Talk about how the main characterseatured in are adapted to theirhabitat. What eatures o the Polar bear

make it so suited to its Arctic environment?Talk about the whale and the elephant. Howare they adapted to their habitat? Make achart to show how each animal is adapted,or draw the three mammals and annotatedrawings to show their adaptations.

3. Talk about the three animals. Could theyexchange habitats? Why not?

4.Write a antasy story in which one o theanimals eatured in gets transportedto the wrong habitat. What happens to it andhow does it get back to where it belongs?

5.Create an imaginary animal and animaginary habitat or it to live in. What

adaptations will it have? How will theseadaptations make it suited to the habitat inwhich it lives? The important things or ananimal are to have ood, water, and shelter.

6.Make a Where do I Live? snap game.Collect pictures o animals and stick themon a card. Create a set o matching cards onwhich is written a description o an animalshabitat. Two players put down cards until

one sees a match between an animal andits habitat.

7.Make a study o two contrasting habitatsin the local area. Visit them to takephotographs and make notes on the natureo the habitat and the animals and plantsliving in it. These could be any habitats aslong as there is a clear contrast betweenthem. How exactly are the habitats dierent(water? light? soil? exposure?) Are some

plants and animals living in one but not inthe other? Are some living in both? Aresome plants growing better in one thanthe other? What can children concludeabout the conditions the dierent plantsand animals need or lie? Their conclusionscould be presented in many ways: asa collage picture, as a computer slidepresentation, or even as a video.

8. Try an adaptation experiment by growingthe same plant in two dierent sets oconditions. Plants o the same speciesoten grow to suit their conditions. Bluebells(Hyacinthoides non-scripta), or example,which are eatured in s deciduousorest sequence, grow taller in the shadethan in the sun.

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This is a habitat in constant fux. Due to its high

latitude, the Arctic experiences signicant

seasonal variation. The increase in the suns

energy in spring causes the sea ice to begin to

melt. It breaks up into enormous ice foes and

by summer is almost gone. In summer, whenthe northern hemisphere is tilted towards it,

the sun remains above the horizon twenty-our

hours a day. Hence the Arctic is called at this

time o year the land o the midnight sun. In

winter, when the pole is tilted away rom the

sun, the Arctic experiences a twenty-our-hour

night and the sea ice reezes again. In recent

years scientic study has shown that this cycle

o melting and reezing is changing.

On average, temperatures in the Arctic

drop in winter to -29F (-34C) but recently

unusually warm winter temperatures have

been recorded. At the same time changes

have been observed in the sea ice. Its melting

earlier than it used to: in some areas up to

three weeks earlier than it did 30 years ago. In

addition to this, the extent o the sea ice is also

decreasing.

seA Ice fActs

between 1979 and 2003 the extent o winter

sea ice ell by only 3% per decade

in the winters o 2004 and 2005 the extent

o winter sea ice ell by 6%

summer sea ice continues to retreat

at an average o 10% per decade

one study has recorded more than a

40% loss in sea ice thickness

in the past 25 years

These changes spell disaster or the Polarbear. The bears lie cycle is perectly attuned

to its Arctic world, and it is unprepared or this

sudden change. Some studies have already

shown a decrease in the weight o adult polar

bears rom an average o 650 lb (300 kg) in

1980 to 507 lb (230 kg) in 2004. In an area

o Hudson Bay, the Polar bear population

decreased rom 1,200 to 1,000 in the ten

years beore 2004.

Tasks

1.Using the data on habitat change in the

Arctic, in combination with the data on the

Polar bear lie cycle (see the Lie Cycles

section o the guide), investigate what the

implications o changes in the Arctic are or

the Polar bear. Make a chart o the Polar

bears year showing the bears activity in

each month and the Arctic climate andcondition o the Arctic ice at that time. Then

predict how the changes already underway

will impact the Polar bear. What will happen

i temperatures continue to rise and the sea

ice reduces urther in total area? What will

happen i it continues to melt earlier and

reeze later?

2.How is the bear likely to try to respond

to the changes? Can any o its existingadaptations help it cope with the changes

in its habitat? The Polar bear is the sea bear.

What risks is it likely to take in its search or

ood? The adult male bear is seen in

attacking walrus and swimming ar oshore.

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In the fIlm

eatures unique sequences o

predation. Technical advances have made

it possible to lm some o the astest and

most deadly predators in action including

the cheetah, lion and Great White shark. This

remarkable ootage shows, or the rst time, in

second-by-second detail, how these animals

stalk and catch their prey. The sequences

will make a riveting starting point or a study

o eeding relationships ocusing on how

predators are adapted to locate, catch and kill

their prey and how prey species are adapted

to detect and avoid predators. They can alsobe used as the starting point or a study o

ood chains and ood webs.

fooD chAIn fActs

nearly every living thing on Earth is

dependent on the suns light or energy

most o the suns energy is trapped andconverted into ood by plants through

photosynthesis

energy is transerred rom plants into animals

by the herbivores that eat plants

energy is transerred again as carnivores

eat animals

Predators and Prey

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the lioNs of chobe

lIon fActs

lions are the only cats to live socially in prides

prides are made up o related emales andcould number 2 to 40 cats

emale cubs stay in their pride; males leave

between the ages o 2 and 4

the males in a pride are incomers who havetaken over control rom other males

male lions are the only cats with manes

lions roar to establish their territory and tocommunicate with pride members

a lion can run or short distances at 50 mph(80 kph) and leap as ar as 36 t (11 m)

Lions live all over sub-Saharan Arica in plains

or savannahs where they have a plentiul

supply o prey on which to eed.

ollows the lions o Chobe national park

in Northern Botswana.

sAVAnnAh fActs

savannah is the name given to grassland

in Arica

grasslands are one o the Earths major

terrestrial biomes

grasslands are large open spaces with

ew bushes and trees

large herds o grazing mammals live on

grasslands

grass eeds more animals than any other

plant does

The lions o Chobe national park live in some

o the largest prides in Arica. A pride could be

as many as 30 strong. In these numbers they

are a major threat to the animals that come to

the parks water holes. Usually, the lions prey

on smaller mammals like Thomsons gazelles,

zebras, impalas and wildebeest, although

some prides do target larger animals like

bualo and giraes.

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the strenGth of A lIon

Lions are powerul cats. They have broad

heads and thick, strong legs. Their back legs

are designed to spring and their ront legs to

grab. They do both o these in bringing down

their prey. When a lion is jumping, the tail playsan essential part in maintaining its balance.

stAlKInG AnD strIKInG

Lionesses in a pride do most o the hunting.

They oten work as team, which gives them

a huge advantage. Some drive prey toward

others who lie in wait. I their prey is some

distance away, lions may move quite quickly

towards them at rst. As they get nearer they

sink into their stalking posture with heads andbodies low and eyes xed on their prey. They

reeze i the prey turns in their direction, then

move orward as the prey looks away, or down

to continue eeding. I theyre lucky, the lions

will get within striking distance, around 20-30

yards (20-30 meters) rom their prey. From that

distance they can make a short rapid charge

and pounce. As it pounces, a lion uses its ront

legs to slap or grab the prey, bringing it down,

then killing it with a bite to the throat or neck

rom its powerul jaws.

hUntInG elephAnts

Drought orces these two animals together

as the elephants come to the ew remaining

water holes in a desperate search or water.

The lions ignore the strong adult elephants

and search out young calves or weakelephants. The hunt is not without risk or the

lions. Elephants will use their trunks and tusks

to beat o lions and some o the hunting pride

will be injured in the chase. Elephant mothers

will attack lions to protect their calves. No

more than one in our o a lion prides attempts

to hunt an elephant will succeed. By hunting

at night, they give themselves an advantage.

A lions night vision is ar better than an

elephants. Where the lions do succeed, it isthe sheer number o lions attacking that will

bring an elephant down. An elephant carcass

will eed the pride or a week.

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the cheetah huNt

cheetAh fActs

it is the worlds astest land mammal

it can accelerate rom zero to 40 mph

(65 kph) in three strides and to its ull speedo 70 mph (113 kph) in seconds

as it nears ull speed a cheetah is running

at about 3 strides per second

its respiratory rate climbs rom 60 to 150

breaths per minute during a high-speed

chase

it can only run 400 to 600 yards (360 to

550 meters) beore its exhaustedThe sequence o the cheetah hunting in the

Maasai Mara was lmed using or the rst time

an ultra high-speed photron camera. This

can shoot one thousand rames a second and

slows down the hunt by more than orty times.

This slowing o the action makes it possible

to see the physical eatures o the cheetah

in extraordinary detail. Every rame o this

sequence demonstrates how the cheetahs

adaptations make it one o Earths great

predators.

Born to rUn

From the tip o its nose to the tip o its tail, the

cheetah is built or speed and hunting. Its head

is small and its ace fat. This shorter muzzle

length means that its large eyes are positioned

to give it maximum binocular vision. Enlarged

nostrils and extensive air-lled sinuses vastly

aid its breathing. It has a powerul heart and

large, strong arteries.

The cheetahs body is narrow and lightweight.

It has long, slender eet and legs and

specialized muscles which give it ast

acceleration and allow greater swing to its

limbs. Its hips and shoulders swivel on its

highly fexible spine. This curves up and down

as the cheetah runs and its limbs alternately

bunch up and then extend, giving greater

reach to its legs. As it runs, only one oot at a

time touches the ground, and there are two

points in its 20-to 25-oot (6 to 7.5 meter)

stride when none o its eet are on the ground,

as they are ully extended and then totally

doubled up.

The cheetahs tail is long and muscular; it acts

as a stabilizer or the animal by counteractingits body weight and preventing it rom rolling

when it makes a ast turn at speed. Its paws

are less rounded than those o other cats and

have hard pads that give the cheetah grip. Its

the only big cat with short, blunt claws that

cannot completely retract. These too grip the

ground when the cheetah is running.

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the great White shark

GreAt WhIte shArK fActs

the Great White is the worlds largest

predatory sh

a Great White can grow to 20 t (6 meters)in length and can weigh up to 4,400 lbs

(2,000 kilograms)

a Great White can have around 3,000 teeth

in its mouth at any one time

a Great Whites teeth are up to

3 in (7.5 cm) long

hUnter from the Deep

The Great White shark is a streamlined

swimmer and a deadly predator. It has

a torpedo-shaped body, with a pointed

snout and crescent-shaped tail. The white

underbelly o the shark gives it its name. Itsupper surace is gray to blue gray and blends

with the color o the waters it inhabits. This

gives it an advantage in hunting its prey.

The shark attacks its prey rom below at a

steep angle giving itsel the best chance o

being unnoticed. In making an attack, the

Great White sometimes swims so ast that it

actually jumps out o the water, as it is seen

doing in . It is one o only a ew sharksthan can jump ully out o the water in this way.

The Great Whites teeth are not used to chew.

They rip their prey into mouth-sized pieces to

be swallowed whole. The teeth are triangular,

serrated and razor-sharp. They are located

in rows. The rst two rows are used on prey;

the other rows rotate into place as they are

needed. As teeth are lost, broken, or worn

down, they are replaced by new teeth that

rotate into place.

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predator aNd prey: actiVities

GrADes K-2: Who eAts WhAt?

Learningobjective:

to understand that animals, including

humans, need ood and water to survive

It may be best with younger children to ocus

less on predation and more on thinking about

animals need or ood and water to survive.

While some children may nd it unremarkable

or ascinating that animals hunt and eat other

animals, to others this may be a new and

perhaps disturbing thought. The predation

sequences in the lm do not dwell on the

moment o eeding but do show in detail thehunt. I children wish to explore predation

urther, other activities can be adapted to

a level appropriate or them.

Tasks

1. Talk about what children eat and drink.

What dierent oods do they eat? Make a

list o what they eat in a day. Do they know

why they eat and drink?

2.What do children know about what the

animals around them eat and drink?

These could be animals in the wild, working

animals, or am

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