Grade 1 - Animals and Habitats

40 Animals and Habitats: Supplemental Guide 2A | Animals of the Arctic Habitat

 Show image 2A-8: Arctic hare

The Arctic hare’s white coat becomes much heavier in the

winter. Its ears are smaller than those of other hares, meaning

less of its body is exposed to the cold.^6 In other words, this is

no place for critters with long dangly ears, unless they have long

dangly earmuffs to keep those ears from freezing! The hare’s white

coloring also helps it hide in the snow, and its back feet are wide

and large, like small snowshoes, so it can run fast in the snow.

 Show image 2A-9: Rattenborough in the seascape

There are other kinds of habitats in the Arctic besides the

tundra, and different kinds of plants and animals live in these other

habitats. The Arctic Ocean is a habitat rich in sea life and animals

that rely on the sea for their food. The water is so cold in the Arctic

Ocean that most living creatures would be able to stay alive only a

few minutes in it.

 Show image 2A-10: Walruses

Animals such as the walrus call the Arctic Ocean home. These

huge creatures just love the icy water and can swim around for a

long period of time!

Walruses have adapted to life in the Arctic Ocean by storing

blubber under their skin.^7 Blubber prevents heat from escaping

from their bodies. Walruses also have long teeth, called tusks,

which they use almost like arms to pull themselves up out of the

water and onto the ice.

 Show image 2A-11: Seals

Look at these cute animals. They are seals. Seals have blubber

under their skin, just like walruses. Some types of seals are born

covered with a layer of white fur to keep them warm until they

develop blubber.

Seals are incredible swimmers! Like fi sh and walruses, seals

don’t have arms and legs. Instead, seals have fl ippers, and they

swim by wiggling their bodies from side to side, using their fl ippers

7 Blubber is fat that some animals
have under their skin to stay warm.

6 When something is exposed, it
is out in the open, with nothing
covering it. In the Arctic, any part
of your body that is exposed would
be cold.