This informational text introduces students to the life cycle and migration of the sanderling, a bird that winters on beaches in the Southern United States and South America but breeds in the Arctic during the summer months. The text is written at a kindergarten through grade one reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

School librarian Marcia Mardis describes what the library can offer to teachers and students who want to produce a focused, engaging, and effective science fair. This article appears in the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which explores the seven essential principles of the climate sciences for K-grade 5 classrooms.

Science and education experts caution that climate-change topics can overwhelm and frighten young children. Science lessons chosen for this article focus on general environmental issues, such as the effects of litter, air pollution, and water pollution. The lessons also include actions and solutions to environmental issues. The free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle focuses on integrating age-appropriate science learning with literacy experiences.

This article reviews the book "Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classrooms" by Michael Klentschy and provides basic information about the role of notebooks in instruction and assessment.

This article describes how elementary teachers can use modified writer's workshops to help students organize information in their science notebooks.

This article highlights science lessons about mammals, mammal diversity and adaptations, and polar mammals. Literacy integrations and alignment to national standards are included.

This article provides geography lessons to teach elementary students about the polar regions. Literacy extensions are included for each lesson.

This article describes how the 2007 film The Golden Compass portrays the polar regions.

In this issue of the free online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, learn about the tools and technologies scientists use to study the land, ice, ocean, atmosphere, and living creatures of the polar regions. Students can also learn about the day-to-day life of a scientist working at the South Pole and plan their own research expedition.

This article assembles free resources from the Science at the Poles issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5.

This article features children's literature about scientists and scientific research in the Arctic and in Antarctica.

An original informational story about Sun's role in heating Earth's air, land, and water and Sun's connection to the seasons and weather. The story encourages young readers to observe Sun's impact on weather and the seasons and to make predictions about the weather. The story is available in separate versions for grades K-2 and 3-5 and as a downloadable, full-color pdf. The story is a feature of the free online magazine that focuses on the seven principles of climate literacy.

This article describes the basics of thermography or thermal imaging, and how this technique can inspire a data collection activity to teach about heat transfer and energy efficiency.

Place and Location are two of the five themes of geography and a natural starting point for a study of the Arctic and Antarctica. Location answers the question, "Where am I?" while the study of place asks, "What kind of a place is it?" and, "How does this place connect to my hometown?" This issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears examines how you can introduce the Arctic and Antarctica and use science, geography, literacy, and technology to help your students compare and contrast these two dramatically different areas as well as their own home. Get ready for an adventure as you and your students develop your polar sense of place!

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online professional development magazine for elementary teachers which focuses on preparing teachers to teach polar science concepts in an already congested curriculum by integrating inquiry-based science with literacy teaching. Such an integrated approach can increase students' science knowledge, academic language, reading comprehension, and written and oral discourse abilities.

This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, examines how elementary teachers can introduce the Arctic and Antarctica and use science, geography, literacy, and technology to help students compare and contrast these two dramatically different areas as well as their own home.

This article provides a list of children's literature relating to the geography and characteristics of the Arctic and Antarctica.

This article describes glaciologist Lonnie Thompson's discovery of an ancient plant in Peru. It also illustrates some important characteristics of good science that can be seen even in a serendipitous discovery.

This article, written for students in grades 4-5, introduces the concept of albedo and describes the shrinking of Arctic sea ice. Modified versions are available for students in younger grades.

This informational text introduces students to solar energy's role in warming the Earth's land and water and to the fact that dark-colored surfaces absorb more of the Sun's energy than do light-colored ones. Students also read about how the decline in Arctic sea ice is changing Earth's energy balance. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations. The text is written at a grade four through grade five reading level.

This informational text introduces students to solar energy's role in warming the Earth's land and water and to the fact that dark-colored surfaces absorb more of the Sun's energy than do light-colored ones. Students also read about how the decline in Arctic sea ice is changing Earth's energy balance. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary. The text is written at a grade four through grade five reading level.