This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, explores the plants that live in the polar regions as well as resources for teaching plant classification, life cycles, and adaptations.

This article assembles free resources from the Polar Plants 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 3-5.

This article features children's literature about plants and the plants found in the polar regions.

This article provides an overview of the geography, characteristics, and life of the Arctic and Southern Oceans.

This article provides information about creating a plant or flower press and how this tool can enrich the elementary science curriculum.

This article highlights professional development books about the polar regions, pedagogy, and best practices in science and literacy instruction.

This article discusses Project FeederWatch, a real-time citizen science project, and how elementary teachers can use this bird data to integrate math lessons and concepts.

This article discusses research findings about classroom questioning and provides tips for teachers and online and print resources.

This article provides an overview of questioning as a reading strategy and includes templates and links to books, lesson plans, and web sites for more information.

This article profiles Julie Codispoti, assistant curator at the United States Polar Rock Repository, and discusses the basics of polar geology. Modified versions are available for younger students.

This informational text introduces students to the discipline of geology, and specifically polar geology. Students meet Julie Codispoti, assistant curator of the U.S. Polar Rock Repository, and learn how she overcame an initial dislike of science to become a geologist. Students also learn that rocks, like books, can teach us about the world long ago. The text is written at a grade four through grade five reading level. 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.

This template is an instructional tool that can be used to guide elementary students (grades 2-5) through the reading strategy of questioning. The template is based on the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) approach in which students classify questions according to type and then provide answers from text. The template was designed to be used with the Feature Story, The Dance of Life, by students in grades 2-5. It is a PDF document that can be copied and distributed to students.

This article provides an overview of metacognition, suggestions for teaching elementary students to be metacognitive about their reading, and links to professional resources.

This article explains how the ice and snow of the polar regions fit in the global water cycle and includes links to professional development resources.

This article discusses the benefits of after school science clubs and provides tips for teachers looking to start their own club.

This article describes Katy Farness' work with the Byrd Polar Research Center at the Ohio State University. Farness used remote sensing images and computer technology to create detailed images of Antarctica and the ice sheets of Greenland.

Four Antarctica researchers describe how they keep warm while working in extreme cold, taking lessons from adaptations of wildlife.

This article provides an overview of educational resources available from polar research programs.

Suggestions and resources for hands-on activities to teach elementary students about rocks and minerals.

This informational text introduces students to the discipline of geology, and specifically polar geology. Students meet Julie Codispoti, assistant curator of the U.S. Polar Rock Repository, and learn how she overcame an initial dislike of science to become a geologist. Students also learn that rocks, like books, can teach us about the world long ago. The text is written at a grade two through grade three reading level. 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.