Arctic Fact Detective: Life in the Arctic
Work through short Arctic fact cards and choose which topics to study. The careful readers who check clues get the best results.
A free Story Adventure for Teens at CEFR A2 level. Topic: Social studies time! : Life in the Arctic.
Story
- Today your class studies life in the Arctic. The Arctic is the cold area around the North Pole. In winter it is freezing, and the temperature is often below minus 30 degrees. Your teacher gives you a mission: read each fact card carefully and find the true answers.
- Your card says the Inuit are people who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. In the past, some Inuit hunters built an igloo from blocks of snow on long trips. Today, most Inuit families live in wooden houses in small towns. Many people think they still live in igloos, but this is not…
- Your card says the Arctic has two very different seasons. In summer, the sun does not set for many weeks, and people call this the midnight sun. In winter there is the polar night, and it is dark almost all day. Life changes a lot between these two seasons.
- Your next card is about food. Very few plants grow on the tundra because the ground is cold and hard. In the past, Inuit people hunted seals, whales and fish for food. Today many families still hunt, but they also buy food in shops.
- Your card is about travel. In the past, people crossed the snow on a sled pulled by dogs. In summer they used a kayak, a small boat, to hunt on the water. Today many people drive a snowmobile because it is much faster.
- Your card is about Arctic animals. Polar bears, seals and caribou live in this cold place. Caribou walk very long distances to find food on the tundra. Polar bears need sea ice because they hunt seals from the ice.
- Your final card is about modern life. Today many Inuit towns have schools, shops and the internet. But food in the shops is very expensive because planes bring it from far away. The card asks one last question: why do many families still hunt?
- Your final card is about the ice. The Arctic is getting warmer, and the sea ice melts earlier every year. The permafrost, the ground that is always frozen, is also starting to melt. The card asks: how does melting ice change life for people and animals?
Vocabulary
- Arctic
- freezing
- Inuit
- igloo
- midnight sun
- polar night
- tundra
- hunt
- seal
- sled
- kayak
- snowmobile
- caribou
- community
- melt
- permafrost
Printable worksheet
This Story Adventure comes with a free printable worksheet: 1 part for students to do after the game, and an answer key for the teacher. It prints at three levels (Support, Core and Challenge); this is the Core sheet. Sign in free to print the whole sheet.
What's on the worksheet
- Remember the story · Circle the right answer.
Part 1: Remember the story
Circle the right answer.
- Where do most Inuit families live today? a) In wooden houses in small towns b) In big city apartments c) In tents on the ice d) In igloos
- What is the midnight sun? a) A dark day in winter b) A very hot day c) The sun does not set for many weeks in summer d) The moon in winter
- Why do very few plants grow on the tundra? a) There is too much rain b) The ground is cold and hard c) Animals eat all the plants d) People cut them down