Escape the Frozen Camp: Life in the Arctic
You are trapped in a dark, empty Arctic camp during the long polar night. To escape, read every clue carefully and use what you know about life in the Arctic.
A free Story Adventure for Teens at CEFR A2 level. Topic: Social studies time! : Life in the Arctic.
Story
- The wind howls around an old camp in the Arctic. It is winter, and the sun does not rise for many weeks. People call this the polar night. A sign on a dark door says: 'To leave, answer the questions of the ice.'
- Your lantern glows in the dark. Strange green lights dance across the sky. These are the Northern Lights. A note on the wall says: 'Inuit families lived here for thousands of years. Find out how they stayed warm.'
- You wait and wait, but the sun never comes. Your fingers are freezing. In the dark, you hear a quiet whisper: 'In winter, the sun sleeps here.' You lost time, and now you must find shelter fast.
- You find an igloo made of hard snow blocks. Inside, it is warmer than outside. Old fur coats hang on the wall, and they move a little, like someone is inside them. A carved message asks: 'What did hunters wear to stay warm?'
- Snow hits your face on the flat, empty tundra. No trees grow here, because the ground is always frozen. This frozen ground is called permafrost. Far away, a huge white shape moves slowly, and you see giant footprints in the snow.
- Suddenly, small blue lights appear in the snow and lead you to an old wooden hut. Inside, a box opens by itself. In it are pictures of seals, fish and caribou. A cold voice asks: 'Very few plants grow in the Arctic. What did Inuit people mostly eat?'
- Your lantern flickers and goes out. In the darkness, you hear dogs barking, but you cannot see them. You find an old sled with no dogs. A sign next to it says: 'Today, many people in the Arctic travel by snowmobile.'
- The box closes, and the dark door opens with a long creak. Outside, the Northern Lights shine brighter than ever. The cold voice whispers: 'You know the Arctic well.' You walk out safely, with all the answers.
Vocabulary
- Arctic
- polar night
- winter
- Northern Lights
- Inuit
- freezing
- shelter
- igloo
- fur
- hunters
- tundra
- permafrost
- frozen
- seals
- caribou
- sled
- snowmobile
- polar bear
- plants
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.
- What does the note ask you to find out? a) Where the Northern Lights come from b) How old the camp is c) Who wrote the sign d) How Inuit families stayed warm
- Why does the sun never come? a) It is winter, and the sun does not rise here. b) It is night-time in summer. c) You are waiting inside a building. d) Big clouds hide the sun.
- What is the igloo made of? a) Stone b) Wood c) Hard snow blocks d) Animal skins