LEVELED BOOK • Q

Plight of the
Polar Bear
A Reading A–Z Level Q Leveled Book
Word Count: 1,251

Written by Ned Jensen

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(top right): © Michio Hoshino/Minden Pictures/National Geographic Stock;
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Plight of the Polar Bear

Level Q Leveled Book
© Learning A–Z Correlation
Written by Ned Jensen ISBN 1-59827-950-5
Written by Ned Jensen
LEVEL Q
Fountas & Pinnell N
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 30
www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com DRA 30
 Pacific
Ocean
Alaska
(USA)
Word Wise
TREE LINE
The word tundra
ARCTIC comes from a language
CANADA CIRCLE
RUSSIA spoken by several
thousand native peoples
Polar Ice Cap
in the northernmost
regions of Europe. It
NORTH POLE
Area of detail means “treeless plain.”

Greenland ARCTIC
OCEAN
TREE LINE
N
Atlantic EUROPE
Ocean

Polar bear habitat

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The tundra during winter

Tundra: Winter Versus Summer. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction

Built to Survive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Venture into the vast snow-covered winter
tundra of the northern Arctic and you will be
Shrinking Ice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
surprised by the apparent absence of life. .
Other Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 This region is a harsh, unfriendly place for
most living things. But one living thing has
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
managed to thrive in the tundra—that is,
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 until now.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 3 4

 Tundra: Winter Versus Summer
The tundra in summer
During much of the year, the temperature has mosquitoes,
plovers, shrubs, lichen,
in the tundra is extremely low—well below mosses, and other
low-growing plants.
freezing. Winter lasts for more than six
months, and for several weeks during that
time the sun never rises above the horizon. Mosquito
The soil just below the surface remains
permanently frozen throughout the year. .
And to make conditions even harsher, there Summer in the tundra .
are no barriers like trees or hills to slow down is quite a contrast from .
Plover
the cold winds that sweep winter. The sun does not set .
across this ice and snow- Word Wise for several weeks on end. Often .
covered land. The word used to it just peeks over the horizon, appearing to
describe the frozen move as Earth rotates. During this season, the
soil of the tundra is
permafrost. It is a average temperature remains above freezing.
combination of the
words permanent The snow has a chance to melt, and low-
and frost. growing plants such as mosses, lichens,
grasses, and small shrubs grow. Millions of
insects hatch and fill the air, ground, and pools
of water. The abundance of insects attracts .
huge numbers of birds that migrate to the
tundra and make it their summer home. .
Even mammals that migrated south to escape
the harsh winter return to the tundra to feed
A polar bear in the northern tundra each summer.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 5 6

 Yet despite the region’s harsh conditions, Built to Survive
one inhabitant lives there year round—one
Polar bears are adapted to survive the
of Earth’s most magnificent creatures, the .
severe conditions of the Arctic. They appear to
polar bear.
be all white, but each strand of hair is actually
This creature of the North is well suited . transparent. It has been commonly believed
to the inhospitable conditions of the tundra, that this clear fur carries sunlight to the bears’
but in recent years the polar bears living along black skin, where it is absorbed and changed .
the northern edge of the tundra have been to heat. However, studies on polar bear fur
struggling to survive. The tundra’s harsh have proven that it does not transmit sunlight
conditions are not the to a bear’s skin. Since the sun is either low on
reason—it is the Earth Do You Know? the horizon or not even above the horizon
Some scientists during the coldest Arctic months, it wouldn’t
and its rapid alterations.
believe that polar bears
cover their black noses
make much difference if the fur was able to
with their paws to make transmit sunlight to the bear’s skin.
themselves harder to spot
as they hunt for seals.

Polar bear fur keeps them warm in icy water.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 7 8

 claw
Do You Know?
pads
Polar bears have a
very good sense of smell.
They can smell a dead,
rotting seal from 32
kilometers (20 mi) away.

Seals are an important part of the polar bear diet.

hair

Polar bear fur is waterproof, so the icy Polar bear paws can be up to 30 centimeters (12 in) in diameter.
The claws, pads, and hair on a polar bear’s paws keep the bear
waters in which they swim don’t make them from slipping on the ice.
cold. Their white fur also helps them to blend
in with the snow, making it easier for them to Adult polar bears need to eat a great deal
stalk their prey. of food to survive. They store fat to get them
through the seasons in which they are not
Polar bears’ main food source is seals, but
hunting. They have large stomachs and will
they also eat walruses, smaller whales, and
eat nearly 45 kilograms (100 lbs) in a single
some land animals. They do most of their seal
meal. That would be like eating 400 quarter-
hunting during the winter months when ice
pound hamburgers at one time!
forms over the Arctic Ocean. By blending into
the snowy landscape, a polar bear poised to Two layers of fur and a thick layer of body
pounce may not be spotted by a seal. Polar fat insulate polar bears from extremely cold
bears will wait patiently for hours near a hole temperatures. They even have fur on the
in the ice where seals come up for air. bottoms of their large paws.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 9 10

 Polar bears are excellent swimmers. They Shrinking Ice
have been spotted hunting seals up to 80
The polar bear has only one enemy—
kilometers (50 mi) out to sea. They swim with
humans. Currently, it is not so much humans
their heads above water by dog-paddling at
hunting the polar bear that poses the greatest
over 9 kilometers (6 mi) per hour. Bears use
threat to its survival. Instead, it may be what
their huge paws like large paddles to move
humans are doing to the environment that
through the water. A thick layer of blubber
poses the greatest threat.
helps them remain afloat.
Many scientists believe that Earth is getting
4 = 3 + 5 + 2 = 10 – 4 + 10 ÷ 2 = 14 x 2 – 3 = 25 – 5 – warmer and warmer. This warming of Earth .
= 3+9x2÷8=3–2+7–5 x3=9+4–1÷4=3x5–3 ÷

5 + 2 = 17 + 3 x 2 – 2 0 ÷ 2 – 7= 3 + 5 + 2 = 10 – 4 + 10 ÷ 2 =
is known as global warming. Scientists believe
Math global warming is caused by pollutants that
Minute
A polar bear are being released into the atmosphere. More
swimming at an pollutants are released each year as Earth’s
average speed growing population burns more and more
A polar bear
of five kilometers swimming
per hour leaves gasoline, oil, and coal.
the shore to swim
to an ice floe. The bear swims to four more ice
floes. It rests 10 minutes on each ice floe before
swimming to the next one. When it reaches the
final ice floe, it waits patiently near an air hole
for a seal to surface. The bear swims a total of
30 kilometers. How much time passed from the
time the bear left the shore until it reached the
last ice floe?
Answer: 6 hours and 40 minutes
14
x 2 – 3 = 2 2–19= 3–1 + 2 x 2 = 8 x 2 = 1 6–1 ÷ 5 Burning gasoline in cars releases pollutants into the atmosphere.
Factories also release pollutants into the atmosphere.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 11 12

 Global warming is particularly troubling . Scientists who track the effects of global
in regions where a great deal of ice exists. . warming have calculated that the ice pack is
The warmer temperatures of the air and the . melting at a rate that is 1.5 to 2 weeks faster
sea cause the polar ice to melt. You might be than 20 years ago. Some scientists estimate .
thinking, so what? Why is it such a big deal that the ice pack is 14 percent smaller than it
that some ice is melting? was 20 years ago. They also estimate that each .
week that the polar bear loses in its hunting
It may not seem like a huge problem to you,
season results in a loss of 10 kilograms (22 lbs)
but it is to the polar bear. Polar bears depend
of body fat for the summer.
on the sea remaining frozen for most months .
of the year. When the sea freezes over, polar
bears walk onto the ice and search for air holes
where seals are likely to surface for a fresh Washington,
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New
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they store as fat . Do You Know?
Jacksonville,
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so nville, FL
for the short Many scientists
summer season believe that the melting
of polar ice caps due
when they fast. to global warming will Miami,
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cause the oceans to

rise. This will flood vast Scientists believe the east coast
stretches of coastline in of the United States might look like
this if the polar ice caps melted.
many parts of the world.
Ice breaks away from a glacier.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 13 14

 Other Problems
Global warming isn’t the only bad effect .
of human activity on polar bears. Many
pollutants reaching the air and water are
toxic. These pollutants often end up in the
blubber of seals. When bears eat these seals,
they ingest the toxins.

How Pollution Reaches Polar Bears

1 Toxic chemicals
end up in Arctic
air and water.
Polar bears come to Churchill, Manitoba, looking for food.

Due to their lower body weight, female

polar bears are giving birth to fewer cubs.
This is a grave problem for the survival of .
an animal that has an average of only two
cubs every 28 months.
3 Polar bears eat
Polar bears in search of food are also Arctic seals
whose body fat
venturing into areas inhabited by humans is full of stored
toxic chemicals.
during the summer. In some places, these
bears are captured and put into bear 2 Arctic seals eat
fish that have
compounds until the winter ice returns. . high levels of
pollutants in
They are then released so they can hunt . their bodies.
and restore their body fat.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 15 16

 Conclusion
Think About It
Many creatures share There is no question that the world’s polar
Planet Earth. You are one
bear population is shrinking. In the Western
of these creatures. Make
a list of all the things Hudson Bay region of Northern Canada alone,
you can do to prevent the population has dropped from over 1,200 .
global warming and help
in 1995 to fewer than 900 bears in 2010.
save the polar bears’
environment. Think about
the effect you can have Polar Bear Facts
if you convince others to
do the same things.

Drilling for oil in the Arctic

Another threat to polar bears comes from Males Females

the desire of humans to use more and more 2.5–3.5 m 2–2.5 m
Height
fuel. To meet this human need, oil and gas (8–11 feet) (6–8 feet)
225–450 kg 180–320 kg
companies are planning to drill in Arctic Weight
(500–1,000 lbs) (440–700 lbs)
regions where polar bears live. Much of this Color Off-white
drilling would occur where female polar bears Food Mostly seals; some fish, seabirds, and berries
build dens in which they give birth to their Number of
N/A
1–3 every
Babies 28 months
cubs. This exploration and drilling could have
serious consequences for the polar bears’ Average
25–30 years
Life Span
ability to survive.

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 17 18

 Glossary
fast (v.) to abstain from or eat very
little food (p. 13)
global the increase in the average
warming (n.) temperature of Earth’s
atmosphere and oceans (p. 12)
ingest (v.) to consume or eat (p. 16)
inhabitant (n.) an animal that lives in a certain
location (p. 7)
inhospitable harsh, unwelcoming (p. 7)
(adj.)
insulate (v.) to retain (keep in) heat (p. 10)
Polar bears need frozen sea to hunt for seals. lichens (n.) crusty fungi that grow on rocks
and trees (p. 6)
Many people and organizations like Polar migrate (v.) to move from one region
Bears International and the World Wildlife to another (p. 6)
Fund are concerned about the plight of the plight (n.) unfortunate or terrible situation
(p. 19)
polar bear. They are taking steps to protect
these magnificent creatures. For more pollutants (n.) dirt or debris in the air or on
the ground (p. 12)
information, visit their websites:
poses (v.) causes (p. 12)
prey (n.) an animal that is hunted for
food (p. 9)
thrive (v.) to grow and be healthy (p. 4)
toxic (adj.) poisonous; dangerous to life
(p. 16)

Plight of the Polar Bear • Level Q 19 20