#1 Expedition to the Arctic Tundra

Ecosystems Series

Tools of the Mind

Interactive Read Alouds … Expedition to the Arctic Tundra Ecosystem by Tools of the Mind © 2019 Third Sector New England, Inc. on behalf of Tools of the Mind. All rights reserved. Published by Tools of the Mind Press Books may be purchased by contacting the publisher at: information@toolsofthemind.org Authors: Jillian Sullivan & Barb Wilder-Smith (Sarae Pacetta & Ruth Hensen co-developers original series) Editors: Erica Dusombre, Angela Robinson, Erin Tieuli, and Barb Wilder-Smith Thanks to Mandy McGuire and the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo for their knowledge and assistance Design: David Brooke & Jillian Sullivan First Edition

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Pretend you’ve just arrived for the first day of a scientific expedition to the Arctic tundra ecosystem. An expedition is when people travel somewhere new to learn more about it.

What do you see as you look around? What do you think the climate is like here?

One of the first things you might notice is the cold and wind. The Arctic tundra is one of the coldest, harshest climates on Earth. In the winter it can be so cold the inside of your nose will freeze! Even in the summer, you would want to wear a sweater.

Arctic tundra ecosystems are found up north, at the very top of the earth. They occur above the tree line, an imaginary line that marks where trees can grow. Beyond this line, the climate is too cold for trees to survive. The name “tundra” comes from a word meaning “treeless plains.”

TUNDRA

Do you live above or below the tree line? How do you know?

Do some science detective work. Look at this picture—could this be an Arctic tundra ecosystem?

Permafrost covers the land in the Arctic. Permafrost is frozen soil that nothing, including tree roots, can push through. That’s why trees can’t grow in the Arctic tundra. If you see trees, it’s a different ecosystem!

There’s a good chance your Arctic expedition is taking place in the winter because the winter season lasts almost all year long. Sunlight doesn’t reach the Arctic in the winter, so it’s dark all day and all night. This is called polar night. You may not see the sun for months at a time!  

midnight

In the short Arctic tundra summer, you’ll see the opposite of polar night — midnight sun! During the midnight sun, the sun will be up in the sky all night long. The image below shows a series of photos taken once every hour for a whole day. The sun gets low in the sky, but it never sets!

Would you like living where the sun never sets? How would you know it was bedtime?

noon

Although the Arctic tundra is often covered in snow, it actually gets very little new snowfall or rain—almost as little as a desert ecosystem! In some ways, the tundra is like a cold desert. During the short Arctic summer, the top layers of permafrost begin to melt. The soggy ground and shallow ponds will freeze again when winter comes.

Cold, dry, treeless plains—compare the Arctic tundra to other ecosystems like the savanna or the rain forest. How is it different? Can you think of any similarities?

The Ice Age mammoth steppe, where woolly mammoths and cave lions once roamed, was a similar ecosystem to the Arctic tundra. While the mammoth steppe had more grass and a few trees, the Arctic tundra is mossy and treeless.

Botanists are scientists that study plants. Think like a botanist and make a hypothesis about the kind of plants growing in the Arctic tundra. Would you expect plants to be large and tall, or low to the ground? Remember: there are no trees in the Arctic tundra, and roots can’t grow very deep into the permafrost.

Most plants in the Arctic tundra are small and hardy, able to survive the cold winter. One type of plant you’d see a lot of on your expedition is moss. Moss grows close to the ground and clings on tightly so that it doesn’t blow away in the fierce Arctic winds.

You’ll also see a lot of lichen growing on rocks on your Arctic expedition. Don’t be fooled though—lichen isn’t actually a plant, even though some of them look leafy like plants. Lichen is a group of fungi and algae, working together so that both survive. Unlike moss, lichen doesn’t have roots, so it can grow almost anywhere.

Cotton grass is another plant that grows in the Arctic. It has dark leaves that catch sunlight well. Tightly packed flower petals at the top help it hold in heat in the cold weather—like a big, fluffy hat!

How would you describe cotton grass? What do you think it would feel like?

Zoologists are scientists that study animals. Think like a zoologist—what kind of animals do you hypothesize might live in the Arctic tundra? How do you think they survive the cold Arctic tundra ecosystem?

ermine

Arctic wolf

polar bear

Arctic fox

snowy owl

What is similar about all these animals? How do you think that helps them in the Arctic?

If you’re lucky, you’ll see all kinds of carnivores and omnivores in the Arctic tundra, including the snowy owl, Arctic fox, Arctic wolf, and ermine. Polar bears are the top Arctic predator since no other animals hunt them.

Keep an eye out for tundra herbivores, too. Some of the grazing animals you might come across in the Arctic include the lemming, Arctic hare, musk ox, and caribou—also called reindeer.

caribou

Arctic hare

lemming

musk ox

The Arctic tundra borders the ocean, so ocean animals like the narwhal and walrus can be an important part of the Arctic tundra ecosystem. Some animals are part of both the Arctic tundra and ocean ecosystems, like polar bears who live along the coastline and hunt prey from both land and sea.

walrus

narwhal

polar bear

Some animals live in the Arctic tundra only part of the year. In the summer, millions of birds migrate to the Arctic to find safe places to nest and raise their young. These birds include ducks, geese and swans.

geese

Look at these penguins — do you think they could survive in the Arctic tundra ecosystem?

Penguins do live in cold climates, so they could survive in the Arctic. However, penguins live on the other side of the Earth, in places like Antarctica. You’ll never see one in the Arctic tundra!

Endangered means those animals are at risk of becoming extinct like the woolly mammoth. The good news is that scientists and animal supporters are working on ways to fix these problems. Maybe one day, you’ll be part of an Arctic conservation team!

Many Arctic animals like polar bears are endangered because of hunting, habitat destruction, and temperature warming.

What’s one fact you learned about the Arctic tundra ecosystem on your scientific expedition? Would you want to visit the Arctic, or are you glad you were only pretending to visit?

Glossary

Arctic tundra tree line permafrost

moss Arctic wolf

polar bear caribou midnight sun

geese