This article assembles free resources from the Tundra: Life in the Polar Extremes 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 the tundra, food chains, and food webs.

This article describes robots that are helping scientists explore the Gakkel Ridge deep below the Arctic Ocean and links to informational text about them. Versions are available for students in grades K-1, 2-3 and 4-5. Related science and literacy activities are included.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. 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.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a second grade through third grade reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. 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 informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a fourth through fifth grade reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text.

This informational text explore how scientists are using robots to explore underwater mountain ranges in the Arctic Ocean. The difficulties associated with under ice exploration are explained. The text is written at a kindergarten through grade one 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 article profiles Dr. Leonid Polyak, a senior research scientist with the Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, who studies seafloor sediments from the Arctic Ocean to find clues about the climate conditions of the past.

This list of children's books recommends nonfiction titles that supplement basic information found in lessons and activities of this themed issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The books are grouped by topic -- water, weather and climate, and atmosphere. Each book is described by its content, reading level, and possible uses in the classroom. Covers are pictured. The online magazine is produced for elementary school teachers and is structured around the essential principles of climate sciences and climate literacy.

This free, standards-based website developed for elementary teachers provides hand-picked, reviewed, on-line resources to enhance teacher content knowledge regarding reasons for the seasons.

Suggestions are made on how to use the resources featured in the issue of Beyond Weather and the Water Cyle in a unit on the greenhouse effect. Hands-on experiences and nonfiction text are provided to help students answer the question "How is Earth like a greenhouse?" Suggestions are also made for formative and summative assessments.

Unit plans at two levels, K-grade 2 and grades 3-5 develop understanding of the issue theme, We Depend on Earth's Climate, by focusing on adaptations and environments of local plant species and polar mammals. The units are modeled after a learning cycle framework built around five key steps: Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Assess. The lessons are aligned with national standards for science education and English language arts.

Unit plans for Grades K-2 and 3-5 are a regular feature of the magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The plans draw on articles and resources in a themed issue and are aligned with national science and language arts standards. This unit is designed to provide elementary students with the opportunity to investigate how the annual rings in trees help scientists learn about past climates. It uses hands-on experiences and nonfiction text to answer the unit question: How do trees help scientists learn about the past?

Four unit plans provide opportunities for in-depth explorations of important foundational climate concepts -- weather, water as a solid, liquid and gas, and the water cycle -- that are appropriate for K-2 and 3-5 learners. These unit plans incorporate many of the lessons highlighted in other articles in this issue of the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the essential principles of the climate sciences.

In this article, teachers find two unit plans (grades K-2 and 3-5) that use resources featured in the science and literacy articles in the magazine. The unit plans are modeled after the five key steps in the learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, expand, and assess, or evaluate. The plans are aligned with the science content standards of the National Science Education Standards and the English language arts standards of the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. The plans appear in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

This article describes how polar scientists collect ice cores from ice sheets and glaciers and how they use these cores to learn about Earth's past climate.

This article summarizes and links to two Science and Children articles that modify the KWL chart to include literacy skills and evidence-based claims.

This article discusses the strategy of using discrepant events in elementary science instruction. It includes links to four video clips of the sun's path in the Arctic or Antarctica.

This article highlights activities for elementary students that model icebergs and develop an informal understanding of the concepts of buoyancy and density. Suggestions for inquiry-based activities are included.