Summary
Disneynature's first film follows three animal families -- polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales -- across a single year as the seasons sweep from the North Pole to the tropics. Sweeping aerial photography ties migration, weather, and the daily search for food into one planet-wide story. A strong whole-class overview of how living things survive in very different habitats.
Viewer safety
A few predator-chase scenes, and one sequence where an exhausted animal dies of starvation -- preview if your class is sensitive.
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
"Earth" travels from pole to pole to follow three animal families through the seasons.
- Which three animal families does the film follow, and what habitat does each one live in?
- Why do some of the animals travel such long distances during the year?
- What made survival hardest for one of the families? How did the parents help their young?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: habitat, migration, season, survive.
Try it: Pick one animal from the film and draw its habitat. Label two things it needs there to survive.