Summary
Told from a mother polar bear's memories of her own cubhood, this film follows a family across an Arctic where the sea ice they hunt from now melts earlier each year. It pairs breathtaking footage with an honest look at how a changing environment reshapes where and how the bears can survive. A strong middle-grades springboard for talking about habitat change.
Viewer safety
Male bears prey on cubs and one cub dies; the bears also hunt seals and penguins on screen -- best for grades 3-6; preview before showing.
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
"Polar Bear" follows a mother and her cubs across a warming Arctic.
- Why is sea ice so important to how polar bears hunt and survive?
- What is changing about the bears' habitat, and how does that make life harder?
- What might happen to the bears if the ice keeps melting earlier each year?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: Arctic, sea ice, habitat, environment, change.
Try it: Write a claim (one sentence) about how melting sea ice affects polar bears. Add one piece of evidence from the film.