Photo showing a snowy mountain range
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Background Builder,

A Frozen Land

You are going to read about explorers who got stuck in Antarctica. Here are five facts to know first.

From the February 2023 Issue
Lexiles: 540L
Guided Reading Level: L
DRA Level: 20-24
Vocabulary: continent, frigid, temperature, investigate, enormous, explorers
Featured Skill: Compare Two Texts, Key Details,
Topic: Social Studies, Science,
Common Core Standards
  • RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfi ction text features RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Social Studies
    (4) Geography. The student understands physical and human characteristics of a place to better understand self, home, family, classroom, and the world around them. The student is expected to: (A) identify the physical characteristics of place such as landforms, bodies of water, Earth’s resources, and weather
  • Science
    (8) Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable patterns in the natural world and among objects in the sky. The student is expected to: (A) measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage, in order to identify patterns in the data; (B) identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (A) observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs

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1. Antarctica is very, very cold.

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

Antarctica is the coldest continent in the world! A continent is a large area of land.

Whoosh! The frigid air blows. Antarctica is also the windiest continent.

In the winter, the temperature almost never goes above freezing. In the summer, it can get into the 50s. That’s a hot day for Antarctica!

2. Ice is everywhere.

goinyk/Getty Images

Summer there is October to February! Winter is March to September.

Most of Antarctica is covered by a huge, thick sheet of ice. Icy mountains rise toward the sky. Most of the ice in the world is on this continent!

In the winter, the ocean around Antarctica freezes. But in the summer, it melts. Boats can sail there only in the summer. 

3. People don’t live there all the time.

© British Antarctic Survey/SCIENCE SOURCE

It is too cold! You won’t ever meet a person from Antarctica. But scientists go there to learn about it and investigate it. Long ago, people would also live there for a short time to fish or hunt for whales. 

4. Many animals live there. 

Martin Ruegner/Getty Images (Penguin); Anton Rodionov/Getty Images (Seal); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)

humpback whale, albatross, emperor penguin, and crabeater seal

Five different kinds of penguins live on Antarctica. Enormous whales swim in the cold waters. Seals swim and flop around on the ice. Seabirds like albatross fly over the frozen land. 

5. It is hard to get to. 

For many years, people could not go to Antarctica. They could not get through the ice! Then explorers began to try to go there. A man named Ernest Shackleton wanted to be the first to cross the continent. Read about his trip in . . . 

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Activities (5)
Skills Activities
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Answer Key (1)
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Skills Activities
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Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

Science Focus:

Habitats

Social Studies Focus:

Geography

Vocabulary

continent, frigid, temperature, investigate, enormous, explorers

In-Person Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Building Background Knowledge

This article gives kids background knowledge that will help them better understand this issue’s Big Read, “Escape From the Ice,” on pages 6-11.

 

The essential question of this issue is: What happens in cold places? The articles below connect to this theme.

  • Background Builder: “A Frozen Land,” p. 4 
  • Big Read: “Escape from the Ice,” p. 6 
  • Word Play: “3 Ways to Say Cold,” p. 12 
  • Past to Present: “The History of Ice,” p. 22 
  • Fiction: “The Snow Day,” p. 24 
  • Poetry: “Snow Mail,” p. 32

Through the above texts, students will dig deep into this essential question and make text-to-text connections.

1. BEFORE READING

Show “The Big Question” Video (10 minutes)

Watch “What Happens in Cold Places?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)

  • Before your students watch, ask them to think about the question “What happens in cold places?”
  • Watch the video.
  • After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

Preview Vocabulary (2 minutes)

  • Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This article’s featured words are continent, frigid, temperature, enormous, explorers, and investigate.

Text Preview Bookmarks (5-10 minutes)

  • Students can use these evergreen bookmarks to help them preview the text. Our skills page has both fiction and nonfiction options for kids to cut out. They can use the nonfiction bookmark for this story.

2. READ THE ARTICLE (10 MINUTES)

  • Tell students they will read an article about the ocean. This article works well with whole-class instruction. As you read, stop to analyze the photos.

3. AFTER READING: Focus on ELA Skills

Pick and choose from a variety of activities:

ELA Focus: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz for a quick comprehension check.
  • We offer both multiple-choice and written- answer formats for the quiz.

ELA Focus: Write Key Details to Nosey at [email protected] (20 minutes)

  • Students can imagine that they visited Antarctica. Then they can write a postcard to Nosey about it. You can email students’ postcards to Nosey at [email protected]!

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

  • Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.
  • Two Different Texts Use this printable to help your students compare and contrast the Big Read, “Escape From the Ice” (pages 7-11).
  • Additional Pairable Texts: the Word Play, “3 Ways to Say Cold” (page 12); the Past to Present feature, “The History of Ice” (page 22); the fiction, “The Snow Day” (page 24); and the poetry kit, “Snow Mail” (page 32).
  • Kids can compare the texts by using our “Chilly Chart” printable. How are the texts alike, and how are they different?

Online: Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (15 minutes)

  • On our website, go to the Resources section of this article. Scroll down to Activities. The scavenger hunt is there.
  • This is a self-contained group of slides that guide students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It helps them make text-to-text connections.
  • It can be done independently by students at home or during class time.

Text-to-Speech