Antarctic Animals Informational Articles & Research Activities
Original price was: $18.00.$11.55Current price is: $11.55.
Explore Antarctic animals with six engaging informational articles designed for animal research, nonfiction reading, and informational writing. Students read about the albatross, blue whale, elephant seal, emperor penguin, leopard seal, and orca, then extend their learning with QR code research links and fact-sorting activities.
Make your next animal research project easier with a ready-to-use collection of informational articles about six fascinating Antarctic animals.
Students can begin by reading the included nonfiction article, continue their research using the QR code resources, and then sort what they learn into meaningful categories. The information they collect can be used as a foundation for an animal research report, informational writing project, or science activity.
These animal research passages are written at approximately a second- to third-grade reading level with attention to sentence length and complexity.
What’s Included
This Antarctic Animals resource includes articles and research materials for 6 animals:
- Albatross
- Blue Whale
- Elephant Seal
- Emperor Penguin
- Leopard Seal
- Orca
For Each Animal
Students receive:
- Two-page informational article with color photographs
- One-page text version of the article
- QR codes linking to additional online articles and videos
- Fact sort activity for organizing information by:
- Attributes
- Actions
- Environment
Skills Covered
Students can use these Antarctic animal research materials to practice:
- Reading informational text
- Identifying important facts and details
- Taking notes from multiple sources
- Categorizing information
- Building background knowledge
- Conducting animal research
- Organizing facts before writing
- Writing an informational animal report
- Integrating reading, science, and writing
Ways to Use This Resource
These informational articles work well as part of an animal research project or informational writing unit.
One simple research sequence is to:
- Read the informational article about the animal.
- Explore additional websites and videos using the QR codes.
- Gather important facts from multiple sources.
- Sort the facts by attributes, actions, and environment.
- Use the organized information to write an animal research report.
The resource can also be used for:
- Science and literacy integration
- Independent research
- Partner research
- Small-group reading
- Nonfiction reading practice
- Informational writing units
- Animal report projects
- Antarctic or polar animal studies
Why Teachers Love This Resource
Rather than sending students out to research an unfamiliar topic without background information, these articles give them a clear starting point.
Students can first build knowledge from a controlled informational text and then expand their learning through additional sources. The fact sort helps them move from simply collecting facts to organizing information before writing, making the transition from research to an informational report more manageable.
The multiple article formats also provide flexibility for different classroom activities and printing needs.
Reading Level
The articles are written at approximately a second- to third-grade reading level and are controlled for sentence length and complexity.
They are especially useful for teachers looking for 2nd grade animal research, 3rd grade animal research, nonfiction animal passages, or elementary informational writing resources.
Complete Your Informational Writing Unit
These Antarctic animal articles complement the Informational Writing Tools packet.
Please note: This product does not include graphic organizers or comprehension questions.
Graphic organizers are available separately in the Informational Writing Tools packet or the Graphic Organizers Product.
Individual Antarctic Animal Resources
The individual animal resources are also available separately:
Purchasing the complete bundle saves more than 70% compared with purchasing the individual animal articles separately.
More Animal Research Resources
Also available:
Important Technology Note
Some of the QR code resources link to videos hosted on YouTube. Please make sure students can access YouTube on your school or district network before using those links in class.
Kasey M. –
Perfect for my ocean unit. It had everything I needed!
Heather B. –
A great addition to our studies on habitats and animals. These are very informational and a “one-stop shop” for learning about various animals in various habitats. Thank you!
Miss Humble's Herd –
Great way for students to use reading passages to help with non-fiction writing!
Bphishy –
These passages are great. I use them for my informal IEP assessments. My students find them interesting, engaging and easy to extract information from. Thank you!
Lizzie H. –
Absolutely amazing resource! So easy to use as a teacher with little time to spare!