❄️ Snow and ice animal reports, grades 5–6
11 sheets, one animal each, so every child in a group gets a different one. Pick another set or one animal.
My report: the emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri · Grades 5–6
| Length | not checked yet: look it up! |
|---|---|
| Height | 3.7 ft (1.1 m) |
| Weight | 88 lb (40 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
Emperor penguins are the largest penguins. They dive deeper than any other bird to catch fish and squid, holding their breath for a long time. In winter they walk a long way across the sea ice to their breeding ground. Because they need sea ice to raise their chicks, scientists watch them closely as the ice changes.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, press release 25 Oct 2022, fws.gov/press-release/2022-10/emperor-penguin-gets-endangered-species-act-protections, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the gray wolf
Canis lupus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 5.9 ft (1.8 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 30 to 32 in (77 to 81 cm) |
| Weight | 90 to 110 lb (41 to 50 kg) |
| Top speed | 35 mph (56 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 4 to 5 years |
Read about it
Gray wolves are the largest wild members of the dog family. In a pack, everyone helps raise the pups, bringing back food and babysitting. Wolves were brought back to Yellowstone National Park after many years away, and park scientists have studied how the whole park changed when they returned.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Yellowstone (wolf facts), nps.gov/articles/yellowstone-wolf-facts.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the polar bear
Ursus maritimus · Grades 5–6
| Length | not checked yet: look it up! |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 4.9 ft (1.5 m) |
| Weight | 399 to 1,450 lb (181 to 658 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 25 years |
Read about it
Polar bears are counted as marine mammals because they spend so much of their lives on the sea ice and in the water. They wait beside breathing holes in the ice for seals to come up. Mother bears dig snow dens where tiny cubs are born in winter. As Arctic sea ice melts earlier each year, polar bears have less time to find food, which is why scientists watch them closely.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, nps.gov/subjects/bears/polar-bears.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the arctic fox
Vulpes lagopus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 3.6 ft (1.1 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 9.9 lb (4.5 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
Arctic foxes live on the treeless tundra around the top of the world. They eat lemmings, small animals that live under the snow, and a fox can hear one moving beneath the surface and then leap high to dive in. When food is hard to find, they follow polar bears and eat the leftovers. In a snowstorm they dig into a drift to get out of the wind.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Kobuk Valley National Park, nps.gov/kova/learn/nature/arctic-fox.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the walrus
Odobenus rosmarus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 9.8 to 11 ft (3 to 3.5 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 1.9 tons (1.7 tonnes) |
| Top speed | 22 mph (35 km/h) |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
Walruses spend part of their time in the water and part resting on ice or beaches in crowded herds, where they lie packed close together. Pockets of air in their throats work like life jackets, letting them float and even sleep in the water. Walruses depend on sea ice as a resting place near good feeding grounds. As the ice melts earlier each year, they crowd onto beaches instead, so scientists and people who live in the Arctic work together to watch over them.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Walrus Species Status Assessment (PDF), iris.fws.gov/APPS/ServCat/DownloadFile/132114, checked 2026-10-30
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fws.gov/media/pacific-walrus-bull-0, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, nps.gov/bela/learn/kidsyouth/alaskan-animal-adaptations.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the reindeer (caribou)
Rangifer tarandus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 4.9 to 6.6 ft (1.5 to 2 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 30 in to 4.9 ft (76 cm to 1.5 m) |
| Weight | 130 to 600 lb (59 to 272 kg) |
| Top speed | 6 mph (9.7 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 12 to 16 years |
Read about it
Reindeer and caribou are the same kind of animal. Many herds travel a long way each year between winter forests and summer tundra, one of the longest land journeys of any animal. Their hairs are hollow, which traps warm air next to the skin. Some caribou herds are shrinking because roads, mines and warming weather change the places they travel through, so scientists work with people who live in the north to protect their routes.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, nps.gov/bela/learn/nature/caribou.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Caribou: Did You Know?, nps.gov/articles/caribou-did-you-know.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System, fs.usda.gov/database/feis/animals/mammal/rata/all.html, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the narwhal
Monodon monoceros · Grades 5–6
| Length | 13 to 18 ft (4 to 5.5 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 1,760 lb to 1.8 tons (800 kg to 1.6 tonnes) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 25 to 50 years |
Read about it
Scientists think the tusk is full of nerves and may help a narwhal sense changes in the water, such as how salty it is. Narwhals dive deep into the dark Arctic seas to find fish and squid, and they use clicks and whistles to find their way and talk to each other. They stay in the Arctic all year, so they are very sensitive to changes in the sea ice and to the noise of ships. Scientists tag narwhals to learn where they go, which helps people protect them.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov/species/narwhal, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the moose
Alces alces · Grades 5–6
| Length | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 5 to 7 ft (1.5 to 2.1 m) |
| Weight | 701 to 1,400 lb (318 to 635 kg) |
| Top speed | 35 mph (56 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 15 to 25 years |
Read about it
Moose are the largest members of the deer family, and they live in cold northern forests with plenty of lakes and swamps. In summer they eat leaves and water plants, which give them the salt they need, and in winter they browse on twigs and bark. A moose swims well and may cross a whole lake. Moose usually live alone, except for mothers with their calves.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Kenai Fjords, nps.gov/kefj/learn/nature/moose.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Rocky Mountain, nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/moose.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Denali, nps.gov/dena/learn/nature/moose.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Grand Portage, nps.gov/articles/000/mooz-moose.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the wood frog
Lithobates sylvaticus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 2 to 3 in (5.1 to 7.6 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
Wood frogs are among the first frogs to call in spring, with sounds like quacking ducks, and they gather in woodland pools that fill with melted snow. Their freezing trick lets them live farther north than any other frog in North America. Most of the year, wood frogs live on the forest floor rather than in the water. Their brown color matches dead leaves, which helps them hide.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve, nps.gov/gaar/learn/nature/wood-frog-page-1.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the beluga whale
Delphinapterus leucas · Grades 5–6
| Length | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 1.6 tons (1.4 tonnes) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 90 years |
Read about it
Belugas travel in groups called pods, and in summer many pods gather in shallow bays and river mouths. Unlike most whales, they can nod and turn their heads, because their neck bones are not joined together. A thick layer of blubber keeps them warm in icy water, and they find breathing holes in the sea ice. Some beluga groups have become rare because of changing sea ice, noise from ships and pollution, so people set up protected waters where they can feed and raise their calves.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov/species/beluga-whale, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the musk ox
Ovibos moschatus · Grades 5–6
| Length | 8.2 ft (2.5 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 441 to 882 lb (200 to 400 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
Musk oxen are more closely related to goats and sheep than to cattle. Their long hair almost reaches the ground, and with the wool underneath it keeps out the bitter wind. In summer they graze on grasses and flowering plants, and in winter they dig through shallow snow to find food, moving slowly to save energy. Musk oxen disappeared from Alaska long ago; people brought some back from Greenland, and herds live there again.
Habitat and range: where on Earth, and what the place is like:
Diet: what it eats, and what might eat it:
Adaptations: two ways its body or habits help it survive:
Is it in danger? Why or why not?:
Compare it with another animal you know:
Bibliography: write each source below as site, page title, date checked:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Cape Krusenstern, nps.gov/cakr/learn/nature/muskox.htm, checked 2026-10-30