In this series of North Pole worksheets, the focus is on the explorers, life, history, and even folktales associated with the region. Make sure to read each passage carefully. The worksheets will introduce to all types of things that will most likely be new to you. The North Pole is located at the very most Northern point of Earth. The location is composed of solid ice in the form of an Arctic sheet that is six to ten feet thick, during the warmer months. This ice sheet can almost double in size through the cold months of the year. A couple of interesting facts for you are that you will not find penguins at the North Pole at all, but you will find polar bears. The North Pole is dark for half of the entire year.
Print North Pole Worksheets
Click the buttons to print each worksheet and associated answer key.
North Pole Reading Worksheet
You may have heard that it is dark for six months out of the year and light for the other six months, but that is not entirely true.
North Pole Multiple Choice Questions
Civil twilight begins at this region of the planet on September 25th and lasts until October 8th. Nautical twilight continues until October 25th.
Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen was the first explorer to visit both Poles of the Earth. That is a lot of time on a boat!
Roald Amundsen Short Answer Questions
What are some of the things that Amundsen learned on his earliest Arctic expeditions?
Life at the North Pole
As cold as it gets here, there are approximately 20 species of mammals and 100 species of birds living there.
North Pole Fun Facts
Magnetic north is found by the direction a compass points. Magnetic north is always moving.
The History of North Pole Expeditions
Today, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that about a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas are under the surface of the Arctic.
QUESTIONS: The History of Regional Expeditions
When Peary's claim of being the first to reach this location fell into doubt, the explorer Roald Amundsen, who had been the first to reach the South Pole, joined with Umberto Nobile on the airship Norge in 1926.
Why Santa Lives There Reading Passage
Locating Santa there was a combination of one man’s art and imagination, coupled with the fact that the North Pole was still fairly mysterious to us at the time.
QUESTIONS: Why Santa Lives There
What magazine was publishing Christmas-themed pictures in the late 1800s?
Robert Peary
Robert Peary was an American explorer who claimed to have led the first successful expedition to the geographic North Pole.
QUESTIONS: Robert Peary
That journey taught him that he needed to reach a higher latitude by ship before setting off on sledges.
Satellites and Poles Reading Worksheet
These satellites collect valuable information about the ocean and atmosphere.
Satellites and Poles Short Answer Worksheet
What information collected by satellites is fed into weather prediction models?
Drifting Research Stations
Drifting research stations are manned stations that move along with the drifting ice pack in the Arctic Ocean.
Drifting Research Stations - Multiple Choice Questions
Using these drifting stations, many important discoveries have been made about the surronding ecosystem.
Territorial Claims
Although the Inuit people live in the nearby Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Russia, they have never settled at the North Pole because the ice is constantly moving.
Territorial Claims - Short Answer
How might a country one day go about claiming the North Pole as its territory?
What Is the North Pole?
The North Pole is synonymous with polar bears and Santa Claus, both of whom, as you’ll soon learn, don’t live there. Many people have a general idea of this region of the Earth, but few possess factual knowledge about the place. It has led to several misconceptions about the pole.
The North Pole is the most northern part of the earth. It’s the point from which the longitudes converge, and every direction from it is south. It is also the center of the Northern Hemisphere.
This piece will look at facts to give you a clear picture of the misunderstood location.
It Is on Floating Ice
Unlike in the South, there’s no land in the North. There’s only the Arctic sea covered by miles and miles of floating ice.
The North Pole is perpetually covered in ice, at times three meters (10 feet) thick at the height of winter. The sheet of ice over the region is ever-present but thinning rapidly due to global warming.
Since the ice on the pole sits on moving water, it’s impossible to stand on the North Pole perpetually as you would on the South Pole. The South Pole sits on a landmass covered in ice.
The ocean underneath makes this area warmer than the Antarctic south: it draws a bit of warmth from the sea. Regardless, it is still very cold, with temperatures peaking at 32 °F (0 °C) during the summer.
Nothing Can Live on It
Imagine leaving your house for an evening stroll and returning to find it, and the patch you’d built it on was gone. It might sound odd, but it can happen if you build your house on constantly shifting ice.
Researchers studying the North Pole often lose their research stations after two or three years as the ice moves and breaks up. Even if you can brave the cold, this area is unsuitable for living.
Even polar bears, whose bodies are adapted to surviving the extreme cold, rarely venture to the North Pole as they risk being trapped at sea by breaking ice.
Furthermore, from late September to mid-March, the sun sinks below the horizon, plunging the entire region into darkness. The sun constantly shines on the North Pole for the rest of the year.
Plants cannot survive in such an environment. Any plant that attempts to grow during the summer would inevitably die during the cold and dark winter.
The closest permanent settlement near the North Pole lies 508 miles (817 km) away. Nevertheless, countries still lay claim to the uninhabitable pole, especially now that the breaking ice makes shipping across the Arctic sea easier.
Warmer Temperatures Are Melting the Ice
A recent report states that perennial ice has disappeared from the North Pole and the surrounding Arctic ocean. Perennial ice referred to ice that constantly covered the region regardless of the season.
The receding ice has caused warmer waters to enter the Arctic Basin, increasing the rate of ice loss. The thinning ice makes it easier for ships to pass through the Arctic Ocean but harder for people to locate the North Pole.
The ideal time to visit the North Pole is during the summer when there’s constant sunshine and the highest temperature. However, a seasoned North Pole explorer says a thick fog covers the area during the summer due to increased humidity.
Conclusion
The North Pole is the furthest North you can go. After getting to this point, the only direction you can head is south.
There’s no landmass covering the North Pole, just a constantly moving sheet of ice drifting on the Arctic Ocean. This ice sheet might start disappearing during the summer months if governments do nothing to reverse global warming.