Polar Ecosystems Compared

Question 1

A park ranger sees that after a short warm spell, many polar animals are having trouble finding food. Which reason best explains why the Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems react so quickly to a brief warming?

Accepted Answer

The food webs are short, so a change at the bottom quickly affects animals at the top.

Answer

There are many different predators that can easily switch to other foods.

Answer

The regions have many plant species that keep growing all year long.

Answer

Ice melts very slowly, giving animals plenty of time to adjust.

Question 2

Sam is creating two posters for his class, one about the Arctic and one about the Antarctic. He wants to write three facts on each poster that correctly show how the two regions differ. Which group of three facts is completely correct?

Accepted Answer

Arctic: both land and ocean habitats, home to land mammals such as polar bears and to Inuit peoples; Antarctic: almost entirely ocean habitat, no land mammals and no permanent human residents.

Answer

Arctic: includes tundra with caribou and Inuit villages; Antarctic: covered mostly by sea ice with many seals and penguins, but also a population of reindeer that live on the ice.

Answer

Arctic: only marine life, no land animals, no human groups; Antarctic: both land and sea, with many seals, penguins, and a small research station community that lives year‑round.

Answer

Arctic: has icy deserts with polar bears and Inuit, but no marine life; Antarctic: has rich forests of ice algae on land, many land mammals, and several native villages.

Question 3

A researcher watches a short warm spell melt some sea ice. The tiny phytoplankton that grow under the ice die. Soon after, seals, whales, and many birds start having trouble finding food. Which explanation best shows why this happens so quickly in the polar regions?

Accepted Answer

Because the polar food webs are short, so losing the tiny plants means the animals that eat them and the animals that eat those animals all lose food at once.

Answer

Because the Arctic and Antarctic have many different kinds of plants that can quickly replace the lost phytoplankton.

Answer

Because the seals, whales, and birds can easily travel far to find new feeding areas when the ice melts.

Answer

Because the warm spell only affects the surface water, leaving the deeper parts of the ecosystem unchanged.

Try three questions

A park ranger sees that after a short warm spell, many polar animals are having trouble finding food. Which reason best explains why the Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems react so quickly to a brief warming?

Sam is creating two posters for his class, one about the Arctic and one about the Antarctic. He wants to write three facts on each poster that correctly show how the two regions differ. Which group of three facts is completely correct?

A researcher watches a short warm spell melt some sea ice. The tiny phytoplankton that grow under the ice die. Soon after, seals, whales, and many birds start having trouble finding food. Which explanation best shows why this happens so quickly in the polar regions?

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