Polar Bear Hunt

Year 1 visited the Maritime Museum in Hull this week to look for a polar bear. They were met by Esther, who was dressed up as an explorer, and joined her to see if they could find one too! Esther described what the pupils had to keep their eyes peeled for; white fur, black nose, sharp claws, small round ears and pointy teeth.

They all climbed in a boat and rowed north towards the Arctic into a room full of whales. There were strange noises that sounded a bit like cows or elephants, but were in fact Humpback whale calves and there were whale skeletons suspended from the ceiling and Narwhal tusks two metres long!

The children held a baleen, which works like a filter in whales’ mouths to catch shrimp and krill and also a killer whale’s tooth; it was super heavy and very smooth. After this they climbed up a mountain by heaving themselves up a rope to the top, where they discussed what Polar bears’ favourite food might be. The children decided upon fish and meat, but Esther explained that when Polar bears are very hungry (often in the summer months) they will eat anything, even grass and mushrooms! In addition the children discovered that polar bears sleep in sheltered places, such as caves or behind ice walls and that they smelt like rotten fish!

As Year 1 made their way down the other side of the mountain with magnifying glasses and torches, they spotted something two metres long and weighing 100 stone… Eric the Polar bear!