Polar bears are powerful predators that are struggling in these times of climate change. G1 students learned during the How the World Works unit that living things depend on nonliving things for their survival. Polar bears need sea ice for hunting, resting after swimming, and as a location for mother bears to raise their young. Rising temperatures are causing the melting of the sea ice they so desperately depend on. Students examined this through an activity using polar bears handmade from paper clay, containers filled with broken pieces of ice, and a hair dryer to act as the warming air.