Winter Wildlife
This Arctic bird can swivel its head almost all the way around and blends into snow with its white feathers.
What is a snowy owl?
This emergency blanket, often shiny and lightweight, reflects body heat to help prevent hypothermia.
What is a space blanket (or Mylar blanket)?
This signal for help in the wilderness uses mirror flashes to catch attention.
What is a signal mirror?
This country celebrates winter with the Sapporo Snow Festival, famous for giant snow and ice sculptures.
What is Japan?
Snowflakes form when water vapor freezes around tiny particles called these.
What are nuclei (or dust particles)?
These deer-like animals migrate in huge herds and are known as “caribou” in North America.
What are reindeer?
To prevent frostbite, you should keep these three body areas especially protected: fingers, toes, and this.
What are your ears?
This type of compass navigation involves following a set of distances and directions—like “150 feet north, then 40 feet east”—to reach a hidden point.
What is orienteering?
In Scandinavia, kids love riding down snowy hills on a “spark,” a traditional sled powered by this body movement.
What is kicking?
This process happens when ice turns directly into water vapor without melting first.
What is sublimation?
This bear doesn’t truly “hibernate,” but enters a deep sleep during the winter and wakes up more easily than other animals.
What is a black bear?
In cold weather, cotton clothes are avoided because when they get wet, they do this instead of keeping you warm.
What is “stay wet and lose heat”?
Scouts follow this rule when crossing roads or trails: “Look left, right, and left again,” part of staying aware of surroundings.
What is situational awareness?
In Canada, the Rideau Canal becomes the world’s largest version of this winter activity.
What is an ice skating rink?
Frozen water expands, which is why this common outdoor winter hazard can damage roads and cause potholes.
What is freezing and expanding in cracks?
This tiny bird survives cold winters by entering torpor, a state that lowers its body temperature and heart rate.
What is a hummingbird?
This wind-related measurement tells you how cold it feels outside, even if the actual air temperature is higher.
What is the wind chill?
This method of tracking involves reading signs like broken twigs, footprints, and flattened grass to determine where a person or animal has gone.
What is trailing (or tracking)?
In the Alps, people sometimes travel between snowy villages using these long wooden snowshoes shaped like tennis rackets.
What are traditional snowshoes?
This type of cloud—thick and gray—often brings steady snow during winter storms.
What are nimbostratus clouds?
These clever Arctic foxes use a special hunting technique where they leap into the air and dive nose-first into snow to catch prey.
What is “mousing”?
If stranded in deep snow, this type of shelter—built by packing snow into blocks—can keep temperatures surprisingly warm inside.
What is an igloo (or snow shelter)?
This advanced lashing joins two poles end-to-end, often used for building tall towers or signal structures.
What is a shear lashing?
This northern country calls the Northern Lights “Aurora Borealis” and holds winter tours to see them.
What is Norway?
(Finland/Iceland acceptable)
This scientific term describes how animals like penguins stay warm by grouping tightly together to share heat.
What is huddling (thermal regulation)?