Arctic Explorers

Arctic Explorers

Arctic Explorers
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 8 to 9
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.95

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		icebreaker, unheated, outhouse, aerial, reconnaissance, bulky, technology, warning, nuclear, adventurous, discovery, plywood, addition, navigate, hearty, solid
	content words:		Northwest Passage, North America, Northeast Passage, Nils Nordenskjold, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, North Pole, Northern Sea Route, Science Ice Expedition, Ice Camp

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Other Languages
Spanish: Exploradores del Ártico

Arctic Explorers
By Sharon Fabian

¹     Adventurous people have been exploring the icy Arctic region for a long time. They traveled to the Arctic for many reasons. They searched for a Northwest Passage around North America, and also for a Northeast Passage, around Asia. They traveled to trade. They explored for scientific reasons, and to make maps of the area. They traveled for sport, or for the competition to see who could get there first.

²     The ancient Greeks may have sailed the Arctic waters. Viking sailors who traded in ivory and furs traveled there. In the 16th century, sailors from northern European countries like Denmark, Norway, and England sailed the Arctic in search of a shorter sea route to China and India.

³     Nils Nordenskjold, of Sweden, was one of the Arctic explorers. He was the first to navigate the Northeast Passage, on a voyage that lasted from 1878 to 1880. He traveled for scientific reasons, collecting samples of Arctic plant and animal life as he went. Nordenskjold was also interested in mapping areas of the Arctic, and later published an atlas and other books about his adventures.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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