At the most northern part of the earth and at the most southern part are regions of intense cold. The earth is entirely covered with ice and snow all year. The water is filled with masses of floating ice and snow. The coldest winter days in the Temperate Zone are not nearly so cold as the climate of the North and South Frigid Zones. It is even hard to tell which is land and which is water.

Of course no trees, nor grass, nor plants, nor animals, nor people of any kind can live in that intense cold. At the parts near the Temperate Zones, where it is slightly warmer, there are some very small dwarfed trees not more than a foot or two high, and perhaps a little moss. It is here that the Inuits live; but most of the North Frigid Zone and the South Frigid Zone is a stretch of frozen whiteness on all sides, with no living thing of any kind. During the summer the sun never sets, so that there is twilight all night. In winter the sun never rises above the horizon, so there are months of darkness.

These frozen lands are the regions through which so many brave explorers have traveled trying to find the most northern part called the North Pole, and the most southern part, the South Pole. Many of these fearless people have never returned from the Frigid Zones. They starved or were frozen to death.

After trying for twenty-seven years, Robert E. Peary, an American, reached the North Pole* on April 6, 1909.

Roald Amundsen, a brave Norwegian, reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, after suffering many hardships.

People are very proud of these brave, determined, fearless men, who would not stop until they had done what they set out to do.

Notebook Work: Label the top of your notebook page with "LESSON 33." Draw the globe and label the North Pole and the South Pole. Draw the floating ice and snow at the poles.

*Note: Whether Peary really did reach the North Pole is a matter of historical debate.