This was a snap to find on the web, and I highly recommend that you visit this website if you can here . I typed in the key words "polar bear skin" on the web search engine Google, and this is the first website that came up. If you don't' have access to the internet, I have copied the paragraph below for you to read. This page was written by the Teel Family, who all live in Alaska.

"Alaska is home to the ferocious polar bear and the gregarious walrus. Polar bears live only at the very most northern tip of Alaska where they can remain next to the ice flows of the arctic. Unlike other bears, polar bears do not hibernate. How do they keep warm in this frigid arctic environment?

Polar Bears have fur that is different from any other animal. Close to their body they have a thick layer of woolly fur to keep them warm, but they also have long hollow guard hairs that stick up at all times. They look like plastic straws and keep the bear's hair from matting down while swimming in the cold arctic water. If you have ever been to a zoo located in a warm climate, you may have noticed that the polar bears fur appears to have a greenish cast to it. This happens because in warmer climates algae actually grows inside the polar bear's hollow guard hairs, giving the fur a greenish tint. (Matt also says to mention that these same hairs are prized for tying flies!)

The white appearance of the polar bear's fur helps to camouflage it while hunting for its prey, which is mainly ringed and bearded seals, but they will also eat walrus, eggs, and beach cast carrion. Their prominent black nose can be seen from six miles away through binoculars on a clear day in the arctic. White may be reat for camouflage, but black helps to absorb heat, and so underneath that fur the polar bear actually has black skin. The black skin absorbs the heat from the sun and helps him to stay warm."

BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

Biel, Timothy Levi. Zoobooks 2. Polar Bears. Wildlife Education, Ltd., 1985.

DeBeer, Hans. Little Polar Bear. New York: North-South Books, 1987 (fiction).

Helgeland, Glenn, ed. Arctic Animals. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1979.

Larson, Thor and Sybille Kalas. The Polar Bear Family Book. Saxonville, Massachusetts: Picture Book Studio, 1990.

Matthews, Downs. Polar Bear Cubs. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc., 1989.

Pfeffer, Pierre. Bears, Big and Little. Ossinging, New York: Young Discovery Library, Malboro Books, 1989.

Rosenthal, Mark. Bears. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1983.

Stirling, Ian. Bears. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books for Children, 1992.

Have fun....by the way, would the polar bear be warmer or colder with white skin?