Penguins

We are in the process of learning all about penguins!! This is one of my favorite units to teach!! We started out by making a big penguin and listing all of our schema (what we already know about penguins). Each day as we talk about penguins and find something we have learned, we add it to our new information section! They love to add new info!

So far, we have read books, looked at some of the ways they move, and what penguins can, have, and are.  We also made hexagon penguins to bring in a little math!

Today we talked about the 3 layers of protection penguins have to keep them warm. We got to do a couple experiments to help explain it. The first thing we did was to coat the back of our hands in petroleum jelly to simulate the penguins outer, waterproof feathers. This showed them how the water just beads up and runs off instead of soaking in the penguin and making him wet. We then got to see how blubber keeps them warm! I made a blubber glove which is just shortening in a bag. The kids had to stick one hand in icy water and then put the other hand inside the blubber glove inside the water to see which one stayed warmer. It was definitely unanimous that the hand in the blubber glove was much warmer! We can see how important it is for penguins to have that extra fat on them!