Penguins

Penguins and Polar Bears!  Oh my!  Today's lesson is really just an extension of the Polar Bear Lesson from earlier.  Again we will be reinforcing insulation, carnivore, and camouflage as our key topics. 

  For today's lesson you will need the following lab materials:

• Globe
• Two towels
• Super soft material
• Plastic bag
• Ice in a re-sealable bag

If you all are still hanging out in the Arctic following the polar bear lesson, it's time to high tail it to the Antarctic.   Although penguins live throughout the southern hemisphere, they don't get anyway close to polar bears.  Ask your scientist to look at the map and point to where they think most penguins live.

http://www.penguin.net.nz/faq/faq.html

Is it cold or warm there? Today we are going to focus on penguins living in Antarctica.  The average temperature in Antarctica is -18.4°F in the winter and 26.7°F during summer. Brrr!  How do you think they stay warm?  Penguins do have blubber, but most of their warmth comes thanks to their feathers.  Penguins have 70 feathers per square inch!  They feathers closest to a penguins body are downy (soft) and the other feathers are stiff and pretty short.  This helps the penguin trap heat and keeps them warm (insulation).  But isn’t the penguin’s only trick to keep warm: Penguins are carnivores that eat small fish, shrimp, and krill.  To catch their meal, penguins must dive into icy waters.  To help keep the water off their skin, they cover themselves in a water-proofing oil (many water birds do this).

Does this really work?  Let’s check it out:

·      Have your scientist hold the bag of ice. 

o   What does it feel like?  Could they swim through this water?

·      After their hand has warmed up, cover it with the soft material to simulate the penguin’s downy feathers.

·      Put a towel on top of the downy layer.  And then add the second towel on top of that.

·      Next, put the plastic bag on top to simulate the water-proof layer created by the oil. 

·      Get ready to dive.  Put the bag of ice of top of all those layers.

o   Can they feel the ice? 

What colors are penguins?  Just like a polar bear’s white fur helps it blend in while hunting prey, a penguin’s black and white suit help it sneak up on pray while avoiding predators (camouflage).  

A penguin’s white belly may fool some prey into thinking it is the glare of the sun.

Likewise, a seal looking down into the water might mistake a penguin for a shadow.