Penguin Interactive Science
Penguin Science
If you’ve been with me for the last two years, I have been creating science and social studies interactive books. Ā These help teach those standards while providing a cross curricular structure and routine! …Plus they are so cute!! Ā The latest and most adorable yet, The penguin science book!Ā Ā If you don’t have the time for a penguin book, no big deal, the activities fit right into a science notebook!
I love the fresh start of January! There’s a cleanliness about January that I can really appreciate! Ā I have the fresh start- let’s purge everything we know and start all over- kind of personality. So,Ā I have to really pull back the reigns on myself in January! Ā But one thing that is definitely new and exciting in the classroom, Ā is the glimmer of academic maturity that begins to blossom in students. Ā {Dancing around in circles arms flailing as I type about maturity in students} Ahem…
Studying penguins in January has been a long time favorite. Ā When all the standards changed a few years ago, I really didn’t want to have to give up teaching this subject. Ā It was then that I realized just how many standards you can power pack into the topic of penguins!Ā Ā Every subject area is covered!
Here’s a blast from the past! Ā We begin our penguin studies by doing a museum walk with penguin pictures.
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To learn more about museum walks you can read this post.
Then it is time to pack our bag for Antarctica! Ā We generate a list of items that we will surely need and write them in our suitcase. Ā For this, I am the scribe and they are the idea generators. Ā For each item I have the students share why it would be useful. Ā There’s no wrong answer as long as they can back it up with a good explanation! Ā You can extend this idea by having students go back and pack their own suitcase for Antarctica!
To get these suitcases for your own writing mini-lesson, just click here! Ā They are free. Ā They include a draw and label suitcase, make a list suitcase (not shown), and a sentence writing suitcase!
From this point forward we immerse ourselves in the science of penguins! Ā It takes about two weeks to complete all of the activities in this interactive science notebookĀ if you allow for 30-40 minutes per day.
To help students truly understand how cold it is in the Southern Ocean in Antarctica you can createĀ it in the classroom!
Gather a large clear tub and some Antarctic friends. Ā Walrus shouldn’t be there my apologies!
Use a large thermometer and keep adding ice to your water until you reach the desired temperature.
(hint- in order for you to get the temp this low, you need very little water and a lot of ice. Give it time to sit)
Next, you can also do the blubber experiment! Ā Take a gallon sized baggie and fill it with Crisco. Ā Next, place a clean gallon sized baggie inside of the Crisco and make a space for students to put their hands inside. Ā Allow students to put one hand in the Southern Ocean and one hand in the penguin blubber in order to feel the difference.
Ā I enjoyed creating a large graphic organizer that helped us remember and record important information on the penguins we were studying.Ā Ā These aren’t necessary to do, but they make a great visual and help students organize their thinking and new knowledge.
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This is a culminating activity where students must create a life size model of one penguin as a group and then write the key features. Ā They then compare it to another group’s penguin and together create a largeĀ graphic organizer.
To grab the penguin book click here
Great activities! I can’t wait to get back and use this unit.
Love the penguin!
Love finding your blog post on penguins tonight! I’ve been teaching junior high science as a long-term substitute position and just got the okay from administration this morning to start a collaboration with the 1st graders who are currently doing a huge penguin unit!!! Time-wise, what works best for her matches with my 8th grade science class so we will start in 2 weeks! This will be a wonderful experience for them to build essential skills. Thanks for your post and the freebies of the suitcase!