How  Animals  Stay  Warm  during  Winter?  

The  Chick  &  Penguin  Lesson  Plan  

Objectives  

The  National  Science  Education  Standards  

K-­‐4,  Physical  Science:  Properties  of  objects  and  materials;  Light,  heat,  electricity,  and  magnetism  

K-­‐4,  Life  Science:  Organisms  and  environments  

• Children  will  explore  and  discuss  the  concept  of  heat  (more  heat  =  warm;  less  heat  =  cold)  

• Transfer  of  heat  • Some  materials  allow  the  transfer  of  heat  while  others  block  it  (insulate).    • Animals  adapt  to  their  environments.  Animals  that  live  in  a  very  cold  environment  have  features  

that  help  them  cope  with  the  cold.      Vocabulary  

• Insulation;  Fat;  Thermometer;  Heat;  Antarctica    Materials  

• Disposable  gloves  • Tubs  of  Vaseline/Crisco  • Cotton  batting  

• Feathers  • Oil  • Paper  towels  

• Small,  child-­‐size  thermometers    • Containers  for  ice  water  • Chick  &  Penguin  story  (at  the  end  of  the  lesson  plan)  

 Planning  

•  Make  story  puppets,  print  out  the  images  at  the  end  of  the  lesson  plan  then  glue  them  on  a  

cardboard  and  add  stick  as  a  handle    This  lesson  plan  is  based  on  the  learning  cycle  format  of:  Awareness,  exploration,  inquiry  &  utilization.      

Awareness  (opening,  introducing  the  topic  to  the  children)    

• Read  the  chick  &  penguin  story  (found  at  the  end  of  the  lesson  plan)  to  the  children,  tell  the  

children  that  the  story  has  o  ending,  and  that  they  will  work  on  creating  an  ending  during  the  next  days  in  school.    

• Present  pictures  of  Antarctica  and  the  farm  environments  (a  few  examples  at  the  end  of  the  lesson  plan,  but  use  books  and  images  from  your  close  area).  Ask  the  children  about  the  

differences  between  the  two  environments.  Ask  the  children  to  imagine  how  they  would  dress  in  each  of  these  environments.  Follow  up  with  a  question  about  animals  protection  in  areas  with  very  little  heat  (=  cold).  

• Read  the  story  again  and  ask  the  children  to  suggest  ending,  record  their  suggestions.    

• Tell  the  children  that  this  week  they  are  going  to  experiment  with  different  things  that  keep  

animals  warm  during  cold  weather.  

Exploration    

• In  small  groups,  allow  the  children  to  experiment  with  cold,  icy  water  (not  for  too  long)    and  warm  water.  Ask  them  to  describe  what  they  feel.      

Inquiry  

• Heat  always  transfer,  move  to  a  place  with  less  heat.  If  we  put  our  hands  in  warm  water,  the  hear  will  go  into  our  bodies  (and  the  air)  and  makes  us  feel  warmer.  If  we  put  our  hands  in  cold  

water,  the  hear  will  transfer  from  our  hands  (and  body)  to  the  water,  and  we  will  feel  cold.  There  are  some  materials  that  insulate,  or  block  the  transfer  of  heat.  In  this  activity,  the  children  will  experiment  with  different  insulators.          

• In  small  groups,  present  the  goal  of  finding  what  the  best  insulator  is.  Children  wear  gloves  and  

apply  on  them  different  materials  to  find  out  which  is  the  best  insulator.  The  children  fill  the  gloves  with  different  materials  (feathers,  cotton  balls,  Crisco),  than  wear  them  and  put  their  hands  in  the  icy  water.  Alternatively,  children  can  put  just  one  finger,  or  thermometers  can  be  

inserted  to  the  glove  while  they  are  all  in  the  icy  water  and  see  what  the  different  temperature  is  (for  older  children).    

• Following  the  children’s  experimentation,  ask  them  to  put  two  fingers  in  the  water,  one  bare  

and  the  other  covered  with  Crisco.  Ask  children  to  describe  what  they  feel  in  each  finger.  (Crisco,  fat,  is  an  excellent  insulator.  The  finger  covered  with  Crisco  should  be  warm,  as  the  fat  prevents  any  heat  to  transfer  out  to  the  icy  water).  

• Ask  children  to  record  their  findings,  by  gluing  to  a  sheet  things  that  are  good  insulators  and  not  

so  good  insulators.    

• Have  the  children  present  their  findings  to  the  large  group.  Together,  make  a  large  table  of  materials  that  are  good  and  bad  heat  insulators.    

• Read  the  story  again,  and  ask  the  children  to  complete  it.  This  time  write  one  ending  as  a  class,  emphasizing  that  the  fat  in  the  penguin’s  body  serves  as  an  excellent  insulator,  which  prevents  

heat  from  leaving  the  penguin’s  body.    

 

Utilization  (application,  transfer  of  information;  applying  the  new  information  to  other  subjects  or  in  other  situations)  

• Animals  leaving  in  cold  conditions  are  not  the  only  ones  relying  on  insulation.  People  use  

insulators  as  well.  Ask  the  children  (and  families)  to  bring  to  school  insulators  from  home  and  describe  what  they  are  used  for  (for  example:  oven  mittens,  coats,  scarves,  blanket).    

• Explore  other  animals’  methods  for  survival  in  cold  weather.  

• As  a  final  project,  create  a  book  about  insulation,  containing  the  finished  story,  and  pictures  of  children’s  experimentations  with  different  insulators  and  pictures  of  insulators  used  at  home.  

Leave  the  book  in  class,  so  children  can  look  at  it  during  the  year.    

Baby  Chick  and  Baby  Penguin  

By  Annie  Mogush  Mason  and  Mia  Dubosarsky  

 

One  hot  summer  day,  Baby  Chick  invited  his  friend,  Baby  Penguin,  to  visit  him  on  his  country  farm.  Baby  Penguin  came  all  the  way  from  the  Antarctica  to  play  with  Baby  Chick.    

Baby  Chick  felt  so  excited  to  see  his  friend.  He  jumped  up  and  down  and  ran  around  happily  while  Penguin  waddled.  Penguin  looked  miserable.  He  was  not  happy  in  the  heat  at  the  farm.    

Baby  Chick  laughed  at  Penguin,  saying,  “Look  at  how  chubby  you  are!  You  have  so  much  fat,  you  cannot  

jump  up  and  down  like  I  can!”    

Penguin  felt  very  sad.  At  the  end  of  the  visit,  he  hung  his  head  and  waddled  back  to  the  Antarctica.    

A  few  months  passed,  and  Baby  Penguin  invited  Baby  Chick  to  pay  him  a  visit  at  the  Antarctica.  Winter  had  come.  Baby  Chick  was  not  a  baby  anymore,  but  a  young  rooster.    

Even  though  he  was  covered  with  a  coat,  mittens,  and  scarves,  Young  Rooster  could  not  stop  shivering  in  the  cold.  Penguin  was  happy  to  see  his  friend.  “Let’s  go  for  a  swim,”  he  suggested.  

Young  Rooster  noticed  how  easily  Penguin  moved  through  the  snow  as  they  walked  to  the  water.  

Penguin  slid  on  the  ice  and  jumped  into  the  water,  swimming  happily.    

“Come  on  in,  the  water’s  great!”  Penguin  yelled  to  his  frigid  friend.  

Still  shivering,  Young  Rooster  dipped  one  foot  in  the  water  and  jumped  right  back.  “How  can  you  do  that?  How  can  you  swim  in  this  icy  water?”  

Complete  the  story:  

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