Skip to main content

Learning About Penguins

Penguins are undoubtedly one of the most unique and specialized groups of birds. They're also incredibly cute, so of course we had to include them in our bird study! This post includes some information about penguins to share with your kids, links to videos and other online resources, and a free printable penguin activity!

#thebarefootmom



Information About Penguins
Penguins are flightless sea birds that mainly live in Antarctica, though there are a few species that live further north in warmer climates. Penguins have many adaptations that allow them to survive in such cold, harsh environments. They have a thick layer of blubber and thick skin to help keep them warm in the cold Antarctic winters. Their bodies also can control the amount of blood flow to their feet, so they can reduce blood flow in cold weather, thus reducing the amount of heat lost to the cold icy ground.

Penguins eat fish, krill, and squid and are highly adapted for hunting in the water. Unlike other birds, penguins wings are designed for swimming instead of flight. They are stiff and shaped similarly to the flippers of sea mammals. Penguins also have webbed feet for steering in the water. Some penguin species can swim at speeds up to 22 miles per hour!

Penguins vary in size. The smallest species, the "little penguin" is about 13 inches tall and weighs just over 3 pounds. The largest species, the emperor penguin, stands about 4 feet tall and weighs around 50 pounds.

Penguins lay 1-3 eggs per clutch, depending on species and the individual. Some lay their eggs in burrow nests dug into the ground. Other species build rock nests. Emperor and king penguins don't build nests at all, instead males incubate the eggs on their feet, tucked under a pouch of skin and feathers.

How Do Penguins Stay Dry Activity
Some species of penguins spend up to several months at a time living in the frigid waters around Antarctica. To help keep them warm and dry, penguins have a gland that secretes a waxy oil that spreads over their feathers. This waxy coating repels water and helps keep penguins dry, even while swimming. Here's a simple activity to demonstrate how this works:

For this activity you will need:


-A penguin coloring sheet- you can grab one here

-Black, white, and yellow crayons 

-Scissors

-A spray bottle filled with water

Print or sketch yourself a penguin and color the entire thing with crayons. It's important that the whole penguin is colored, even the white portions. Try to apply the crayon as thickly as possible.



Cut your penguin out. Then try spraying a small amount of water onto your penguin with the spray bottle. You should see the water bead up instead of soaking into the paper. This happens because the waxy crayon repels water, just like the waxy coating on real penguin feathers!





Additional Resources About Penguins 

-Fun Facts About Penguins from Cool Australia 

-Penguin News from Penguins International 



-Fishing with Emperor Penguins video from National Geographic 

And don't forget to grab a free "How Penguins Stay Warm and Dry" printable activity here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-Penguins-Stay-Warm-and-Dry-Activity-7600962



If you enjoyed this post, check out the rest of the posts in my Learning About Birds series and my All About Birds printable unit study.




Follow me on

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...
5 comments
Read more