Excited to announce that, as part of her student teaching experience, Ms. Marta is taking over writing the blog for this week. Take it away, Ms. Marta!
Yesterday we started a new and exciting topic: penguins. Before we read our book “The Emperor’s Egg” by Martin Jenkins we had a discussion about penguins to determine what we already know about them: that penguins live in Antarctica, that they can swim, that they like cold, and that they slide on their bellies. After we read our book, we learned even more: that they huddle together to stay warm, that their walk is called waddle, and that they are protected by a layer of fat called blubber. Students were excited to participate and eager to learn more.
Today we continued our penguin exploration by conducting a science experiment. The goal of the experiment was to test how and if blubber works. Using two sandwich bags and Crisco shortening we created a “blubber glove” to protect our hands. First, we put our bare hands into a bin full of icy water. Our hands were super cold! Next, we put our hands into the “blubber glove” and then again into the bin. Everybody was surprised to see that although the water was still icy, their hands were warm and comfortable. We recorded our hypothesis and our results onto an experiment sheet. I was happy to see how eager everybody was to participate. Tomorrow we will continue our penguin lessons with a fun math activity.