We read an information book and watched an informative ‘Penguin PowerPoint’ about penguins and learnt some interesting penguin facts. For example, we learnt that daddy penguins carry the egg on their feet for two months, with no food at all before the egg is ready to hatch – we all thought that sounded like a very tough job indeed. We experienced how Emperor Penguin colonies keep warm together by constantly moving in a huddle, we kept our class huddle moving to shelter from a pretend snow storm … brrrrrrrr! We were really impressed with the children’s ability to recall the facts they had learnt … so much so that we awarded them all ‘penguin expert’ certificates!
We enjoyed thinking about keeping warm in the Winter and took part in some interesting discussions about how different animals and birds adapt in differing climates. We learnt some new words along the way – hibernate, insulation, migration and blubber. We carried out a ‘Blubber experiment’ testing our fingers in icy water and were amazed to find that by adding a bit of lard to act as blubber our fingers were protected from the cold.
We also got creative with the theme and enjoyed making 3D ‘standing’ penguins, developing our skills using the stapler, scissors and glue. We talked about different joining and fixing methods and which were most appropriate for this job. The children also enjoyed sculpting and painting a clay penguin.
Next week our topic is ‘Our Senses’, we are looking forward to some more fun experiments!