photo courtesy of Guillaume Dargaud http://sung3.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/~dargaud/Photo/Background.html

**Introduction  **Task   **Process    **Resources     **Evaluation      **Conclusion

Congratulations! Bundle up in layers of warm clothes because you are going to Antarctica! You have been selected to work with a team of scientists studying a species of penguin living in the area of Antarctica. You will be assigned a kind of penguin to study. You will learn as much as you can about your penguin. Then you will present your findings at a "conference" of biologists who have also been studying penguins.

In order to be ready to present your findings at the conference, you will need to learn about the penguin's appearance, its behavior, its food, and its enemies. You will work with a classmate. For some parts of this unit, you and your partner will work with a fifth grade helper. As part of your study, you and your partner will work together to find penguin pictures and discover what is special about your penguin, learn about the penguin's food chain, learn vocabulary used to describe penguin behavior, draw a life-size picture of your penguin and much more.

King Penguin	Adélie Penguin	Rockhopper Penguin
Emperor Penguin	Chinstrap Penguin	Macaroni Penguin
	Gentoo Penguin	Little Blue Penguin

• Talk with your partner. Together, list all the things you already know about penguins. List the things you want to know or wonder about penguins. Then start your adventure learning about penguins. Use the chart created for KWL.

• Find photos of your penguin on the Internet. Create a likeness of the penguin in its habitat, using paper and crayons and paint. Click on your penguin here. You will be linked to a page with information about your penguin. The site, Penguins Around the World, was created by Loogootee Elementary West, a school in Indiana.

King Penguin	Adélie Penguin	Rockhopper Penguin
Emperor Penguin	Chinstrap Penguin	Macaroni Penguin
	Gentoo Penguin	Little Blue Penguin

• Research penguins at Penguins, a web site for children. There is information about types of penguins. You can learn about the penguins' food. Penguin chicks feed in an interesting way. You can also learn about penguins' enemies. One of the enemies is the leopard seal.

• Add information about your penguin to the class chart. Our chart will look like this:

• With your partner, write an informational page for our class book. Include five facts about your penguin. Find a picture of your penguin on the web and print a copy to add to our book.

• Work with your partner to find one interesting fact about Antarctica. No two groups may have the same interesting fact because these will be compiled on a page in our book. Did you realize that even in cold Antarctica penguins sometimes need tocool off?

Select from the collection of poems and songs online or choose a poem from one of the books in the room. Ask your fifth grade buddy to print your choice on the computer. Then illustrate your selection, using colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers. You may use glitter with a teacher's help, if you wish.

Penguin Poems

A poem that shows how wise the penguin is

• Make a life size drawing of your penguin and add it to the penguin colony on the bulletin board. You might chose to stuff it with newspaper when it is on the board. Partners will work together to make their penguin.

• Write a poem or story about a penguin or a group of penguins. You might want to include something about penguinsdiving into the ocean, swimming, or jumping out onto the ice. Maybe you will include a description of the icy cold. Illustrate your poem using crayon resist.

• Would you like to make a penguin out of a paper bag? Soon you will be able to look here at photos of penguins other first graders in Portsmouth have made using paper bags. Can you figure out what you need and how to make the penguin? Make a list of materials needed and explain how to make the paper bag penguin. I will provide the materials you think we will need.

• If you were to keep a penguin as a pet, what would you have to provide to keep it healthy? Why do you think it is illegal to keep a penguins as a pet?

• Work with your partner to write a question to ask Jake the Sea Dog. This link connects you to WhaleTimes. So your privacy is protected, we will collect all the questions and submit them from the class as a group, using my email address.

• Contribute to the class list of things we learned about penguins and Antarctica.

Pete & Barbara's Penguin Page created by Peter and Barbara Barham ~ This includes small photos and descriptions of different types of penguins. It explains their life cycle and threats, and lists where you can see them.

Kevin Schafer is an wildlife photographer whose work has been world-renowned magazines, such as National Geographic and National Wildlife. Penguin Planet shows many of his photographs. Be sure to look at all of the pages.

The World of Penguins from Nature by PBS ~ You will find a few more photos of penguins.

This site at Enchanted learning has information about Antarctic animals. You can print the information, including a picture to color.

Photos of Antarctica by Guillaume Dargaud can be seen at http://sung3.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/~dargaud/Photo/Background.html. This page does not link to the site.
These are gorgeous photographs showing the terrain and some of the animals of Antarctica.
 

Enchanted Learning ~ This has information about Antarctic explorers. You might find it interesting. You can print the information, including a picture to color.

I Like Penguins !!!  ~ A fifth grader did a report on penguins. He and his dad created this web page.

A while ago some first graders at the Mayflower School in Middleboro, Massachusetts studied penguins. They wrote reports and made pictures and models. This site lets you see each child holding his or her penguin model and lets you read the report. You will learn a lot from their reports!

Sixth graders and first graders at a school in California studied penguins and worked together to write these reports. The reports start with a striking 3D paper penguin.

You have learned a lot about penguins at the "bottom of the world"! Brrrrrrrrr. Is your nose cold from spending so much time in Antarctica? At last you are ready to present your information at the conference. We will serve refreshments after everyone has shared information. How do you like the idea of serving ice cream sundaes at our conference?