Crittercam Educator Activities
Penguins
GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS 8, 15
55 min
SCIENCE STANDARDS A, B, C
Students conduct a series of experiments to test the effectiveness of blubber as insulation.
Background on the Critters:
Built to feed in the sea, penguins can swim faster and dive deeper than any other bird. Their sleek,
streamlined bodies cut through water like submarines. To swim well, they gave up some features that
enable other birds to fly. Instead of hollow bones filled with air, they have solid, heavy bones. Instead
of long, flexible wings, they have stubby, stiff wings.
The largest penguin is the emperor. Adults can grow three and one half feet tall and weigh up to
88 pounds. It is one of only two penguin species (along with Adélies) that live in Antarctica year
round. Emperors dive to depths of 100 feet in search of krill, fish, and squid. When they locate fish
silhouetted against the ice above, they rocket up to catch the fish.
Penguin colonies are vulnerable to changes in ocean temperature and climate. With global warming
an increasing concern, it’s important to learn all we can about how it affects these birds.
ACTIVITY
Built to Swim
1. Discuss the physical features of penguins and how their anatomy
enables them to be adept at swimming and diving through icy water.
2. Cool video option! Watch the Crittercam segments on emperor
penguins on *National Geographic’s Wild Chronicles Season One
Collection. Notice how skillfully the penguins swim and dive.
3. Divide students into teams, and give each a copy of the penguin
data collection sheet. Each team builds an experimental vertical
diving chamber using at least five, two-liter plastic bottles with
tops and bottoms cut off, taped end to end, and filled with water.
Use modeling clay to build four solid geometric shapes: sphere,
cylinder, cube, and cuboid (a 3D rectangle). Use a scale to make
sure each shape weighs the same amount.
* Wild Chronicles Season One Collection available at http://shop.nationalgeographic.com
Content Development: Sharon L. Barry, Writer; Sheryl Hasegawa, Editor; Kim Hulse, Editor; Melissa Goslin, Project Administor; Alice Manning, Copy Editor; Kristin Dell, Researcher
Design: Patrick Truby Educator Consultant: Mary Cahill Special Thanks: National Geographic Remote Imaging, National Geographic Museum
ACTIVITY
3. Each team predicts which of the four shapes will dive the fastest to the bottom of the chamber. Then
students drop each shape into the chamber and time its descent, recording the results on the worksheet.
Conduct three trials for each shape, and average the results.
4. How did the results compare with the predictions? Discuss why some shapes dive faster than others.
5. Students could repeat the procedure, this time using the clay to make models of actual animals—
including humans.
Follow-up ACTIVITies
2
1
Language Arts:
Books About Critters
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater—fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Grades: K - 5
Science:
Float two plastic containers in water.
Fill one halfway with sand. Now push
down slowly on both containers with
equal force. Which container is easier
to push down? Relate this to why it is
easier for heavy-bodied penguins to
dive and stay underwater than it is for
lighter birds.
Mr. Popper wishes he could visit the Poles, and spends his
spare time reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake,
in response to Mr. Popper’s fan letter, sends him a penguin, and
life at the Poppers’ is never the same again.
March of the Penguins, by Luc Jacquet and Jerome Maison—nonfiction
Publisher: National Geographic
Moviegoers can relive the excitement of watching the emperor
penguins’ life cycle with this companion book to the second
most popular documentary in American film history and the
highest-grossing natural history film of all time.
Content Development: Sharon L. Barry, Writer; Sheryl Hasegawa, Editor; Kim Hulse, Editor; Melissa Goslin, Project Administor; Alice Manning, Copy Editor; Kristin Dell, Researcher
Design: Patrick Truby Educator Consultant: Mary Cahill Special Thanks: National Geographic Remote Imaging, National Geographic Museum
Penguins
Which Body Shape Dives Best?
Weight of each shape:
Prediction: The
Time Trial
will dive the fastest.
Cube
Sphere
Rectangle
Cylinder
Trial #1
Trial #2
Trial #3
Average
Descent Time
Weight of each shape:
Prediction: The
will dive the fastest.
Time Trial
Trial #1
Trial #2
Trial #3
Average
Descent Time
Content Development: Sharon L. Barry, Writer; Sheryl Hasegawa, Editor; Kim Hulse, Editor; Melissa Goslin, Project Administor; Alice Manning, Copy Editor; Kristin Dell, Researcher
Design: Patrick Truby Educator Consultant: Mary Cahill Special Thanks: National Geographic Remote Imaging, National Geographic Museum