Objective:
The students will list facts about penguins.

Materials

• Nonfiction books and web sites about penguins.  (See the Penguin Home Page for web site and literature suggestions.)

• Penguin Fact Worksheet

• Chart Paper or Chalkboard

Procedure

1. Ask the students what they know about Penguins.  List these facts on chart paper or the chalkboard.  If desired, ask the students what they would like to learn about penguins and record these questions.

2. Share some of the nonfiction books or web sites about penguins.  There are many fascinating facts about penguins, including the reasons for their coloring, their nesting habits, and the way they socialize.  

3. After exploring the information with the students, allow them to complete the Penguin Fact Worksheet by listing 4 new facts they have learned about Penguins.  (Older students may be able to do the investigating of materials on their own.  Younger children may need to copy 4 facts from the chart paper or draw pictures of what they learned.)

4. As an alternative, have the students record their facts on to pieces of paper cut out in the shape of penguins.  Display these facts on a wall called "Our Colony of Penguin Facts".  (Groups of penguins are called "colonies".)

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Make lists of Penguin Vocabulary.  Have the students find definitions of words such as "rookery", "molting", and "creche". 

2. Conduct an experiment with heat absorption and reflection in relationship to color.  This relates to the coloring of penguins.  Black absorbs heat, while white reflects it.

3. Have a lesson on friction.  Penguins "toboggan" down icy slopes.  Would they reach similar speeds if the slope were covered with grass?

4. Compare penguins to other birds.

5. Investigate the Antarctic habitat through books and web sites.