Penguinscience - understanding penguin response to climate and ecosystem change

Classroom Activities

Activity	Abstract
Nest Check	During Adelie penguin nesting season (November through January ) we will follow 10 breeding pairs on a daily basis as they raise their chicks. Each day a picture will be posted allowing students to take their own field notes. Includes a daily picture with story, and weather data.
Penguins Under Pressure	Students decide what global activities contribute to the decline of Adelie penguins in Antarctica.
Receive a postcard for Antarctica	Students design a postcard about penguins, self address and stamp it, and it will be returned to them from Antarctica. Please mail before Dec 31 of current year
Ask a researcher a question	Active site for students to ask questions of the field researchers. Send questions to: jean.pennycook@gmail.com
Keep an Antarctica Field Journal	Students keep an observation journal based on daily pictures from the field, and respond to journal prompts posted by the researchers.
Penguins under pressure	Students group global activities which effect penguins and how they are coping with global warming.
Penguin Adaptations diagram	Compare and contrast penguin adaptations to seals and sea gulls.
Seasonal feeding habits of the Adelie : part 1, part 2	Students create their own data chart and graph of seasonal changes in the Adelies feeding habits.
Penguin Adaptations	How penguins evolved to cope with the harshness of Antarctica.
Nesting Time	Who spends more time on the nest, the male or the female? Students follow a breeding pair of Adelie Penguins using "Nest Check" above and chart the foraging trips and time spent on the nest by the female and the male.
How do we know what we know?	Pictorial descriptions of how the researchers gather their data and determine what they know about penguins. The use of satellites, tags, dead chicks and birds, radio tags, photographs.
Penguins are Social Creatures	Adelie Penguins, like many other animals, communicate using sounds and body language. After reading this article try learning what your pet is trying to tell you.
How do Penguins find their own chick	Listen to 5 penguins call their chick, Can you tell the difference.
Penguins change with changes in climate	Students graph penguin population data and make conclusions about how population shifts have occurred in the last decade.