1.      Poems about penguins and Antarctica:  Penguin, by Meish Goldish,  In Praise of Penguins, by Robin Bernhard, and Antarctic Anthem, by Judy Sierra. This poems will be introduced and practiced throughout unit.

2.      Songs about penguins:  I’m a Little Penguin (I’m a Little Teapot), Have You Ever Seen a Penguin, (Have You Ever Seen a Lassie), One Icy Day in Antarctica(Mary Had a Little Lamb), by Nancy VanLaan.  These songs will be introduced and sung throughout unit.

3.   Penguin Powerpoint – Persistent Penguins of Antarctica, to be used throughout the
unit.
            

4.      Using a large world map point out the four major directions, the four oceans, the equator, and the continents.  Discuss the polar regions and stress how far away from the equator they are.  Show where we live in the United States.  Explain that we are going to be studying a continent called Antarctica at the South Pole.  Ask the students to imagine what the weather is like at the  South Pole.

5.      Using a globe do the same as above.  Show how the globe is a more exact model of the Earth than a flat map is.  Explain that we live north of the equator, so therefore we are closer to the North Pole than we are the South Pole or Antarctica.

           6.    Sun/Earth demonstration using a globe and a lit lamp representing the sun.  Show
                  how as the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun that the most direct    
                  sunlight hits the region around the equator, therefore creating very warm weather.
                  Discuss whether as one moves farther away from the equator the weather is warmer
                  or colder.  Explain how the seasons work in the northern and southern hemispheres 
                  and how they are opposite of each other. 

7.  Give students individual write on/wipe off maps of the world.  Instruct them to mark the

cardinal directions with capital letters N, S, E, W.  Put a sun on the equator, put a smiley face on North America, and finally put an X on Antarctica.

8.      Read books about penguins and Antarctica.  Some book titles that I have available in the classroom are:  Penguins, by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Penguins! by Gail Gibbons, Antarctica, by Helen Cowcher, The Emperor’s Egg, by Martin Jenkins, The Penguins Are Coming, by R. L. Penney, Scholastic Big Book Magazine – Penguins,  Animals in the Wild – Penguin, by Vincent Serventy, and A Penguin Year, by Susan Bonners.

9.      To answer the question “How do Antarctic animals stay warm?” do the Blubber Glove activity.  Discuss how quickly our bodies are chilled in the winter.  What do we do to stay warm?  This activity uses plastic bags and solid shortening to show how blubber on the Antarctic animals helps them stay warm.  Explain how the shortening is like the blubber that Antarctic animals have.  This activity is explained at this site:  http://octopus.gma.org/surfing/antarctica/blubber.html

10.  Listening lesson called “Little Penguin Finds His Way Home”.  Students will listen for four penguin adaptations and the continent that the little penguin wants to find.  This story activity can be found at http://www.seaworld.org/oceanfriends/littlepenguin.htm Suggestions at the site include doing the story with a flannel board and flannel pieces.

11.  Play Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Penguin! as you would Duck, Duck, Goose.  When the last person is tapped with the word penguin, the two involved students must waddle around the circle like a penguin as fast as they can, and try to reach the empty spot first.

12.  Art Project – 3D Penguins that stand up.  Materials include construction paper, glue, crayons, and scissors.

13.  Penguin Shuffle Races – With penguins, it is the dad’s job to keep the unhatched egg protected and warm.  For weeks he carries the egg on top of his feet.  This indoor race challenges kids to test their balancing skills, penguin style.  Each child needs a beanbag to serve as an egg.  Contestants stand side by side with their “eggs” on top of their feet.  When the race begins, players try to shuffle across the room without dropping their eggs.  The first to succeed wins.

14.  Penguin body parts activity using a diagram of a penguin and crayons for each student.  As a riddle is read students will find the body part of the penguin and color it the appropriate color.  Example:  I can’t use these to fly overhead, so I use them to help me swim instead.  – wings

15.  To demonstrate just how cold it gets in Antarctica, use a primary thermometer, one in which the mercury can be manipulated to go up or down.  Show how when the mercury rises air temperature gets warmer, and how when the mercury goes down the air temperature gets colder. 

            16. Follow the above activity with Excel project as a visual to show the differences in
                  temperature between Antarctica and South Dakota.  As a temperature is announced it 
                  can be shown on the primary thermometer.  Students will notice that South Dakota
                  temperature averages are above 0 degrees F, and that Antarctic temperature 
                  averages are below 0 degrees F.

             17.Share Antarctic jokes as a time filler.  These are jokes that even first graders can
                  understand.  Ex. – What do penguins eat for lunch?  Ice burg-ers.  Jokes can be found
                  at  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Antarctica/Jokes.shtml

             18.Enchanted learning has an online Antarctica quiz in which when the questions are
                  answered part  of Antarctica are revealed.  Teacher directed but with each student at
                  a computer they will be able to follow along and complete the picture.  This activity is
                  found at:  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Antarctica/quiz/

             19.Inflated Globe Toss – Using an inflatable globe play a game of Globe Toss with the
                  class.  When a student catches the globe, they must answer a question posed by the
                  teacher or another student.  Examples:  1.  Put your finger on the place that divides
                  the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere.  2.  Find the continent where
                  Emperor and Adelie penguins live.

             20. Penguin/Antarctic Word Find – Students will complete a word find on a write-on, wipe-
                  off folder in the Penguin Learning Center.  Words such as Antarctica, penguin, South
                  Pole, rookery, egg, aark, will be found and circled.  Answers found on the back of the
                  folder so that it can be self checking.