Infusion of Literacy into the Science Curriculum

Book Information:

Title: / My Season With Penguins
Author: / Sophie Webb
Publisher: / Houghton Mifflin
Copyright Year / 2000
ISBN #: / 9780395922910)
Summary: / Webb, an ornithologist and artist, describes and illustrates her two-month stay at the bottom of the world, studying a breeding colony of Adélie penguins on Cape Royds, an island off the coast of Antarctica. Though the picture-book format and watercolor illustrations may attract a younger audience, the dense text is intended for upper-middle-grade readers who will find much to savor. Most of the diary describes the day-to-day activities of working scientists who were studying the nesting colonies and the dynamics of the frozen ecosystem. Webb describes the ingenious and sometimes-messy methods used to gather data; for example, in the weekly “diet sampling,” penguins with full bellies are captured, filled up with water, and forced to vomit so researchers can determine what they are feeding on. New technologies are used, too, to determine what penguins eat, how far they swim, how weather conditions affect each colony, and why some colonies are growing larger while others are shrinking. There are transmitters attached to them—radio receivers, which record sounds—and electronic weigh bridges are used to determine how much they’ve eaten. Traditional flipper bands are still used to track movement. Throughout, there are dozens of exquisitely drawn watercolor paintings. Sometimes as many as a dozen thumb-sized drawings appear on a single page, showing penguins posturing and preening or providing the reader with a sequence of events; one terrific example shows a penguin sneaking up to steal a rock from another’s nest. Other full-page paintings show the vast white and gray landscape with evidence of previous explorations, the base camp, or the dappled white and gray ice flows and ocean. The lack of an index limits the usefulness of the title for school assignments, but science enthusiasts will enjoy this attractively illustrated look at science at work. (glossary)
Availability: / Arlington Central Library; Amazon for purchase

How can the book content be infused into the science curriculum?

Grade Level / 3-5
Strands / Life Processes, Living Systems
Grade 3 / Life Processes
3.4 The student will investigate and understand that adaptations allow animals to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. Key concepts include
a) behavioral adaptations; and
b) physical adaptations.
Living Systems
3.5 The student will investigate and understand relationships among organisms in aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Key concepts include
a) producer, consumer, decomposer;
b) herbivore, carnivore, omnivore; and
c) predator and prey.
3.6 The student will investigate and understand that ecosystems support a diversity of plants and animals that share limited resources. Key concepts include
a) aquatic ecosystems;
b) terrestrial ecosystems;
Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change
3.8 The student will investigate and understand basic patterns and cycles occurring in nature. Key concepts include
a) patterns of natural events such as day and night, seasonal changes, simple phases of the moon, and tides;
b) animal life cycles; and
3.9 The student will investigate and understand the water cycle and its relationship to life on Earth. Key concepts include
a) there are many sources of water on Earth;
b) the energy from the sun drives the water cycle;
c) the water cycle involves several processes;
d) water is essential for living things; and
Earth Resources
3.10 The student will investigate and understand that natural events and human influences can affect the survival of species. Key concepts include
a) the interdependency of plants and animals;
erosion on organisms; and
Grade 4 / Earth Resources
4.9 The student will investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources. Key concepts include
a) watersheds and water resources;
b) animals and plants;
Grade 5 /
Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems
5.6 The student will investigate and understand characteristics of the ocean environment. Key concepts include
a) geological characteristics;
b) physical characteristics; and
c) ecological characteristics.
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Sample Activities:

Grade 4 /
Summary
This is an introductory lesson about penguins and their characteristics.

Objectives
• to describe and discuss penguins and their characteristics;
• to identify the ways in which penguins keep warm;
• to describe and discuss the environment and habitat of penguins;
• to briefly describe the breeding and hatching process of penguins.
Penguins live on fish, krill, squid and other types of seafood. Their pointed beaks help them to hunt and catch fish. Their tongues are very specialized, though they do not reach the beak. Their tongues have little spikes or spines on them that point backwards to the throat. These tiny spines enable the penguins to grip the fish and not let it escape.
Penguins usually live near saltwater, but even if they live near freshwater, it is always frozen. To be able to drink, penguins have a special gland at the back of their throats that allows them to drink salt water. This gland acts like a filter that keeps out the salt and pushes it back out.
Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, which means that they live south of the equator. Some species are to be found in Antarctica and some live in New Zealand, Australia, South America, southern Africa, and the Galapagos Islands that lie on the equator.
There are 17 different kinds of penguins. The largest species of penguins is the Emperor Penguin. The Emperor Penguin stands about 3 to 4 feet tall and weighs around 75 pounds. The smallest type of penguin is called the Little Blue Penguin, or the Fairy Penguin. These penguins are around 16 inches tall and weigh about 2.2 pounds. The lifespan of a penguin depends on the type of species, but it usually ranges from 10 to 20 years.
Penguins are social animals. They are warm-blooded and can adapt to many different climates. They can survive in extremely cold regions because under their skin, they have a layer of fat called “blubber.” On top of this, they have very soft fluffy feathers which are covered by outer feathers that overlap to make sure the warmth is contained and sealed inside. Penguins are also covered naturally with oil that they rub onto their feathers to make sure they are waterproof and windproof. Penguins also huddle together and stand close to one another to keep themselves warm. Copyright 2009 LessonSnips www.lessonsnips.com
The black and white appearance of the penguins helps them to camouflage against their predators. When in the water, they are black on top, which helps them to avoid being seen from above against the background of the sea. From below, they are white, so it is difficult to spot them against the light of the sky. Amongst their natural enemies are the leopard seals, orcas, sea lions, ferrets, snakes, and stoats.
Penguins live in large herds and breed in groups called rookeries. Most penguins lay two eggs at a time, with the exception of Emperor and King Penguins that lay only one egg at a time. Not all penguins have nests. Penguins such as the Emperor Penguin that live in very cold areas cannot build a nest in rocks or under the ground. The male penguin usually balances the egg on his feet. A flap of skin covered with feathers, called a brood pouch, protects the egg from the cold. Usually, it is the male penguin that is in charge of keeping the egg warm, and that is why the male loses a lot of weight during that time. He does not move or go hunting for fish until the egg hatches. The survival of the egg depends upon the male being fat and healthy so that he can survive the 9 weeks. In addition, male parents sometimes huddle together to keep warm while balancing their eggs. When the egg hatches, the chick remains on the feet of the parent until it grows its own set of feathers that insulate it from the cold and from the water.
Activities
Answer Key
Activity A
1. Being shaped like a torpedo makes penguins able to:
a. fly efficiently.
b. swim and dive.
c. dig.
d. All of the above.
2. Penguins are able to keep warm because:
a. they have a layer of fat under their skin called blubber and are covered with overlapping feathers.
b. they huddle together.
c. they have oil on their feathers that helps make them windproof.
d. All of the above.
3. Penguins live in all of the following areas except for:
a. The Galapagos Islands
b. Antarctica
c. Canada
d. New Zealand
Activity B
__b___ 4. King Penguins a. are the largest species of penguins.
__c___ 5. Fairy Penguins b. lay only one egg at a time.
__a___ 6. Emperor Penguins c. are the smallest species of penguins.
Activity C
__T__ 7. Penguins that live in very cold regions and that are unable to build a nest for their egg, balance the egg on the feet of the male parent.
__F__ 8. Most penguins only lay one egg at a time.
__F__ 9.There are 27 species of penguins.
__T__ 10. Penguins have a gland at the back of their throat that filters out the salt from the saltwater they drink.
Grade 3 /
Title – Penguin Theme Unit
DAY 1: EMPEROR PENGUINS
Objectives: Tell facts about Emperor penguins.
Experience what a father penguin does to take care of an egg.
Materials: Emperor penguin poster, overhead, My Season with the Penguins, non-fiction penguin books (listed below), small ball
Motivation/Anticipatory Set: I will tell the penguin joke of the day: “Which fish do penguins eat at night?” (starfish)
Procedure:
– Activate the student’s prior knowledge about penguins. I will ask them to tell me what they already know about penguins and I will list their suggestions on the overhead. Then I will ask them what they want to learn about penguins. I will tell them that we will be learning about three different specific kinds of penguins, the Emperors, the Adelies, and the Rockhoppers. I will also tell them that we will be doing some fun penguin activities and games.
– Now I will read aloud My Season with the Penguins, Face-to-Face Penguins, The Penguin in the Snow by Doug Allen, and Penguins by Annette Barkhausen and Franz Geiser. All of these books have excellent pictures and easy-to-understand descriptions of how penguins live.
– After we read through the books, as a class we will fill in facts on my Emperor poster that already contains pictures of these penguins. I will ask the students for important facts that they remember from what we read and I will add them to the poster.
Closure: Finally, I will discuss how the father Emperor penguin keeps the eggs warm on top of his feet for two months. Then we will play a game, where the students will have to try to balance a ball on the tops of their feet and waddle around. Here, the students will be simulating the father’s job.
Evaluation: Participation during discussion and listing of penguin facts.
Observation during egg activity