Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Animals in Winter

So right now in preschool we are learning about Animals in Winter.....I don't know why I always have so much fun with this theme!! Anyway, today for a science experiment, we discovered what it would feel like to be a Polar Bear swimming in the icy water (kind of). First, have each child put their bare hands in a bowl of freezing ice water. We like to count and see how long they can hold it in there (great counting practice). Every class I always get at least a couple of brave souls who leave their hand in there as long as they possibly can - I always stop them at 30!! Who knows how long they would actually leave it in there - crazy kids!!

Then, take a rubber glove and have one child make a fist and have them put there hand in the glove (obviously you aren't going to have them put their fingers in the finger places :). I like to wear a rubber glove also, basically for less clean up.

and cover that child's hand with shortening.

I just plop it on until the whole fist is covered....I use quite a bit. I take my glove off and then I cover the child's fat covered hand with plastic wrap (this is for easier clean up also).

Now just have the child put their hand in the icy water now.......the kids think it is the coolest thing that they now can't feel the icy cold water. I don't count this time because we would be there all day.....I just let them see how a Polar Bear (or a penguin or a seal or any other freezing Arctic animal) might feel. Once you are done with the first child, I carefully slip the fat covered glove off and have the next child slip in their fist. It works pretty smoothly.

You can do this as a large group, small group, or even work it in to your choice centers at the messy table or something for less down time for the kids. We did it as a group at the end of the day. How fun!! Now.....go experiment!!

27 comments:

Deborah Stewart said...

That is such a cool learning activity! I am definitely going to have to share this blog post with my teachers!

Deborah Stewart said...

Hi Chelsea - I really love your blog and had the opportunity to share it with others on my Excellence in Early Childhood blog. Please see the post titled "And the award goes to..." on the post I left today!

Anne said...

I can't wait to try this next week!

The girl who painted trees said...

This is a great blog:) Wow!
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com

Amber said...

How cool is that? My son Andrew was in preschool last year and loved it, but when we moved to Virginia this year we had to take him out. It's so expensive here!! Anyway, I'm excited to do things like this with him so he can still learn at home. Thanks!!

Ms. Katie said...

We are also doing Animals in Winter at my school. We are starting this week! I know the kids will LOVE the blubber activity. We turn two baggies into a blubber glove. Check out our blog at elcdolphincommunity.blogspot.com

melonbelly said...

Just stumpled across your blog! LOVIN' IT! :)

Zoe @ Playing by the book said...

I found this post via Itty Bitty Love, and think it is just great. Can't wait to try it with my girls!

Anonymous said...

Is this bad I want to do this mini experiment with my 4th graders who are learning about animal adaptation...I can make them come up with ways to protect the animal in cold areas and have them experiment for themselves

Ed-U-Smart said...

This is such a cool activity. I love it!!! I had to share it on my Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ed-U-Smart/369209026492471?ref=hl

I want to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

Bobbie - Clumsy Crafter said...

This is such a great activity. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I AM SO EXCITED TO FIND THIS AND I'M going to try it with my preschoolers this week:)

Becky said...

That is one pretty cool experiment! Thanks so much for posting. We will soooo be doing this. Now I just have to find some shortening :-)

http://thisfineday.com

TravisAnn Sherman said...

Love this activity! I'll use it during my library storytime. Thanks so much! I've put a link on to your blog on my Squidoo Penguin Storytime page, hope that's OK

Unknown said...

I love this! I am talking about insulators with my older students and I'm going to do this to connect back to natural insulators. Thanks!

Unknown said...

This is such an amazing activity! I'm on my first ever placement as a trainee teacher and I will definitely try this with my nursery/Reception children. You have saved the day. Thank you so much!

Darlene W said...

I do the same thing in my classroom, but I put the crisco between two large ziplock bags. I duct tape the bags together, so none of the crisco can come out. The child puts their hand in "blubber bag" and touches the ice...no mess other than the ice melting, so clean up is fast in a busy classroom :)

Jennifer said...

What a neat little science idea my son would think this is really neat! Great idea on the gloves for clean up as well!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing! We conducted this science experiment in a college education major class. My classmates loved the challenge! I had designed a time challenge chart for students to compete against each other. Also, the students were required to predict how long they could keep their finger in the ice water with and without the blubber. I thought maybe incorporating the book, "Polar Bear, Polar Bear," would be a fun read before starting this activity.

Anonymous said...

Wow Miss Chelsea!!! This is the best experiment me and my three girls have ever done!!! Keep up the great work!!! I hope to see many more experiments better than even this mind blower!!!

With Love,
Jim Carrey

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Ashlee Rolfson said...

I found this blog post about animals in winter to be incredibly fascinating and informative! It's amazing to learn how various animal species adapt to the harsh conditions during the colder months. The descriptions of their survival strategies and behaviors truly highlight the wonders of nature.
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