Some days are winners and some are days the kids can't sit still and it's like trying to herd a can of worms! Today we started our second week of our Polar Regions unit. I suppose I had one too many videos for the girls to watch. I think I was clued in when I heard them ask is this almost over! Ha Ha It was interesting to us adults, but I think it was a bit long for them to sit through. The highlight of the day was our experiment on why the ocean doesn't freeze solid. This was the second experiment we have done like this. We did a similar one last week. The girls all wanted to stick their finger in the water and see how long they could stand to leave it in there. Silly girls! Tee Hee.
We began by learning about the magnetic and geographic North Pole.
We learned about the ARCTIC WOLF
Why doesn't the ocean freeze solid?
Look is that frost forming?
The girls had so much fun learning that salt lowers the freezing temperature of water. What I think they really had fun doing though is sticking their finger into the cccold water and seeing who could stand it the longest. Some times kids find things to be extremely fun and educational that adults find ordinary. Just another aspect to use to learn by. Using all our senses whenever we can really brings the learning home!
Why are the oceans salty?
How cccold is that water?
We decided learning about latitude and longitude would be a good fit for this unit so we started out watching this video clip. It kept the girls in fits of giggles and it is pretty funny!
Latitude and Longitude explained.
Arctic Wolf howling.
Arctic Wolf babies.
A few more resources we used that you might be interested in.
You can find more ideas on my Homeschool pinterest boards here and here. Also here and here you can find maps on latitude and longitude and the compass rose.
You can find a few more videos I have pinned here.
Hope you have as much fun as we are having learning about the Polar Regions, Polar Explorers, arctic animals, latitude and longitude and where the North Pole really is located.
Today we began our unit on the Polar Regions. WOOT! WOOT! We began by learning of some of the explorers to Antarctica. NO, polar bears do not live at the South Pole, but penguins do! They were also amazed to learn how tall Emperor Penguins are. FORTY-EIGHT INCHES! Now that is TALL as far as penguins go! Plus they weight upwards of 70 lbs. Now that is one BIG bird! (((Shivers))) An Emperor penguin would tower over McLarin and would be eye to eye with Raylee.
After learning how big they are I'm not sure I would want to come face to face with one.
The girls cut strips of paper and glued them together. Then they measured 48". This is the height of an Emperor Penguin!
As you can see if McLarin came face to face with an Emperor Penguin it would be taller than she is!
An Emperor Penguin would be about the same height as Raylee.
Breanna and Raylee doing the Contental Slide.
An experiement to see how arctic animals stay warm in frigid waters.
We covered what an ice shelf is and how icebergs are born. The girls looked over a printout of the various ice shelves of Antarctica. Our printout listed twelve and there was one we learned about that wasn't even on the printout.
We had to have a brain break or two since it was a rainy day today. The girls seemed full of energy so we had them watch a video clip of Sid the Sloth doing the Continental Slide. They had to mimic his moves!
Using crisco as blubber. Gracie thought this was disgusting! lol
Every one had to try the experiment we did to see how animals stay warm in frigid waters. The girls were amazed that once they added the crisco to the bag and put their hand into the water again their hand stayed at a comfortable temperature.
There was a lot of hand washing going on at our house today! All the girls except Gracie had to try this experiment out! We did it over......and over.......and over........and over!
Even the littlest had to have a turn!
Our experiment to see if melting ice raises the sea level. So far it's stayed the same.
The girls had a discusion about what kind of polar animal they would be and what they would eat. They all had a big laugh trying to figure out what a group of penguins is called. McLarin said waddle and Breanna thought maybe grouper. After voicing their guesses they learned a group of penguins is a "Colony." I still think calling a group of them a waddle would be pretty cool! I mean they do waddle when they walk you know. We had a lot of fun today during our first day of our Polar Regions unit. You might be interested in some of the resources we used.
