Penguins!

Another week has flown by! On Monday we learned about our first penguin, the Rockhopper. Rockhopper penguins live in the Falkland Islands. They are about 18 inches tall and weigh 5-6 pounds. Rockhoppers have red eyes and yellow feathers that stick out from the side of their heads. They have orange beaks and feet. Rockhopper penguins lay two eggs but only incubate one. The students measured string and cut it the height of Rockhopper peguins. They also added together the weights of cans to figure out how heavy a Rockhopper penguin would feel.

King penguins were our focus on Tuesday. King penguins live on South Georgia Island.They are beautiful with their yellow and orange chest and head feathers. We found out that Kings are a lot bigger than Rockhoppers. King penguins are 36 inches tall (3 feet) and weigh 30 pounds! They lay only one egg every two years because they care for their chicks until they are 13 months old. The students meared the height of the King penguin with string.

On Wednesday we discussed penguin predators and made an Antarctic food web. We had a really great class discussion on the importance of krill as a food source.

Thursday we sorted characteristics of the Rockhopper and the King Penguins. We also played a math game similar to old maid only it was called help, a skua.

The Little Blue penguin was introduced on Friday. It sure is cute! The Little Blue Penguin lives at the bottom of Australia and New Zealand. People in those regions like to watch the little blue come to shore. Little Blue penguins look exactly as the sound. They have bluish-grey feathers, yellow eyes, and pink feet! Little Blue penguins are 16 inches tall and weigh 2-3 pounds. They lay two eggs in burrows that they dig for their nests. Little blues are even smaller than Rockhoppers.

Next week we are going to learn about three more penguins and seals. It should be pretty exciting.