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Friday, January 13, 2012

Blubber Experiment

To end our Polar Animal week, I wanted to show the kids how blubber keeps the animals from feeling the cold air and water. So I filled a container with ice water and got some vegetable oil.
Then I filled two small ziploc bags with the oil and sealed them.
I then put those bags inside another small bag and the kids could put their hand inside between the two bags of oil, almost like a glove.
Then they put both hands, one in the oil and one by itself, into the bowl of ice water.
They all agreed that their bare hand was freezing and their hand in the oil was warm! It was a perfect way to show them what I had been teaching them all week -- blubber keeps animals warm!
Another way we ended the week involved a little homework. I asked the kids to bring in a polar animal (stuffed, a toy, or a picture) plus one fact about that animal to share with the class. I do this quite often with my animal units and I must admit that the kids have taught me a few things this way!

**Linking up to Show-and-Share Saturday!**

5 comments:

  1. This is brilliant! I would have never thought of doing this in a million years. Thanks so much for sharing all your great ideas!

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  2. Neat idea! I'm Pinning this to use in the future.

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  3. I have done this before using shortening---I got that idea from somplace else, but it is very much like fat from animals! I did NOT however think to put it in baggies so the kids hands wouldn't get all greasy!! Haha!! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Love that you put the oil in bags - not only is that less mess, but then it doesn't waste the oil!!

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  5. That's right, Lisa! You can pour it right back into the bottle!

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Thanks for taking the time to write! Every single comment makes me smile!