Skip to Main Content
Lesson Plan Image

Penguin Parade

Line up for a penguin parade! Students will learn about various penguin species and create an accordion-folded display.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Heavy Paper
  • Tape

Steps

  • Step 1

    Ask students to describe things they know about penguins. They might say, for example, that they are flightless birds that usually live in cold places. Explain that there are 18 different species of penguins and that some of them live in temperate zones, and one species--the Galápagos penguin--lives near the equator.

  • Step 2

    Have students look at images of various species and note some of the characteristics. For example, the chinstrap penguin has a black band from its eyes to its chin; the little blue penguin of Australia/New Zealand, also known as the fairy penguin, is very small with a blue head and upper body; the emperor penguin is quite large and has a yellow/orange hue on its neck; etc.

  • Step 3

    Ask students to create an accordion-folded parade of penguins. They can cut strips of heavy paper that they tape together then fold backwards and forwards to create an accordion look. On each folded section they will draw an illustration and write a fact or two about the type of penguin they drew.

  • Step 4

    When their art is complete, have students present it to to class and discuss what they learned about various penguin species.

Standards

LA: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

MATH: Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories.

SCI: Observe and compare the many kinds of living things that are found in different areas.

SCI: Analyze a representation of a particular habitat showing the locations and shapes of both land and water features of that habitat and communicate how the land and water support animals and plants.

SS: Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

Adaptations

Have students investigate species of penguins whose populations are threatened or endangered. What are some of the threats to their survival? What is being done to help?

Encourage students to watch a live penguin webcam transmission, such as the one at Monterey Bay Aquarium (montereybayaquarium.org) or the New England Aquarium (neaq.org). Have them review some of the educational info about penguins on those websites.