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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

SCI: Design pictorial or graphic representations/models that are useful in communicating ideas. 

SCI: Explore similarities and differences in patterns and use them to sort, classify, communicate, and analyze natural phenomena and change. 

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.