HAPPY FEET: Penguins in Mathematics

Elaine Young

(361) 825-2819

Elaine.young@tamucc.edu

http://sci.tamucc.edu/~eyoung/

Read the book: discuss penguins as flightless birds (feathers) and icebergs/Antarctica as their environment.

Making ten – Blue paper (ocean) with two white (torn edges) icebergs on one side and three icebergs on the other side. Give each child a blue paper and a baggie of ten penguin counters. Tell them to put the penguins on the icebergs (observe how the children share the penguins between two icebergs). Ask children to share their distribution of penguins and record as number sentences. Confirm that 5 + 5 =10 or 4 + 6 = 10, in each case equaling ten. Ask if there is any other way the penguins can live on two icebergs. Keep asking until all arrangements are recorded. Ask the children how they know they have all the ways to make ten. Have the children discuss whether 2 + 8 and 8 + 2 are the same or different.

Now have the children turn their papers over and distribute the penguins among three icebergs. Observe how they naturally distribute them the first time (10 cannot be divided into 3 parts equally). Encourage the children to explore and find all arrangements of making ten with three addends. Make the point that there are lots of ways to make ten.

Now put all the penguins on one iceberg and tell the children to have one penguin “go swimming in the ocean”. Ask how many penguins are still on the iceberg. Have two penguins go swimming and ask how many are left.

Temperature integers – Introduce thermometers as measuring tools for temperature. Discuss common temperatures in your region and classify them as cold, cool, warm, and hot. Tell the children that temperatures in the Antarctic are very cold and often are below zero. Have the children discuss what it means to have a temperature below zero. Have a volunteer color in the mercury on a thermometer for a given temperature. Pair up children (positive and negative temperatures) and have them find the difference between their temperatures and record this as a number sentence. Shuffle the pairs to model subtraction of integers with the same sign and with different signs.

Wind chill and Heat Index – During the 1940s, Paul Siple and Charles Passel, renowned Antarctic explorers, performed pioneering experiments that measured the time it took 250 grams of water to freeze in different temperature and wind conditions. A member of Admiral Byrd's first Antarctic expedition, Siple spent a total of six years performing research at the South Pole. It was on his third expedition that he and Passel conducted the experiments that resulted in the equation used to determine the wind chill index. In 2001 the formula was changed to better mimic conditions at the height of a human face (5 feet) rather than the original 33 feet.

BOOKS:                                                        AUTHOR:

Tacky the Penguin                                      Lester

El Pinguino Taky                                         Lester

Tacky in Trouble                                          Lester

Three Cheers for Tacky                              Lester

Tacky and the Winter Games                    Lester

Tacky and the Emperor                              Lester

Tackylocks and the Three Bears               Lester

Pinguino Pedro                                            Pfister

365 Penguins                                               Fromental

Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice Metzger

Math Learning Center – penguin counters

The Math Learning Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the education community. They sell a bag of seventy-five 2.5 cm-tall plastic black and white penguins for $11.00. Call 1-800-575-8130 or download an order form and send it via fax or mail.

http://mathlearningcenter.org/store/product-923906.htm

Mathematics & Children’s Literature – hundreds and hundreds of books separated into grade levels and mathematical topics with links to lesson ideas. http://sci.tamucc.edu/~eyoung/literature.html

More penguin information and activities:

Sea World                 http://www.buschgardens.org/infobooks/Penguins/home.html

Penguins around the world http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/penguins/main.html

Penguin CAM          http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_splash/splash_cam.asp

National Geographic

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0101/penguins.html

Antarctic Connection

http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/penguins/index.shtml

Penguin FAQs         http://www.penguin.net.nz/faq/faq.html