Monday, September 5, 2011

Stay Warm Arctic Animals

What you need:

Large plastic tub
Ice
Water
Ziploc bags
Vegetable shortening


Fill your water table with cold water, lots of ice, and plastic Arctic animals. Let children put their hands into the water to play with the animals. Most likely, they will quickly tell you that their hands are too cold. Talk with them about how Arctic animals stay warm in the icy water because of something called blubber. Explain that blubber is a thick layer of fat beneath the skin of many sea mammals such as whales, seals, and walruses. To demonstrate how blubber helps keep animals warm, fill two Ziploc bags with vegetable shortening. Seal the bags and place them into another Ziploc bag. Have a child slip his/her hand in between the two bags of shortening and close the outside bag around his/her hand. Then have him/her place his/her hand into a tub of icy water. The shortening will act as blubber and keep the child’s hand warm.


Source: Twiggle Magazine

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