A Home for a Penguin

1. Future Topics

1.1. To extend this lesson with more life sciences connections, choose different animals and ask students to list what an artificial habitat would have to include for that animal. Examples include: Fish Lion Eagle Ants Frog Monkey Hummingbird Students could also choose their own animal. Student responses should take into consideration the temperature the animal likes to live in, the types of exercise the animal may need (running, swimming, flying), where the animal builds its home or nest (in a tree, in the ground, etc). They should also consider what zoo visitors want (good views) and need (safety from some animals) as well!

2. Key Terms

2.1. problem

2.2. design

2.3. habitat

3. Objectives

3.1. Ask questions and make observations about the problem we want to solve.

3.2. Students will ask questions about what penguins need and read a book and watch webcams to discover items in a penguin’s habitat. Then, they will ask questions about what zoo visitors need. Finally, they will use a scientific drawing rubric to evaluate a drawing of their initial design ideas.

4. Misconceptions

4.1. This unit's misconceptions could be that students do not fully understand what entails a habitat, confusion on the design, test, and improve protocol.

5. Prior Knowledge

5.1. This unit is all about properties of materials, changes in materials caused by heating and cooling, and engineering. In this unit, students will take on the role of scientist and engineer in order to study the needs of penguins and the properties of materials. This knowledge will help you answer the question, 'How can we design, test, and improve our prototype of a penguin habitat?' What do you think we need to know in order to be able to meet this design challenge? What questions do you have about this design challenge?