We will begin our research project at school. The students are assigned a penguin to study. We find some of the information from fact sheets and books. The rest is completed at home. A project packet goes home at least one week before the project is due. It includes the project rubric, 2 information sheets, a report sheet, and a penguin color page. I also try to send home a copied page on the specific penguin, in case some students do not have access to the internet. (I may change the 2 fact sheets, but these are two I have on file at this time.)

Rubric pdf

1-Fact Chart 1

2-Fact Card 2

3-Report: Large, small, lined paper

4-penguin color page

Directions:

• The information forms do not need to be filled out in complete sentences. These forms are mainly to help prepare for the written report.

• The report does not have to include every single fact on the info sheets, but must be a thorough description of the assigned penguin.

• The picture or drawing needs to show the assigned penguin's markings and special features.

• The student will present their report by reading the written report to the class and showing the colored penguin page. They will also be asked to show the height of their penguin and identify where it is located on a map.

(See the links section for great information & sites)

[back]

For wonderful descriptions of all 17 breeds of penguins, see the following link.

http://www.penguintag.org/species_index.htm--not working :(

another great site: http://www.joyelonlineshopping.com/penguins/info1.htm

King

• height: 32 inches

• weight: 26 to 35 pounds

• Lives: S. Georgia Island, Falkland Island, S. Sandwich Island,       Macquarie Island

• Special Features and Interesting Facts: It is the second largest penguin. It has a teardrop near its ear. Its eggs are pale green.

• Type of nest: It does not have a nest. The mother lays the egg on her feet.

• How many eggs: 1

• Caregivers: both parents pass it back and forth in a noisy celebration

•  Food: Small fish, squid and shrimp

•  Enemies: leopard seals

• Markings: Bright orange ear patches, long pointy beak, bluish-gray back

Little Blue

• height: 14 inches

• weight: up to 3 pounds

• Where it lives: Australia and New Zealand

• Special Features and Interesting Facts: It is the smallest of the penguins. They are known for the variety of calls they use to communicate at sea.

• Type of nest: Digs 5 feet long burrows to nest in, lined with seaweed & grass.

• How many eggs: 2 smooth white eggs

• Caregivers: both parents take care of the eggs

•  Food: sprats and other small fish and squid, crab larvae, shrimp

• Enemies: rats, cats, lizards, snakes, gulls, skuas, eagles and cars

• Markings: Gray-blue feathers, blue beak, white throat, pink feet

Gentoo

• height: 30 inches

• weight: 13-16 pounds

• Where it lives: Antarctica, S. Georgia Is., Falkland Is., Macquarie Is.

• Special Features and Interesting Facts: They steal pebbles from other penguins.                     

• Type of nest: Bowl-shaped nests out of twigs, feathers, seaweed.

• How many eggs: 1 or 2 eggs

• Caregivers: Father cares for egg while mother hunts, then they switch.

• Food: sprats and other small fish and squid, crab larvae, shrimp

• Enemies: rats, cats, lizards, snakes, gulls, skuas, eagles and cars

• Markings: White splotch over eyes, long feathery tail, red beak, pale-pink feet

Galápogos

• height: 18 inches high

• weight: 5 pounds

• Where it lives: Galapagos Island

• Special Features: **Endangered

• Interesting Facts: They live in the warm sea. Most northern species.

• Type of nest: Caves or crevices, or burrows in sandy soil.

• How many eggs: 2 white eggs

• Caregivers: both parents

• Food: Small fish and squid, crustaceans

• Enemies: Sharks, seals, giant red crabs

• What it looks like: gray-black head, cheeks, chink, dark gray-black back, bare skin around the base of bill, narrow white bars on sides of head, joining at throat, white chest with 2 dark bars, pink feet

Emperor

• height: 35 inches

• weight: 60 to 90 pounds

• Where it lives: Antarctica

• Special Features: Its beak has feathers.

• Interesting facts: They huddle to stay warm. They are the largest penguin. They can live for 20 years.

• Eggs: They lay one egg, the mother leaves to feed and the father takes care of it.

• Caregivers: Both parents

• Nest: They do not make a nest. The egg stays safe and warm in the father's brood pouch.

• Food: fish, krill, & squid

• Enemies: Leopard seals & killer whales

• What it looks like: They have a blue-gray head and back, lemon yellow chest, vivid orange cheek patches, purple bill plates, gray-black feet

Black-footed (African)

• Height: 24 inches

• Weight: 8-11pounds

• Where it lives: Southwest and Southern coasts of South Africa

• Special Features: spotted feet, spotted chests are like fingerprints

• Interesting Facts: They sound like braying donkeys.

• Type of nest: built far apart from others on sandy beaches or under bushes

• How many eggs: 2

• Caregivers: both

• Food: krill, shrimp, squid

• Enemies: leopards, seals, gulls

• What it looks like: Black head, back, cheeks, and chin, white bar on sides of head, joining across throat, white chest with black bar across and scattered black spots, pink and black feet and eyes
   

Adélie

• height: 29 inches

• weight: 8 to 10 pounds

• Where it lives: Antarctica

• Special Features and Interesting Facts: Named after the wife and the explorer Admiral D’Urville. Powerful swimmers.

• Type of nest: pebbles

• How many eggs: 2 eggs

• Caregivers: both parents

• Food: Krill, fish, shrimplike crustaceans, zooplankton

• Enemies: Leopard seal, orca, skuas

• What it looks like: black head and back, red beak, white ring around eyes, orange feet, long tail

Erect-crested

• Height: 23 inches

• Weight: 10 pounds

• Where it lives: New Zealand, Auckland Island

• Special Features: yellow crest

• Interestsing Fact: the only crested penguin that can raise and lower its crests (like eyebrows)

• Type of nest: shallow holes on rocky beaches, slopes and ledges

• How many eggs: 2; only 1 survives

• Caregivers: both

• Food: crustaceans and squid

• Enemies: skuas

• What it looks like: Black head and back, white chest, short yellow crests, orange beak, pink feet

Fiordland

• Height: 19 inches

• Weight: 6-9 pounds

• Where it lives: New Zealand, South Island, Stewart Island

• Special Features: yellow crest

• Interesting Facts: Considered the most timid and rare of crested penguins.

• Type of nest: on steep slopes among tree roots, under boulders or in caves

• How many eggs: 2; only 1 survives

• Caregivers: both

• Food: small squids, octopuses, fish, krill

• Enemies: wekas (large New Zealand birds)

• What it looks like: Black head and back, black cheeks with white streaks, white chest, short yellow crests from either side of bill over the eyes, thick brownish-orange bill, pink feet
   

Humboldt

• Height:22 inches

• Weight: 10-13 pounds

• Where it lives: Coasts of Northern Chili and Peru

• Special Features: black bar around tummy with black spots

• Interesting Facts: Biologists are working on conserving the limited number of Humboldt penguins (13,000).

• Type of nest: burrows into soil or guano (poo)

• How many eggs: up to 3

• Caregivers: both

• Food: sardines, squid, anchovies, shrimp

• Enemies: gulls, vultures, seals, toothed whales

• What it looks like: Black head, cheeks and chin, dark brownish black back, extensive bare skin around base of bill, broad white bars on sides of head joining across throat, single bar across chest, scattered black spots on chest, brown brown eyes, black feet, gray bill
   

Yellow-eyed

• Height: 22 inches

• Weight: 12-20 pounds

• Where it lives: Southeastern New Zealand, Auckland and Campbell Islands

• Special Features: Yellow head and eyes

• Interesting Facts: The most reclusive of all penguins. They cannot nest within site of another pair of penguins.

• Type of nest: they build two or three bowl-shaped nests in the ground, lined with grass, leaves and twigs. They build far away from others in large areas that are heavily covered

• How many eggs: 2; both usually survive

• Caregivers: both

• Food: fish and squid

• Enemies: sea lions, sharks, barracuda

• What it looks like: Blue-black back, brown head with yellow band across it and yellow cheeks, yellow eyes, pink feet
   

Snare's Island

• Height: 19 inches

• Weight: 6-9 pounds

• Where it lives: New Zealand, Snare’s Island

• Special Features: yellow crest

• Interesting Facts: Only breeds on Snare’s Island. It is the only penguin to roost in low trees.

• Type of nest: shallow hole in the ground lined with twigs and branches

• How many eggs: 2; only 1 survives

• Caregivers: both

• Food: krill, shrimp, squid

• Enemies: sea lions, seals

• What it looks like: Black head and back, black cheeks with white streaks, white chest, short yellow crests from either side of bill over the eyes, thick brownish-orange bill, pink feet
   

Illustrations

by

B. Harmon

Royal

• Height: 24 inches

• Weight: 11 to 18 pounds

• Where it lives: Macquarie Island

• Special Features: It is the only crested penguin to have a white face and throat.

• Interesting Facts: They spend most of their time in the sea

• Type of nest: shallow hole in the sand or weeds lined with plants and stones

• How many eggs: 2; only 1 survives

• Caregivers: both

• Food: krill, fish, squid

• Enemies: Leopard seals, skuas

• What it looks like: Black head and back, white face, throat and chest, orange-yellow and black crests that meet above eyes, red eyes and beak, pink feet
   

Stonehouse, Bernard. A Visual Introduction to Penguins. Checkmark Books, New York: 2000.

ISBN: 0-8160-4011-7

Schlein, Miriam. What's a Penguin Doing in a Place Like This? Millbrook Press, Brookfield, CT: 1997. 

ISBN# 0-7613-0003-1

January - Making Books with Pockets
Item number EMC584.
Published by Evan-Moor. 

ISBN# 1557996989

Habitats - ScienceWorks for Kids
Item number EMC859.
Published by Evan-Moor. 

ISBN# 1557996881

Teaching Heart Penguin Unit Page

Penguin Vocabulary

Waterford Press  

(cute stuff!)