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<< Emperor Penguins focus on community in March of the Penguins. Photo courtesy of Jérôme Maison

You're going undercover! You've been asked to increase civic activity in your community. Today, you'll join an emperor penguin rookery (community) to get some tips on how to do your job.

Learn About It
An emperor penguin community is called a rookery. It is made up of many penguins who live, fish, breed, and raise young together. In many ways, a rookery is like a human community. You've been assigned to study emperor penguins, and other animal communities, in order to bring that information back to make a difference in your own community.

Before you leave, you'll need to prepare for your undercover role. Watch this preview (click on "Trailer") for the film March of the Penguins. As you watch, look for different examples of how penguins live and participate in a community. Think about the different roles, or jobs, that the emperor penguins have in their community. Does it seem like certain penguins are responsible for protecting the rookery? Which penguins are in charge of hatching the young penguins? Are there certain penguins who feed the young? What role will you take when you go undercover? To find out more about the emperor penguins' community, do any or all of the following:

• Visit the March of the Penguins website to find out where you can see the film and many more activities
• Explore the Antarctica Virtual World website
• Check out the Emperor Penguin Creature Feature website

Think About It
Think about your community for a minute. Imagine how you would describe it to another person. What words would you use? Lots of people confuse the word "community" with the word "neighborhood" and think of their community as just the physical place where they live. While the place you live is a very important part of your community, and often influences a lot about it, a community is so much more.

Think of the penguins you investigated. The location of their breeding ground was very important to them—in fact, they traveled many miles to get there!—but would the place have been the same without the way the penguins stuck together in order to survive there?

A community is a group of people (or even animals) who are interdependent. That means that the members of the community rely on each other and provide for each other in some way. The ways in which they provide for each other can include anything from sharing food to caring for the young.

Every member of the community has a special role to play in helping other members of the community. Think about the members of your community. What roles do the various members play? Who benefits, and how?

You spent some time with emperor penguins in a rookery. Lots of other animals also live in communities, but they aren't called rookeries. Visit the following websites to learn more about different animals and their communities. Select a different animal and compare and contrast it with the emperor penguin. Think about the ways in which their communities are the same and the ways in which they are different from each other. Use this interactive tool to help you organize you thoughts.

Creature Feature Archives
Crittercam Chronicles

As you explore, you should be looking for evidence of the following:

• How do the animals interact?
• Do they share anything?
• Do they seem to have assigned roles in the community?
• Who cares for the young?
• Do they have any rituals like the emperor penguins?
• What is the community called? Does that suggest anything about how the community functions?

Do Something About It
Now think about your own community and consider how what you've learned from the penguin and other animals can help you support your own community. Do people in your community have certain roles? Do you? What are some of the things that members of your community do for each other? In what ways is your community similar to a rookery?

• Clean up litter from your street
• "Buddy read" with a younger student
• Help an elderly neighbor with yard work
• Start a "drive" to assist other members of your community or another community (blanket or coat drive, disaster relief drive, fund-raising drive)
• Organize a block party
• Volunteer at a charitable organization in your town
• Offer to babysit a neighbor's child
• Introduce yourself to any new students at your school
• Join a community team or league
• Participate in a community organization such as the YMCA

Younger Xpeditioners: Think about the ways in which your family is like a community. Consider the roles and responsibilities that you have in your family. Do you have certain things that you need to do, like take out the trash or put your laundry in the hamper? What responsibilities do other members of your family have? Think about the roles your family members play in your "home community" and how those roles are related to the larger community. Who is the "mayor" of your family? The police officer? Teacher? Does the same person always play these roles, or are some of them shared? By whom? What roles do you play? How can you contribute more to your home community?

Also, check out some other activities to do by visiting the kids section of the March of the Penguins website.

Older Xpeditioners: There are many community organizations that you might already belong to. The YMCA is a great example of a community organization. Consider a group or club that you belong to that helps the community. In what way does it serve the community? What is your role in those efforts? If you don't belong to one of these organizations, would you like to? Which one, and why?

Penguins aren't the only ones in Antarctica who rely on a strong community to make it in the harsh environment. Polar researchers are also dependent upon one another in their own, isolated community. In what ways is the researchers' community like a rookery? Use the following websites to familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of the researchers:

Your Stay at McMurdo Station Antarctica
Living and Working in Antarctica
Life on an Antarctic Station

Parents: For your children to become active members of the community, it is important to expose them to a variety of experiences where they can be actively engaged in community-centered activities. An excellent way to accomplish this is by modeling community activism and having your children help support the efforts you personally are making. There are many ways in which you support your community. Consider having your child become an active supporter of those efforts, as well.

Another way to support this understanding is by engaging them with stories about people or animals in situations in which community, and the importance of each member's contribution to it, including those of the young—are highlighted. Consider taking your children to a community event or the zoo or watching a film together, such as March of the Penguins, then discussing the lessons you learned together.