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Overview:
Emperor penguins are the largest penguin species and the only penguins that spend the winter on the Antarctic ice. They breed in the winter and hatch one chick at a time. In order to feed her chick, a mother must travel up to 50 miles to the open sea to find fish, which she brings back to the colony and regurgitates for her chick. Meanwhile, the father incubates the egg and keeps the chick warm once it hatches. Later, when the chick is bigger, both the mother and father must go to the sea for food.
Emperor penguins face several dangers along their journey to the sea, including leopard seals and difficult ice crossings. The latter problem has been exacerbated in some places recently, as several enormous icebergs have wedged into the ice that was already there and made the penguins' trip even longer and more arduous than before.
Students will read the National Geographic News article Ice Buildup Hampers Penguin Breeding in Antarctica to learn about the problems caused by these icebergs. They will see photographs of icebergs moving over time and write one- to two- page papers pretending to be scientists reporting on the status of emperor penguin populations.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, life sciences
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"
Time:
Two hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
Objectives:
Students will
- view and discuss photographs of the Ross Ice Shelf;
- view pictures of and sketch emperor penguins, leopard seals, and Antarctic ice;
- read and answer questions about an article discussing the impacts of ice buildup on penguins;
- see pictures of icebergs changing position along the Antarctic coast;
- discuss the icebergs' potential and actual impacts on penguin colonies; and
- write brief reports pretending that they are scientists reporting on the status of emperor penguin populations.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Have students look at the Xpeditions atlas outline map of Antarctica. Ask them to locate the Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Island. Explain that an ice shelf is a permanent, floating piece of ice that is attached to land. The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest in the world, about the size of France.
Explain that Ross Island is an island that is frequently surrounded by sea ice. Have them look at this image of the Ross Ice Shelf and read the accompanying text to see the relationship between the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf, and Ross Island.
Development:
Ask students to think about how the shape and condition of the Ross Ice Shelf, and other ice shelves in Antarctica, might impact the animal life on this continent, including that of penguins. For example, how might changes to the size of an ice shelf affect penguins' ability to obtain food? Tell students that they will be learning more about this topic in a few minutes.
Have students go to the following Web pages to look at pictures of coastal Antarctica. As they look at the pictures, ask each student to sketch an adult penguin, a penguin chick, a leopard seal, and a picture of the Antarctic ice.
National Geographic: Creature Feature—Emperor Penguins
[Note: students can watch the video, too, if your Internet connection is not too slow and if the computers have RealPlayer or Windows Media.]
McClarens Abroad
Australian Antarctic Division
PBS: Under Antarctic Ice
(notice the ice in the center; penguins are skilled at crossing ice like this)
Have students go to Enormous Icebergs Imperil Penguins Heading For Antarctica Breeding Grounds, scroll down a little bit, and link to "Images" on the right side of the screen. Ask them to look at the images as you provide this description:
- These images were taken in the same area of the Ross Ice Shelf that you saw earlier.
- Notice that the first five images were taken from December 2000 to February 2001—about a two month period. The last image is from December 2001.
- The dark areas are water, and the white areas are ice. The ice at the top is land, and there are many icebergs floating in the water.
- Icebergs B-15 and C-16 can be seen in the first photo (December 11, 2000). B-15 is enormous—it is the size of Cyprus, an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean which you can locate on a map.
- Notice how both icebergs change position over time. B-15 moves in from the left and wedges into the land. C-16 changes position and becomes "stuck" in the ice that increases over time.
- By December 9, 2001, there is a lot more ice, and both icebergs are right up against the land.
Explain that penguin colonies live on the land shown in the upper parts of these images. Ask students to describe how the penguins' access to the sea would have changed over the period of time when these pictures were taken. They should realize that the penguin colonies living on this land would have had a harder time reaching the sea in the later photos.
Have students read the National Geographic News article Ice Buildup Hampers Penguin Breeding in Antarctica and answer these questions, either in writing or in a class discussion (if they answer the questions in writing, discuss them afterwards). Make sure students realize that this article discusses the same area as the pictures they just viewed.
- What happened to the penguin colonies, and why?
- Penguins are good at climbing, jumping, and walking over ice. Why is this new ice such a big deal for them?
- Why do scientists think the ice was so extensive?
Are these penguin colonies doomed? What might happen in the future?
Also point out that when icebergs butt up against land in this manner, they not only create larger distances for the penguins to cover, but they crush the ice and make it much more difficult (and sometimes impossible) for the penguins to walk and jump over.
Closing:
Discuss the difficulties that penguins might face now that the iceberg has moved into place against the land. Explain that the penguins in the area shown in the photographs have had some serious hardships. Many of them have died, and they have raised far fewer young than in the years before the icebergs arrived.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have students pretend to be scientists who work in Antarctica and report on the status of penguin populations in the Ross Island area. Ask them to write one- to two-page reports describing how recent changes in the ice have affected emperor penguin colonies.
As an option, have students include a map with their reports showing the location of the icebergs and the approximate area where the penguins would live. They should sketch this map on their own paper, using information from the images that they have seen in this lesson.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students conduct further research into the topic of how global warming events, such as the formation of new icebergs, have affected penguin colonies. Ask them to look for the latest news and research on this topic and to compile their findings into written, oral, or multimedia reports entitled "Global Warming Reaches the Antarctic" (or a similar title).
This material is based on work supported by the National Science
Foundation under Grant No. 0229817.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the National Science Foundation.
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