More penguins, more penguins!!! This time Adélie penguins!
So this journal is brought to you by:
- Bailey Station 4th grade APEX
- Mrs. Trotz and her 2nd grade students at Grahamwood Elementary
- Becky Shimp and her St. Edwards Middle School students
- Mrs. Gillespie and her 5th grade SPARKS students at St. Ann
- Diana Conroy and her 3rd grade students at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School
- Carolyn Logan and her 1st grade students at Jackson Elementary
- Debra Parr and her 4th and 5th grade students at Holy Family School
A Closer Look at … Adélie penguins
Adélie penguins are here on Ross Island. I was surprised at how small they were - when compared to the Emperor penguins. Emperor penguins are can get to be about 4 feet tall while Adélies are around 2 feet. The closer I looked, the more curious I became.
You Are Not Cleared for Take-Off
Some of them looked as if they wanted to fly.
Looking closely at their feathered bodies, I began to wonder why? Penguins are birds. They lay eggs. They have beaks, feathers, and wings, but they do not fly.
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Penguins spend much of their time in the water. They have solid, heavy bones that act as weights to help them go under water. Birds that fly have hollow, air-filled bones that make them light enough for take-off.
My Puffy Suit
Some Adélies look all puffed up. They are the ones that are a little cold and are trying to get warm. Under their feathers is their warm skin. Puffing up the feathers so they are fluffy, traps warmed air between their skin and the feathers.
Think about how a down jacket works to keep you warm. Down is the small, fine, fluffy feather. These feathers fill the jacket and make it puffy. You stay warm because those feathers keep your body heat inside the jacket. When you take off the jacket, the inside will still feel warm for a while because those feathers have trapped your own body heat. My jacket contains goose down feathers. I am warm. This is my puffy suit!
Check out my Feathers!
Feathers are insulation from the cold. Contour feathers are the outer feathers that you see on the Adélie. They give the penguin its shape and color. They are packed closely together and are waterproof. Under these stiff feathers is the penguin’s soft downy coat. The contour feathers even have little bits of down at the base.
Feather Fact
I learned an interesting feather fact today: There are more feathers on a penguin than on a flying bird of the same size. Penguins have mostly short, stiff feathers that overlap like shingles on a roof. They are packed tightly together.
Try this!
- Get a piece of paper, a pencil and a ruler.
- Draw a square one inch by one inch.
- Now fit 100 feathers into that space. You can just use dots to be the feathers!
When you are finished, take a good look! You have drawn one inch of an Adélie penguin. They have about 100 feathers per square inch.
All About Feet?
Adélie penguins use their feathered wings like paddles in the water. I have seen them sliding on their bellies tobogganing and have watched their webbed feet crunching the snow and ice. They have big, sharp toenails. They don’t have feathers on their feet.
Questions popped into my brain: Do their feet get cold when they are standing around? Can their feet freeze? Why aren’t their feet giant ice cubes? Here’s a hint to find answers: Look at the color of Adélie feet.
Got Cold Feet?
By observing Adélies when they first come out of the water and when they are walking, I noticed they have pink feet. When standing still, their feet look whitish. Why is there a color difference?
Penguins do not sweat so, to keep from getting overheated, they control how their blood flows through their bodies. When a penguin exercises, its body heats up. It is using a lot of energy and blood is flowing into the feet making them look pink. When just standing, the feet are whitish because that heat is sent to warm-up the rest of their body.
So the answer is: No ice cube feet! Adélies have an incredible way of regulating their body heat. Their arteries and veins work like a heat exchange by moving warm blood and cold blood through their bodies. The temperature of penguin feet stays above the freezing point.
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