Penguin Experiment and Super Bowl SALE!

Thursday was our first day back after an unplanned week long winter break....also known as snow/calamity/too cold days!  

I had to wrap up our penguin unit this week so I had to eliminate a couple activities since we only had 2 days this week instead of 5.  However, there was no way I could cancel our blubber experiment!  I told my kiddos they were going to see what it felt like to be a penguin and they were sooooo excited!  

It's so easy and provides such a clear understanding for your kiddos how blubber keeps penguins warm and able to live in such a cold, harsh environment.  

You just need Crisco, baggies, water, and 2 bowls.  I accidentally forgot the bowls so we used a couple tubs I had at school. 

I asked every kiddo which hand was warmer and if they could even feel the cold water through the 'blubber'.  None of them could and they were shocked!  It really showed them how penguins are able to survive!  

I missed our 100th Day of School yesterday because my mama had surgery on Tuesday and I was able to take her home from the hospital yesterday!  She was soooo ready to go home!  My student teacher did our 100th Day activities and said my kiddos loved them, but since I wasn't there I don't have any pictures this year!  

I wanted to let you know that I am having a Teachers Pay Teachers Sale this weekend to celebrate the Super Bowl!  While my hubby watches the game, I will be shopping!  :)

Click on the picture to go to my Teacher's Pay Teacher's Store!  Everything is 20% off and I just updated my Math Story Problems Pack so it's now more than double the size it was (20 pages to 50 pages) and the price is still the same until Monday!  

Have a great weekend watching football, funny commercials, and shopping!  I will be blogging tomorrow about all that I added to my story problem pack!  It's a steal right now if you ask me!  :)

Prayers and a Science Experiment

I don't usually share too much about my personal life on here, but today I'm making an exception.  My dad has been having trouble with his left eye and we found out 2 weeks ago he had a detached retina and macula.  A detached retina can usually be repaired with very little loss of sight, but a detached macula usually means major loss of sight.  

He had surgery yesterday and we are hoping and praying for a complete healing.  We won't know for about 4 weeks how much sight he will get back.  

I know his health problem is not life threatening and could be so much worse, but my dad is struggling.  My dad is always on the go.  He's not the type to just sit still for long.  He loves to travel and when we go anywhere we are up early and gone all day seeing new things.  He has always taken videos of our trips so that he can sit back and watch them when he retires.  It breaks my heart to think that he might not be able to do that.  

If you believe in the power of prayer, I would appreciate a prayer or two for my dad.  I have absolutely no doubt that God can heal my dad's eye and let his vision return to normal, but I also know that that might not happen.  We are praying for my dad to be at peace and accept whatever does happen.  It's been hard watching him over the last couple weeks and I can't imagine what life will be like if things don't improve...but we have a lot of prayer warriors praying for him.   

Now on to happier things.....

We have ended our unit on penguins and my kiddos had soooo much fun.  They were sad to take home their penguin folders because they thought we were just going to keep learning new things.  They felt a little better when I told them they could go home and tell their families that they are now penguin experts.  

One little boy shouted that he was going to teach his mom!  

To end our penguin fun we did a science experiment.  We wanted to investigate just how blubber keeps penguins warm.  

This is everything you will need.  

This was our 'blubber'.  

We needed two bowls of cold water from Antarctica!  :)

The kiddos put their hands in the bag so they wouldn't get wet... genius for faster cleanup! 

I put blubber in one bag and then put another bag inside of it so the kiddos wouldn't get their hands messy.  They were still a little hesitant to put their hands near all that goop!  

Some of my kiddos were shocked that they couldn't feel the cold water through the blubber.  As they put their hands in the bags I asked them if their hands felt different.  Some were so excited and shouted one hand was cold and one hand was warm!  

After all the kiddos tried it, they wanted my aide and I to do it too.  They didn't believe me that I had already done it.  I thought it was sweet they wanted us to participate too!  

I used Erica Bohrer's Penguin Pack to direct our learning and I highly recommend it.  This pack is full of wonderful activities.  Click on the picture to go purchase it! 

My first graders definitely approved this fun learning pack!  :)