The Blubber Experiment!

Earlier in the week, we did a science experiment to learn how snowy owls are able to see their prey in the dark.  On Thursday afternoon, we did an experiment to learn how polar bears survive in the cold climate of the Arctic.  In studying the polar bear, we read Gail Gibbons book, "Polar Bears." In her book, she describes how polar bears have a layer of fat called blubber that helps to insulate the bears from the cold.  The children were very "curious" about how the blubber really worked.  So, on Thursday, we prepared two bowls of ice,  and two sets of bags. Three of the bags were empty, and we filled the fourth bag with Crisco.  We explained to the children that we didn't have real blubber, but that Crisco was a fat.  Then we had them test the bags to see which set would keep their hands warm.  The set without the Crisco was cold and the set with the Crisco was warm.  Half way through the experiment, our inquisitive children wanted to see how long they could keep their hands in the ice without any insulation.  As you can see from the pictures,they discovered that polar bears need the blubber to keep them warm in the Arctic!