Lexington School District One


Penguins!


Penguins are flightless birds that live in the southern hemisphere!
Click the photo above to view a map!

Move your mouse over the right photo to learn fast facts about penguins!

All 17 species of penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere. Penguin wings are paddlelike flippers used for swimming. Penguins avoid being eaten by polar bears by living in separate hemispheres! There are three main kinds of penguin calls: contact, display, & threat The emperor penguin is the largest of all living penguins, standing 1.1 m (3.7 ft.) and weighing 27 to 41 kg (60-90 lb.). Penguin feathers are short, broad, and closely spaced, helping to keep water away from the skin. Tufts of down on the feather shafts contribute to the insulative properties of the feathers. Penguins do not fly! They use their wings (called flippers) to propel themselves through water rather than air. The smallest of the penguins is the fairy penguin, standing just 41 cm (16 in.) and weighing about 1 kg (2.2 lb.). Penguins eat krill (a shrimplike crustacean), squids, and fishes. As many as 5,000 penguins will bunch together to warm each other up! Penguins drink salt water. Penguins preen their feathers frequently. Feathers must be maintained in prime condition to ensure waterproofing and insulation. A nest of eggs is called a clutch, and with the exception of emperor and king penguins, clutches usually contain two eggs. (Emperor and king penguins lay a single egg.) Penguins are birds. They have feathers, beaks, wings (which they use as flippers to swim), & scaly feet. Penguins keep warm by insulation provided in layers - under the skin is a thick layer of blubber, then there is a layer of downy feathers that trap air, and finally another layer of waterproof feathers that keep the cold water away from the skin. Photos of Penguins! On land penguins habitat varies from the cold icy Antarctic (Emperors and Adelies) to the hot coastal deserts of South America (Humboldt) and even to the equatorial Galapagos Islands (Galapagos penguins). Penguins spend 75% of their time in the cold ocean currents of the southern hemisphere! The black backs of penguins are difficult to see from above against the dark seas, while the white fronts make them hard to see from below against the light sky. The black & white color of penguins provides camouflage when the birds are in the water. Predators of penguins in the ocean include some sharks and seals (especially leopard seals) and killer whales. A penguin's body is built for the most efficient swimming with their average speed in the water being about 15 miles per hour. The average lifespan of penguins is probably 15 to 20 years. Penguins lay one or two eggs, though usually only one chick is reared. The only time penguins are airborn is when they leap out of the water.

 

   


Adelie Penguin

Research Penguins

Choose one of the 17 species of penguins to research. Penguin Species
Use Inspiration to organize your facts. Share your information with your classmates!

 


Fairy Penguin

Draw & Describe A Penguin!

Draw an original picture of a penguin.Write a description of your penguin, a penguin poem, or a fun penguin story!

 

Lesson Ideas & Activities
Penguins Around the World
Three lessons: Penguins Around the World, A Penguin Is A Bird, Favorite Penguin
Penguins In Education
Ideas for K-12
Little Explorers (Enchanted Learning)
Penguin Quiz and Printouts
Kidzone Penguin Activities
Penguin Planet Kid's Corner
Penguin Word Search, Penguin Quiz, Penguin Mask
Emperor Penguins
A National Geographic Creature Feature (Facts, Video, Audio, & Map)
Penguin Web Quest
Student worksheets included!

 

Read Books About Penguins!
After reading several books, make a graph showing classroom favorites.
Book List
Little Penguin Finds His Way Home (from SeaWorld) Story & Lesson Plan

Penguin Internet Resources

Penguins - A SeaWorld Education Department Resource - Excellent for general penguin information

Penguins Around the World - Click on the map to learn about penguins in areas of the world!

Pete and Barb's Penquin Pages - Information and photos of all 17 species of penguins and more! Be sure to look at the "For Teachers" page for classroom ideas!

Monterey Bay Aquarium - Penguin information plus a web cam!

Antarctic Connection: Penquins - General information and photos

Animal Profiles: Penguin - Short, concise information about penguins

Kidzone Penguins - Facts, photos, classroom activities

Penguins in New Zealand - Frequently Asked Questions (Are penguins birds? Do they fly? Do penguins have fur or feathers?), Species Information, Threats, Conservation, and more.

The Wonderful World of Penguins - Facts and photos of several species of penguins, graphics, clipart

Antarctic Penguins (Adelie and Emperor) Photos and sounds of these penguins plus FAQ

Emperor Penguins - A National Geographic Creature Feature (Facts, Video, Audio, & Map) Emperor Penguins are the largest of the 17 species of penguins and live in Antarctica.

Jungle Walk: Penguins - Video, Audio, Photos, Internet resources

Penguin Web Quest - Student worksheets included!

Photos/Graphics: Pics4Learning; Wonderful World of Penguins

Maintained according to Lexington County School District One Internet publishing guidelines
 B. Burkett, S. Herndon, and J. Geanangel  © 2004 All rights reserved.

Penguins live in the southern hemisphere!