penguins

During the month of January, Ms. Diane Gagne's first grade class, at Cleveland Elementary School, studied penguins. Ms. Gagne began the unit by doing a KWL (Know Already, What We Would Like to Know, What We Have Learned) chart to see what the children already knew about penguins.

The students then began studying penguins to learn about their habitats, what they eat and where they live. The class also did a science experiment to learn about how a penguin's feathers are waterproof. As a culminating activity, each student worked on a project at home with his or her parent about a specific penguin.

All seventeen types of penguins were covered with these projects. The students came up with wonderful ideas for their projects. Some created posters, booklets, and models, some of which depicted life-sized penguin representations!

Each child then orally presented their penguin project to the class. The unit was very informative for the students and their parents, who helped to gather information with their children. Ms. Gagne was very pleased with the results of the science unit of study on penguins.