Fun in the Tundra

The first two weeks of the new year have been really COLD in Virginia. I figured with all this cold and the snow still outside it was a good time to study the Tundra. We did several fun activities to learn about the Tundra and the animals that live there. One experiment we did was to put shortening in a plastic bag, then put our hands in a plastic bag. First we put our hand in ice cold water to feel how cold it was, then put our hands in the shortening bag and feel the water. The shortening represented the blubber on an animal and we were so surprised to see that we really couldn't feel the cold water through the shortening. Another activity we did was to make trading cards of 16 different animals that live in the Tundra. We also did this little experiment that has a tasty result at the end. This is a bowl layered with jell-o, chocolate ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. The jell-o represents the permafrost layer of soil, the chocolate ice cream represents the soil, and the vanilla represents the snow.

As we let the "snow" melt, we saw that the melted snow mixed with the "soil" to create mud, but it did not penetrate the layer of jell-o that represented permafrost.

Then, we each enjoyed our own layered treat, complete with animals in the snow.

Also for this unit, we read the book "Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner and made our own sled dogs out of construction paper, buttons for eyes, and yarn for fur. It was a great book and the kids have really enjoyed learning about all the different animals of the Tundra and how they adapt to the extremes in weather.