Penguins in Education
Here are a few suggestions of questions that students aged 16 to 18 could be asked to
research and report back as well as a couple of suggestions for larger group projects.
Resources: library and internet access.
These questions should tax most students, but give them some fun in finding the
answers.
They could be asked in class, if the necessary textbooks, etc. are available, or the
students could be given time to research the answers on their own and write them up as a
short project report.
 | Find the common and scientific names and give brief descriptions of all the penguin
species.
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| About how long ago did penguins first appear?
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| How deep can penguins dive?
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| How long can penguins stay underwater?
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| What are the main predators of penguins?
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| What is the total population of each penguin species?
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| In which country’s territory do most penguins live?
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| How do Emperor penguins keep warm in the Antarctic winter?
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| How do Humboldt penguins keep cool in the Peruvian desert?
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Here are a couple of suggestions for larger projects – these include a wide range
of skills and are suitable for group projects where the students divide the work up
amongst themselves and then give a presentation to the whole class with their
results.
| Design a penguin exhibit for a zoo –research the environment the penguins will
need, prepare drawings, costings, sort out food supplies, etc.
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| Imagine there is a major oil spill in a region where penguins are breeding.
You must devise and implement a plan to deal with the emergency. Where will you find
volunteers? Where will you find funding? What equipment will you need? How will you train
any volunteers? How will you evaluate the success, or failure of your efforts?, etc.
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