Penguins Mrs. Budde & Ms. Enger’s 2nd Grade Class 2004

Even though penguin food does not sound yummy to us, it is yummy to them. Penguins feed on shrimp and krill. They get the food at sea. Penguins share the food with their babies. The mother throws up the food into the baby’s mouth. Father penguins wait for two months without food. Penguins are close to being extinct because people are putting mercury in the water. -Viola and Alicia

Different penguins have different beaks. The penguins’ beaks look like half a banana. They have different colors like red, orange, black, or two colors. The emperor penguin’s beak is about four inches long. Penguins use their beaks to get fish and krill from the water. Without their beaks they wouldn’t eat. -Kaylee and David

Penguins can live in very cold weather. In the summer it is 20 degrees below 0. In the winter it is 70 degrees below 0. Antarctica is the best place for a penguin to be because it is cold and penguins can live in cold weather. If we spent more than 10 minutes in Antarctica we would get frostbite. -Erich and Malik

Penguins have many enemies like skuas and leopard seals. Leopard seals wait underwater for penguins and they live on icebergs. Skuas roam around looking for eggs. Killer whales are the biggest penguin enemies. Penguins have many more enemies like lizards, sea lions, and sea eagles. -Molly and Jon

Explorers are great people but exploring costs a great amount of money. A dangerous thing about being an Antarctic explorer is that your ship could freeze in the ice. Leopard seals can also attack people. The things we know about icebergs are that people can get trapped in between them or camp on them. The Drake Passage is a famous explorer route. The Drake Passage goes northwest of Antarctica. Explorers explore land, bodies of water, and animals. Explorers bring back a lot of information so we can learn. - Alejandro and Amanda

Penguins, unlike other birds, have solid bones so they can’t fly. This helps penguins swim, float low in the water, and dive deep. Penguins have a short keel bone. Flying birds have a keel bone that is strong and it pushes the muscle that moves their wings. Penguins have flat breastbones. Scientists found many penguin bones a long time ago. -Abby and Emily

Penguins have many different calls. Contact calls are used to find each other at sea. Each time penguins mate they find a new partner. To attract a female mate, most penguins use some form of the ecstatic display. The threat call is used to warn others about predators. All penguins have different calls to find each other. -Allison, Arlena, and Coved

Penguins have webbed feet like little motors to help them swim. Penguins’ feet are black, webbed, and have three toes. Penguins use their feet to swim, waddle, to hold the babies, and to steer like other birds use their tail feathers. They use their strong feet and their beak to get out of the water on slippery ice. Penguins’ feet are far back on their body, which makes them waddle when then they walk. Penguins’ feet are important to penguins because they use them to hold their babies, to swim, and to grab on to the ice. -Erika and Jorden

Penguins have very little nest building material because so few plants grow in Antarctica. Emperor penguins do not make nests at all. They hold their egg in a brood pouch. A pair of Adelie penguins meet at their nests. Gentoo penguins have rock nests. Magellan penguins have holes in their nests and tall grass. Little penguins lay two eggs in their nests. -Alex and William

On the tip of the baby penguins’ bill there is a little tooth. The chick is too small to go out to sea. The Emperor penguin can make only enough milky stuff to feed his chick. As chicks grow they begin to lose their fuzzy gray or brown feathers. Chicks change into grownup penguins. -Jim, Sarvia, and Bethany

Penguins move in many ways. Tobogganing is when penguins slide on their stomachs very fast. Waddling is the way a penguin walks. Porpoising is when penguins “pop” out of the water to breathe while swimming. Waddling can be a funny sight! -Austin

Feathers keep penguins warm. Emperor chicks are covered in downy gray feathers. Young penguins push out the old feathers and grow new ones. This is called molting. Penguins’ feathers are waterproof and this makes them ready to swim. Penguins’ feathers push out in the summer. -Laralynn and Jamonie