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DIY Polar Bear Blubber Glove!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Jan 3, 2020 | STEM
The average winter temperature in the Arctic is -30° Fahrenheit. During the short summer months, temperatures usually hover around 37° to 40°. Seems freezing most, but it’s home sweet home to the Polar bear species.
Just how do those adorable Polar bears manage to keep warm in such extreme conditions? Could it really just be their fur?
Here’s a hand-on experiment to uncover how this species can bear the cold, as well about some facts about these kings and queens of the Arctic.
Supplies Needed:
- A large bowl filled with water and ice cubes (perhaps food coloring)
- Plastic baggies
- Crisco shortening
- Duct tape
First, in microform, recreate the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean. Add lots of ice and water to a big bowl. Polar bears live in countries that ring around the Arctic Circle: Canada, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Greenland, and Norway.
Next, have the kids dip their hands into the bowl. (Let’s not linger too long, however). Pretty freezing, right? Now, think about swimming around in those chilly waters with a big fur coat.These arctic mammals have a double-coat of fur, similar to a husky dog. The outer layer is made up of long, oily “guard” hairs, which help polar bears get dry as quickly as possible. These hairs are actually transparent, or clear. It’s the reflection of the sunlight that makes them appear white!
Dry off those little fingers. Open up one of the baggies and fill it with the Crisco. (This can get messy but makes for a fun sensory activity.) Crisco shortening is essentially a fat that takes solid form in room temperature. It’s is used in baking sweets and frying foods.
Insert another baggie inside the Crisco baggie. Move the “fat” around to make sure that the inner baggie is covered.
Slide your child’s hand inside the dry baggie inside the Crisco baggie and secure with tape, almost like a little glove or mitten.
Now have the kids submerge their hand into the icy water. Feels very different with that fat layer of protection!
The Crisco shortening represents a Polar bear’s blubber, or fat layer, found under its skin. Blubber can be up to 4 inches thick. It acts as an insulator to the Polar bear’s body. An insulator is a substance that does not let heat out.Blubber, paired with a thick skin and double layers of fur, keep Polar bears warm and stabilized all year through. Polar bears’ skin is actually black. The dark color also helps to keep warmth inside.
Stay warm this winter - just like your Polar bear friends!
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Summertime Tie-Dye Beach Towels!
Let's bid farewell to Summer in style by creating tie-dye beach towels with the help of the color wheel, rainbow order, mixing, and pigment strength. Set up the activity in the comfort of your backyard, and don't forget to grab some gloves and plastic coverings if you aren't on grass.
What you'll need
- Spray Tie Dye Kit
- Duct Tape
- Beach or Bath Towels
- Warm Water
- Twisty Droppers
- Color Wheel
Tie-Dye Beach Towel Materials
This activity works best with the widely available spray tie-dye kits. They dry faster, making the application easier for even the youngest beach-goers.
Grab white beach or bath towels (the fluffier, the more color-absorbent), lots of duct tape, hot water for mixing the tie-dye, and the spray kit.
Lay your towel out on a flat surface, smoothing it out. Spell out your child’s name across the towel using the tape and moving slowly.
Make it a Learning Experience
Keep the color wheel handy as a guide. It is a great visual tool for classifying spectral wavelengths from red to violet.
Depending on the options available in the tie-dye set you’ve purchased, look at your color wheel and separate your bottles into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.
Next, put on your gloves on a covered surface or grass and mix the tie-dye with the warm water. What colors are made from primary colors? Working from the color wheel, which colors will look best near each other on the towel?
Let the Fun Begin
With those gloves on, let the spraying begin! Be glad you have on gloves! The bottles can get messy fast. If you prefer the traditional route of tie-dying, try using Twisty Droppers! Pigment strength was brought up: how do we intensify the color?
It’s perfectly fine to get spray on the tape. Once the towel is pretty dry, flip it over to spray the backside! Flip back over and allow to dry completely. Wash the towels separately twice, alone in the wash.
The Benefits
- Creativity: Tie-dyeing allows children to express creativity through color and pattern choices. They can experiment with combinations and see how they turn out, encouraging them to think outside the box and develop their artistic skills.
- Fine Motor Skills: This activity involves handling small objects, such as bottles and droppers, which can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
- Science Exploration: Tie-dyeing also teaches children about science concepts like color mixing and pigment strength. They can observe how primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colors and experiment with different dye ratios to water to create varying degrees of color intensity.
- Sense of Achievement: Completing a project, such as tie-dyeing a beach towel, can give children a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. They can use their monogrammed towels as a tangible reminder of their creativity and hard work.
- Bonding Experience: This activity can also be an excellent opportunity for parents and children to bond over a shared creative project, working together to create a unique and personalized item that they can enjoy using for years to come.
Voilà! Monogrammed beach towels created by your color-wheel-savvy children. Enjoy the summer!
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