Hibernation and Migration (KA & KB)

The kiddos have been doing lots of learning about what animals do in winter! They are always so engaged and we have learned many interesting facts. So far, we have covered hibernation and migration, and just started learning about adaptation. 

We learned that hibernation is when animals store up body fat and then go into a long, deep sleep for the winter. Their body temperature drops, and their heartbeat and breathing slow down. We know that groundhogs, bats, bees, snakes, frogs, and skunks all hibernate. And found out that bears are not true hibernators and go into something known as “torpor” where they sleep and wake periodically all winter. The kiddos made some fantastic bears (as seen on Seesaw) to go with our story Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson.  

Next, we learned about migration. We know that this is when animals start to feel the seasons changing and move to a different location for the winter. We learned that caribou, butterflies, and many birds are migrators. After going through pictures of birds we see here in Saskatchewan that migrate- we decided to be pelicans and role play! We learned that pelicans migrate to Mexico and thought that was a pretty good idea. We started in the movement room and pretended to shiver. We could tell the seasons were changing. We pretended to look around for food but the ponds were freezing and we couldn’t find any fish or frogs to eat; so we decided to form a “V” just like the ones that birds fly in. We flapped our wings like birds and pretended to migrate as we skipped around the movement room. The “pelicans” were getting visibly tired so we “flew” back to our classroom. I told them we had made it to Mexico where it was warm and where we’d find food! The “pelicans” looked around the room to find bags of fishy crackers! They then sat down and ate their well-deserved snack! 

KA

KB

Stay tuned to hear about our adventures in learning about adaptation!