How do polar bears stay warm? – It’s very cold in the arctic! How do polar bears stay warm with all the snow and wind? 

Items included in your kit: Shortening.

Items you will need from home: a bowl of ice water.

Join Ms. Joanne on Facebook LIVE at 10:30 a.m. to hear a story and do the experiment together!  https://www.facebook.com/Benningtonlibrary/

Directions for experiment if you are doing the program without watching the LIVE show on Facebook:

Week Six – How Do Polar Bears Stay Warm

Add a bunch of ice cubes to a bowl of water.  Stir ice around to make sure water is very cold. Make sure your child’s pointer finger is nice and dry.  Cover as much of the finger in the provided lard as possible. Using the pointer finger from the other hand, have the child dip it in the cold water.  Is it too cold? Now, with the finger covered with lard, slowly dip it into the cold water. See how long they are able to keep the finger in the water.  Do you feel the cold? Now put both fingers in the water.  Which one is coldest?

The lard acts as a barrier to the cold just like the blubber the polar bear has to keep him warm. Did you know that the polar bear has black skin under its white fur to absorb the heat of the sun. Under that black skin is a layer of blubber.

**NOTE**Please freeze the four penguin erasers in a small bowl of water for the next week’s experiment**