Study Adélie Penguin breeding

From November to January, classrooms take part in a virtual field study of Adélie Penguins as they breed, brood and rear their chicks in Antarctica. Photos of selected penguin families from Cape Royds Antarctica are posted to the website for students to follow on a daily basis. Weather data, event journal and background information about penguins is also provided. Students keep a field notebook gathering and analyzing their own data about each penguin family using the same process of the field biologist. This real time, long term activity provides students a window into the harshness of Adélie penguin life and the work of field scientists. Predation, competition and environmental challenges all affect the penguin’s ability to raise chicks. Witnessing these events themselves helps students begin to understand the world around them and the remote location of Antarctica. This project offers a real time daily field experience with outcomes we cannot predict.