Grayslake Middle School connects with Antarctica scientists
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Some Grayslake Middle School students recently had a connection to scientists studying penguins in Antarctica through an online education enrichment program.
Eighth-grade science teacher Jennifer Ersler had her students participate in Project Penguin, which included exercises such as the children creating handmade postcards featuring the flightless bird and sending them to a U.S. research station in Antarctica.
Project Penguin was tied to the middle school’s science curriculum sections on weather and animals.
“We compared the Antarctic climate to the one in which we live and we were able to identify penguin characteristics (and) classified penguins and other animals of interest, and some of their predators that we also learned about,” Ersler said in a presentation to the Grayslake Elementary District 46 school board this week.
Researchers working through the National Science Foundation have been studying Adélie penguins in Antarctica. The team is stationed near Cape Royds on Ross Island, where the birds spent breeding season from November through January.
One of the researchers, California State University at Fresno chemistry instructor Jean Pennycook, heads the penguin program for students. Participating schools had until Dec. 31 to send the self-addressed, stamped postcards, which Pennycook returned with an Antarctica postmark.
Pennycook is using penguins as an example in translating the research of Antarctica regarding climate change to elementary and high school students. She maintains a website where children viewed photos, read a journal and submitted questions to the researchers for Project Penguin.
Ersler said eight penguin nests were followed in the program. Her students named the penguins in one of the nests, settling on Spinner for the male and Bella for the female.
Another thrill for the Grayslake Middle School students involved creation of a flag sent to the station in Antarctica, where it was planted in front of a camera for viewing on the researchers’ Penguin Science website.
Eighth-graders Veronica Jensen and Rebekah Marassa designed the flag that incorporated penguin images and “GMS.” The flag, mailed before a Dec. 15 deadline, had to be made of fabric that could withstand fierce Antarctic wind.
“My favorite part was working on the flag, even though it took us a couple of weeks and all of our study halls through those weeks,” Rebekah said. “It was well worth it, especially when we got to see it up in Antarctica.”
Veronica said she learned a lot from all aspects of Project Penguin. “It was really fun,” she said.
