We have been having so much fun learning about polar animal characteristics and how they adapt to their environment. I like to pose the question, how to polar animals stay warm? One thing I love to do to show this is the blubber experiment. Have you ever tried this? It’s a simulation of what it feels like to have blubber as an insulator.

Blubber Science

The year I decided to add measuring temperature into the mix. I work at a k-8 school, so we have a middle school science teacher. He loaned my some great thermometers. We started off by talking about temperature, and what it means to be hot and cold.

We had three different tubs set up. One tub was just plain tap water. Tub two was ice water. Tub three was another tub of ice water, but with a blubber bag in it. What is a blubber bag you ask? A blubber bag is a large bag of lard (I use Crisco). I stick a second bag inside the bag if blubber, and my students place their hand in the bag that is in the cold water. The blubber bag helps to keep their hand warm. Here is a picture of the blubber bag and the tubs.