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Hot off the presses: the November Teachers.Net Gazette....

#4318. Blubber Mitten Activity - Insulation from Cold (Demo)

Science, level: all
Posted Fri Jan 9 17:46:58 PST 2009 by Joanne Griffin (collected from Gr. 3 Mailring) (Joanne Griffin (collected from Gr. 3 Mailring)).
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Polar Bears
Blubber Mitten Activity

To find out what it's like to have a layer of blubber to keep warm, try this easy Blubber Mitten experiment. You'll need:

Crisco (or other fat)
2 zipable sandwich bags
A bowl of ice water with ice cubes

Procedure:
Fill one of the zipper bags about 1/3 full of shortening, then turn the remaining zipper bag inside out. Place it carefully inside the bag with the shortening so that you are able to zip the one bag to the other. This creates a "blubber mitten" for you to put your hand in.

Put your bare hand in the bowl of cold water and see just how cold it is!

Next, place your hand in the "blubber mitten" and now place your mittened hand in the ice water. How cold does the water seem with the "blubber mitten" on? Do you think a nice layer of blubber would be great protection against cold? Walrus, whales, and seals also have wonderful layers of blubber which help to keep them warm.