As RD continues his lessons on Habitats, he is now learning how animals live and adapt in certain environments. During our last class, he learned about the word “camouflage.” He learned that certain animals change color in the summer and winter months to be able to blend into their surroundings to keep safe from predators. He is also learning about how animals and plants live and survive in their respective habitats.

In conjunction with his lessons, we did an experiment on how animals keep warm from the cold. As I was explaining this, he quipped, “Good for us, we have houses to keep us warm from the wind and rain, and coats to wear when it’s cold.” Indeed!

For the experiment, we needed a bowl filled with ice cold water, two thermometers, two plastic bags and some cotton. We filled the bowl with water and ice, then put two plastic bags on either side.

Then, I asked RD to put cotton in one of the bags. I explained to RD that the cotton represents the fur on an animal’s body.

Then, we got our two thermometers and read the temperature on each one, while RD recorded the  temperature in his book.

Then, I asked RD to put the thermometers into the bags – one in each bag.  The thermometer in the bag without cotton, we labeled Thermometer 1. The one in the bag with cotton, we labeled Thermometer 2.

After waiting for a minute, we checked the temperature on the thermometers, and RD recorded them in his book.

This is the result of our experiment:

I asked RD to make a conclusion on our experiment, and this is what he said, “The fur on an animal’s body keeps it warm. If they had no fur, it would be veeeerrry cold!” Well said, RD.  🙂