Penguins

1. Penguins

2. History Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that are highly adapted to life in the water. Their distinct tuxedo-like appearance is called countershading, a form of camouflage that helps keep them safe in the water. Penguins do have wing-bones, though they are flipper-like and extremely suited to swimming. Penguins are found almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, where they catch their food underwater and raise their young on land.

3. Main idea The reason I’m doing research on penguins because I think they are very smart.

4. New discoveries In Antarctica, home to the famous emperor penguin, the annual sea ice melting season has extended by as much as 3 weeks in recent decades. Less ice means less habitat for penguins and the loss of critical food, such as shrimp-like krill, which depend on polar ice to reproduce. The penguin that is currently most threatened by climate change is the African penguin. Most African penguins live on islands off the coast of Africa and feed on a rich supply of anchovies and sardines that follow a nearby current of cold water. As the oceans heat up, this stream is moving further away from their island home. These penguins will only swim up to 25 miles away from their homes, so if the current moves much further they will not be able to reach their food source. This affects the penguins because they are endangered. This made my research easier because I know penguins are endangered.

5. Relevance to your life • This research applied to my life because someday I want to save a penguin. • Future developments will affect penguins by building reserves for penguins to keep them safe. • The advantages about knowing about penguins is we can take the information about penguins and use it to help penguins.

6. Vocabulary • Aquatic- highly adapted to water • Countershading- camouflage that keeps them safe in the water • Young- baby animals

7. Websites www.defenders.org/penguins/basic-facts