Whales Explore Migration and Flight
/The Whales were busy this week learning more about their migrating animals, comparing the distance each one travels and learning about the special adaptations that allow each animal to make the perilous journey from north to south and back again. We even tried our very best to be one of our migrating animals, the Canada Goose, flapping our wings and honking like mad, we had so much fun!
As we studied and compared, we noticed that of all our migrating animals, birds were the creatures who traveled the farthest - some as far as 12,000 miles in one direction! How do birds fly? What makes them soar? To help answer that question, we had a special visit from engineering expert and Whale dad, Mr. Nate who helped guide us through the essentials of flight, including the concepts of force, lift and drag. We tried on our own “bird wings” and watched as the force of our wings against the air gave us enough lift to register the difference on a scale - wow! We set about experimenting with our own flying machines, making small adjustments to the pitch of the wings to achieve more lift.
Finally, we went outside and experimented with a parachute, watching as the force of the air lifted the parachute into the sky, just like the wings of our soaring, migrating birds!
