3 4 20 emperor penguins (science)

H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN


by Stephanie Cohen

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Joe LeMonnier
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Johnny Johnson/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes. 1 © Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures.
2 Hans Reinhard/Photo Researchers, Inc. 3 National Geographic/Getty Images. 4 Hans Reinhard/Photo Researchers, Inc.
6 © DOUG ALLAN/OSF/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes. 7 Hans Reinhard/Photo Researchers, Inc. 8 © Frans Lanting/
Minden Pictures. 9 © Kevin Schafer/CORBIS. 10 © Johnny Johnson/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes.
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Printed in China
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02163-8
ISBN-10: 0-547-02163-1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 RRD 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08


Parent Time
It is June in Antarctica. The region
is very cold. The sun won’t shine much
for months. But the Emperor penguins
are busy. It is time for the penguin
mothers to lay their eggs. The penguin
fathers will help care for the eggs.
Emperor penguin parents work as a team

to care for their eggs and chicks.

2


Emperor penguins spend
most of their time
in the water,
looking for food.

Fun Fact
The smallest penguin
is the little blue, or
fairy, penguin. It is
only 12 inches tall.

A Big Bird
The Emperor penguin is the largest
penguin. It can grow to be four feet tall.
That’s as tall as a six-year-old child.
3


Keeping Warm
During the summer, penguins eat a
lot. By the time winter arrives, they have
a thick layer of fat. It keeps them warm
in this cold climate. The penguins’
feathers help keep them warm, too, but
not overheated.

The penguins march across the
ice, looking for a place to lay their eggs.

4


Fun Fact
There are 14 different
kinds of penguins. All
North
America
of them live south
of
the Equator, on the
bottom half of Earth.
Equator

Europe
Asia
Africa

South
America
Australia

Where the penguins are

SOUTHERN OCEAN
Antarctica

Where’s the Nest?
The mother penguin lays only one
egg. She can’t build a nest to shelter the
egg because there are no twigs, mud,
or grass in Antarctica. She lays the egg
right onto the cold ice.
The first part of her job is done. She
goes back across the icy wilderness to
find food in the water.
5


A Good Father
Now something unexpected happens.
The father cares for the egg until it
hatches. He rolls it onto his feet. Then he
covers it tightly with a flap of skin. The
egg will sit in this safe, warm spot for
two months.
The colony of father penguins works
together to stay warm.
They form a tight
bunch to protect
their eggs from
the cold.

The father never
leaves the egg. He
can’t eat or swim.

6


Gliding helps the penguins move faster.

A Chick Hatches
The baby chick finally hatches. It’s
time for mother penguin to come back
to her family. She must feed her chick.
It’s a long trip back. She will be gliding
along the ice to get home fast.
By now, the fathers are skinny, dirty,
and hungry. They hurry to the water to
eat. They will feast on fish and krill.
7


Fluffy Feathers
The baby chick has gray, fluffy
feathers. As he grows up, the baby
sheds these fluffy feathers. He grows
waterproof feathers. They keep him
warm and dry.
A grown penguin has black and white feathers.

8


Fun Fact

Rockhoppers, chinstraps,
and macaronis are all
types of penguins.

This baby doesn’t
have his waterproof
feathers yet.

Baby Grows Up
The chick needs constant protection
by his parents until the summer. By
then he has a thick coat of small, shiny
feathers. He must now take his first
steps to growing up.
9


It is time for the growing penguin to
go into the water. He has to learn to find
his own food. In five years, he can have
a chick of his own to keep safe.
The young penguin is now strong enough to be
on his own. His parents have done a good job!

10


Responding
Word Builder
Make a word web about a cold climate.

Copy the web and add more words that
describe what you might find in a cold
climate.
TARGET VOCABULARY

snow
cold
climate

Write About It
Text to World Penguins live in a cold
climate. Write a paragraph that tells how
they survive in the cold. Use the word web
and text to help you write.

11


TARGET VOCABULARY

climate
colony
constant
gliding
layer

overheated
region
shelter
unexpected

wilderness

Infer/Predict Use clues to
figure out more about the selection.
TARGET STRATEGY

Change the last letter of this word to r
and it becomes something that makes you hot.

12


Level: J
DRA: 18
Science
Strategy:
Infer/Predict
Word Count: 597

3.4.20 Build Vocabulary

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02163-8
ISBN-10: 0-547-02163-1

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