After focusing on trees this fall, first graders learned about animal adaptations, hibernation, and migration patterns in December. “In the tree unit, we talk about why trees lose their leaves and go dormant,” says Primary Assistant Teacher Annabel Chase. “Talking about dormancy with plants and trees is a good segue into learning how some animals also go dormant or hibernate.”

Focusing primarily on New England animals and fauna, first graders learned about differences in how local animals survive the winter. They discovered that hibernating animals, like chipmunks, groundhogs, and ground squirrels, undergo physiological changes to survive the winter months as their body temperature and heart rate decrease to conserve energy. Some birds and other animals go through a period of dormancy called torpor, where they have regular body temperature and activity during the day but save energy at night by reducing their body temperature and metabolism. Students were surprised to learn that bears, one of their favorite animals, are not true hibernators. They gear up for winter by eating an enormous amount of food and going into dormancy. Then, during the winter months, they experience periods of wakefulness where they move around and eat some more. 

The class listened to The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration by Sandra Markle to learn how and why animals migrate. The bar-tailed godwit migrates all the way from Alaska to New Zealand every fall! Students paced out the journey on the classroom globe and their world map rug to appreciate the distance. New England’s most familiar migrators are the Canada goose and the mallard. Each student colored and cut out a Canada goose and placed it in a “V” formation in the Primary School hallway to mark their migratory journey. 

Finally, students learned about animal adaptations, including migration and hibernation, and some other physical adaptations that help animals survive the winter. First Graders watched a 4H video produced by Cornell University that explains how some mammals, like reindeer and beavers, grow thick or extra winter coats for the winter while others, like polar bears, have a double layer of fur plus and an additional layer of thick blubber to keep them warm. Budding first grade ecologists were fascinated to learn that bats and snakes “huddle” together to conserve warmth in the winter, and many amphibians have a unique glucose mix in their bloodstream that acts like an antifreeze, helping them survive in subzero temperatures!