the blubber mitten experiment was related to which skin layer

Make blubber gloves

Learn about polar animals' adaptations with this experiment!

Extremely cold climates are full of life. What kind of adaptations do polar animals have to allow them to thrive in these environments? Learn about one survival tool with this experiment from the Nat Geo Kids book  Try This! Extreme . 

Assemble a blubber glove by filling a plastic bag three-quarters full with shortening.

Put on your nitrile gloves and insert your hands in two plastic bags: one filled with the shortening and the other empty. Zip the bags as closed as possible and then get someone to help you tape the bags closed around your wrists.

Place your covered hands in the icy water for as long as you can stand. Which hand stays warmer?

Repeat the experiment with different insulating materials, like the packing peanuts, cotton balls, and feathers. Which material keeps your hand the warmest?

WHAT TO EXPECT

Some of the materials placed in the bag around the subject’s hand will prevent cold from reaching her hand better than others.

WHAT'S GOING ON

Fat—even a vegetable-based fat like shortening—insulates animals from cold. So the shortening provides a decent substitute for blubber, the layer of fat that seals , whales , walrus , polar bears , and other marine animals in polar climates have under their skin.

Other materials, such as foam, keep drinks warm because they don’t conduct heat, so the heat doesn’t escape through the sides and bottom of the cup.

By the way, the bucket full of icy water is similar to the temperature and texture of the water around ice floes—where animals like seals and whales tend to live.

Try This! Extreme Text Copyright © 2017 Karen Romano Young

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Polar Bear Blubber Experiment

How do polar bears stay warm with those freezing temperatures, icy water, and relentless wind in the Arctic? What keeps a polar bear warm when its natural habitat is so harsh? This simple but classic polar bear blubber experiment will help kids feel and see what keeps those big guys (and gals) warm! Simple winter science experiments help to shape kids’ minds!

POLAR BEAR BLUBBER EXPERIMENT

To start this experiment, you need to ask your kids a few questions and get them thinking Ask your kids how they think polar bears stay warm when swimming around in the icy arctic water. What about them keeps them warm if they don’t wear clothes like us. Why don’t polar bears start to freeze in the water? Hint: there’s a thick layer of fat included! Brrr…

YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING:

• Large container or bowl
• Lots of ice cubes
• Vegetable shortening
• Two plastic baggies (Ziplock Bags)
• Food Coloring (optional)

HOW TO SET UP YOUR BLUBBER EXPERIMENT

Before you begin, you may want to pair this lesson with the scientific method . You can use this with younger and older students with simple alterations that you can read about here .

Check below for another option to extend the learning or to lessen the mess!

STEP 1. First, you need to fill a large bowl with a good amount of ice and water. Add blue food coloring if desired.

STEP 2. Next, have your kid place his/her hand briefly in the water. It’s cold! There’s no need to linger in the water for safety.

STEP 3. Now, for the messy part, fill one plastic bag with shortening.

STEP 4. Have your kids place one hand in another bag and the other hand inside the blubber/fat-filled bag. Seal the tops with duct tape so water can’t get into the bags. Make sure to move the fat around, so it covers your hand completely.

NOTE: For a less messy version, see below!

Fun Fact: Polar Bears have 4″ thick layers of blubber to keep them toasty and store nutrients when there isn’t much food available.

STEP 5. Put the bag-covered hands in the freezing water. What do they notice? Does the water feel less cold or not?

ALTERNATE BLUBBER GLOVE

You can use two gloves with vegetable shortening for a less messy way. For a less messy version, go ahead and cover the outside of one bag with shortening, place that bag inside another bag, and seal everything tightly! This way, your hand stays clean inside the bag, and the shortening is sandwiched between two bags.

This also allows older students to test different kinds of insulators because of the sandwich method. What else can be used between the two layers of bags? This turns it into a true science experiment for kids in older grades. Make sure to write out a hypothesis before getting started. Read up on the scientific method here.

• Cotton Balls
• Packing Peanuts

HOW DO POLAR BEARS STAY WARM?

If your kids haven’t already guessed what keeps polar bears warm, they will have a better idea once they make their own polar bear blubber glove! Blubber or a thick layer of fat keeps them warm. Polar bears are warm-blooded mammals like us! What the heck are they doing in the Arctic?

The blubber also stores nutrients needed for survival in this harsh climate. Learn more about the Arctic with Biomes of the World !

Of course, polar bears aren’t covered in cooking lard like Crisco, but they have their own kind of lard called blubber that helps out. The fat molecules in shortening work in a similar way to that of blubber! However, several special adaptations work together for maximum heat retention.

POLAR BEAR ADAPTATIONS

Polar bears use a combination of fur and blubber to keep warm. Thick fur and thick fat keep these warm-blooded mammals warm in temperatures up to -50 degrees! That’s pretty cold.

They have two types of fur. These bears have long, oily, hollow hairs that help keep water away but also help trap heat. The second type of fur consists of short insulating hairs. These hairs keep heat close to the skin.

Oh, and did you know these magnificent creatures with whitish fur, actually have black skin? This also helps to keep polar bears warm by absorbing the sun’s rays.

Some adaptations include small ears, so the ears don’t get too cold, “sticky” pads for gripping ice, and 42 very sharp teeth for catching their dinner!

POLAR BEAR By Candace Fleming ad Eric Rohman is an excellent addition to your winter theme library. It’s a fantastic mix of non-fiction storytelling filled with engaging text and plenty of good information! (Amazon Affiliate Link) You can also pair this with the research sheet I added at the end of the article.

ARE POLAR BEARS BUOYANT?

What’s under the black skin? The blubber, of course! The blubber is a thick layer below the skin that can be up to 4.5 inches thick! WOW! It now only helps them stay warm, but it also helps to keep them afloat. You can check out this simple buoyancy science experiment to learn more about that!

Blubber is stored up fat. It creates a cozy blanket for the polar bear when combined with different types of fur. It also has another useful property in that it can help provide life-sustaining energy when food sources are scarce. Blubber is important to the life of a polar bear!

ALSO CHECK OUT: How Do Whales Stay Warm?

WINTER SCIENCE ACTIVITY

The winter season is a terrific time to explore different science concepts and keep the excitement of science alive! Learning about animals and animal habitats is always a favorite of young kids. Use this science experiment with small groups in the classroom or with several kids at home!

So next time you want to share something fun with the kids or if you are exploring an arctic unit, break out this polar bear blubber experiment . We will share a few more fun facts with you about how polar bears keep warm, and this winter science activity is a great hands-on way for kids to feel it as well.

You may also want to make a polar bear puppet or a paper plate polar bear craft !

Read below the activity for a bit of science behind the chilly fun, and see how polar bears brave the elements in style. Oh, and make sure your kids know that polar bears and penguins don’t hang out together!

Learn what role polar bears have in the food chain .

FREE Printable Winter STEM Guide

More fun and easy winter science activities can be found here.

MORE FUN ICY ACTIVITIES

Printable Winter STEM Pack

Even if you don’t live in a snowy winter climate, there are many ways to explore the season!

WHAT’S INSIDE?  You’ll find 250+ Pages of Winter theme projects for science, STEM, and art!

• 25+ winter science activities  and STEM projects for kids that are easy to set up and fit into the time you have available, even if it’s limited!  NEW:  Activity observation sheets .

• Pingback: Winter Snow Storm In a Jar Science Activity for Kids
• Pingback: International Polar Bear Day – TeachersFirst Blog

Is there something we can use as a substitute for shortening? Because our schools is remote learning parents have to have any supplies we need available in their homes. I worry this may not be a pantry staple for all our families.

Hmm, butter is not going to be as good and may be more wasteful than picking up a tub of sshortening. Other than that maybe someone else has a good idea and can reply to you!

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Last updated by Linda Kamp on December 10, 2022 • 3 Comments

Arctic Animal Adaptations: Blubber Science Experiment for Kids

In this post, I’ll show you a simple and fun blubber science experiment for kids as they learn about arctic animal adaptations. It’s easy to do in the classroom and demonstrates how arctic animals adapt to their environment.

Arctic Animal Adaptations

When teaching second graders about habitats and ecosystems, we spend a bit of time learning about adaptations; ways plants and animals adapt to their habitats to survive. This simple blubber experiment demonstrates how arctic animals stay warm in their icy water habitats.

Blubber is a thick layer of fat just under the skin of all marine mammals. It covers the entire bodies of animals like polar bears and penguins, whales, seals, and walruses. These mammals have adapted to live in cold waters. They survive because their blubber acts like insulation, trapping their body heat in.

The science behind it is pretty simple: The further the blood is from the skin’s surface, the less body heat is lost. Blubber creates a thick, protective layer, much like a blanket,  that provides a barrier between the animals’ blood and the surface of its skin.

Blubber Science Experiment for Kids

This activity is really a demonstration. It recreates the layer of fat that keeps an animal warm. During the demonstration, students compare the cold they can feel with and without wearing a “blubber glove”.

To get started, you will need a few inexpensive items that are readily available at any grocery store.

Blubber science experiment & lab sheet source: Habitat s Science Unit

Materials per small group of students:

• 3 gallon size Ziploc bags
• 1 can of shortening
• large cup of ice
• large bowl or bin
• metal spoon for scooping shortening
• student lab sheet

Prepping the glove:

I recommend preparing the blubber glove ahead of time using the following steps.

1. Fill a gallon zipper bag about 2/3 full of shortening.

2. Place your had inside a second, empty zipper bag and carefully push it into the bag with the shortening.

3. Holding the top edges of both bags, roll the top edges of both bags over about an inch.

4. Tape down the fold with duct tape to seal the shortening inside between the two bags forming a “glove”.

5. With your hand inside the glove, press and smooth the shortening to distribute it as evenly as possible around the center bag. The inner bag should be surrounded by shortening.

Demonstrating the Adaptation

Conduct the test by first having students describe on their lab sheet how the materials are used to replicate blubber. Once students finish, they start by placing their hand inside the bowl of ice water.

Next, students place their hand inside the blubber glove and into the ice water again.

Students compare what they feel and document it on their lab sheet. Lastly, students explain in writing on their lab sheets how the shortening insulated their hand from the cold temperature of the water comparing it to the way blubber keeps an arctic animal warm.

This blubber science experiment video by Steve Spangler science gives a visual on how to prep your glove.

CLICK HERE   for an in-depth, ready to use unit on Habitats and Ecosystems for second grade.

This comprehensive, 3-week unit includes a 7-lesson teaching PowerPoint, experiments, science journal, and much more.

Click here to see the entire 2nd grade series.

I hope you’ll try this simple blubber science experiment for kids as your students learn about habitats and arctic animal adaptations. Be sure to pin this post for later so you have it when you plan!

Find more high engagement science activities for kids in these posts:

Hands-On Properties of Matter Activities & Experiments

Habitats Activities for Second Grade Scientists

Milk & Cookies and the Scientific Method

Happy teaching!

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May 22 at 10:25 pm

Great ideas! Keep it coming please! Thank you!

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I’m Linda Kamp, a 20 year primary grade teacher with a passion for creating educational materials that excite students and make learning fun! I'm so glad you're here!

Kid World Citizen

Activities that help young minds go global

The Classic Blubber Experiment, to Learn about Arctic Adaptations

February 11, 2013 by kidworldcitizen 4 Comments

The Classic Blubber Experiment

The scientific method:.

• Ask a Question
• Do Background Research
• Come up with a Hypothesis (Educated Guess!)
• Test your Hypothesis in an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results (from ScienceBuddies )

1. Ask a Question:

How can animals survive in the extreme temperature of the Arctic and Antarctica regions?

2. Do Background Research:

There are many animals that spend time in the frigid waters of the Arctic and around Antarctica that have a special layer of fat called “ blubber :” whales (narwhals, belugas, orcas etc), seals, sea lions, elephant seals, walruses, polar bears, and even baby penguins. The blubber is right under the skin, and acts as an insulator . This means it holds in the warm-blooded mammals’ body heat, even when they are swimming in icy cold water as low as 40°.  Read about blubber and more in the National Park Service’s excellent article that details specific arctic animals and their adaptations to the extreme weather.

Blubber is a layer of fat. If we try to mimic the layer of fat that arctic animals have, could we protect our hands from freezing snow?

3. Come Up with a Hypothesis:

We think that our homemade blubber ( Crisco shortening !) will protect us from the cold temperatures from the snow. We think we can keep our bare hand on the snow for 1 minute and our hand protected in the blubber for 2 minutes in the snow.

4. T est your Hypothesis

To see if blubber would work for us, and insulate our heat, we replicated the classic blubber experiment. We scooped a bunch of Crisco into a baggie, and then put another baggie inside for our hand (to “protect” your hand from the greasiness- though feel free to just put your hand right in the shortening!). Smoosh and spread around the Crisco so you have a nice layer of blubber- fat- surrounding your hand. I have seen it where people use ziploc bags, and connect them so that no Crisco escapes- and I would recommend that if you are doing it with 20 wiggly preschoolers:).

Place your 2 hands (one protected, the other bare) on snow, or in a bucket of ice. Using a timer, see how long each hand can last in the cold temperatures. Here’s our chart:

5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

All of the kids could have stayed outside longer with the blubber mitten, if only we were dressed for the cold:). So in conclusion: blubber works!!! Of course, the blubber only protects the part of your body it is touching! My kids said “ it’s perfectly warm! ” “ I can’t feel the snow at all, ” “ We should make snowsuits out of this! ”

6. Communicate Your Results

We reported back to our family that blubber really helps animals stay warm when the weather is freezing cold. Everyone wanted blubber mittens when we played in the snow that week:).

Extension Activity:

Here is an excellent activity from National Geographic on Arctic Adaptations that includes a video and worksheet. It suggests that it’s appropriate for grades 6-8, but younger children can most definitely do the activity with their parents.

If you’ve got cold weather this time of year, make your own blubber mitten and see if you can break our records!:)

By Category

February 14, 2013 at 1:24 am

I love this Becky! I’m pinning it to try in our homeschool. Too bad we’ll have to use a bucket of ice instead of real snow – It looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

February 15, 2013 at 10:09 am

Love this – what a fab idea to make a difficult concept ‘real’ for young children. Thanks so much for adding this to the outdoor play party this week.

February 17, 2013 at 6:18 am

Thanks! Great science experiment to take advantage of the snow if you have it! Otherwise use a big bucket of ice!:)

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December 29, 2011

How Animals Stay Warm with Blubber

Explore blubber biology with Science Buddies

By Science Buddies

Key concepts Temperature Heat transfer Adaptation Insulation Fatty tissue

Introduction Have you ever wondered how whales and other marine mammals survive and keep warm in the cold oceans? Warm-blooded mammals can live in these chilly conditions because their bodies have some cool warmth-saving adaptations, thanks to generations of natural selection.

In other words, to pass on characteristics (via their genes), the predecessors of modern marine mammals had to overcome different challenges to reproduce, and their descendants received the genes that allowed for their survival. This kind of change in organisms over time is what fuels evolution. An important adaptation for marine mammals is blubber, a thick, insulating layer of fat beneath the skin that helps to keep body warmth in and the cold of the air or water out. Will a layer of fake blubber—in the form of shortening—help you keep from getting cold?

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Background Mammals that have evolved to live in cold waters, such as whales, seals, sea lions and polar bears, commonly have a layer of blubber. Whether they are living in cold waters near the North Pole or around Antarctica or are visiting the deep ocean, these animals' blubber is vital to their survival. During the winter, the air in the Arctic (the northernmost part of the world) is often below –40 degrees Celsius (–40 degrees Fahrenheit). Antarctica, the coldest place in the world, can be below –60 degrees C (–76 degrees F). Depending on the species, whales dive more than 400 or 500 meters (about one fourth of a mile) deep in the ocean, where the water can be colder than 12 degrees C (54 degrees F).

Blubber helps these marine mammals from getting too cold. (Cold-blooded marine animals, such as fish, sharks or crabs, do not need to stay warm and can let their body temperatures get closer to that of the water. Thus, they do not need to have this extra insulation.) Blubber is a thick layer of fat (adipose) tissue. Animals store extra digested food in the form of adipose tissue, which contains molecules called lipids. Adipose tissue has a relatively low thermal conductivity, which means that it does not transfer heat as well as other tissues and materials—such as muscle or skin. That way, it helps to insulate an animal's body.

Materials •    Two bowls •    Cold water •    Warm water •    Ice cubes •    Shortening (such as Crisco) •    Paper towels •    Stopwatch •    Thermometer •    A partner Preparation •    Put an equal number of ice cubes into each bowl without filling either bowl too full. Add cold water to each bowl. •    Measure the temperature of the water in each bowl with a thermometer. They should be the same temperature. When the temperature levels off (which should happen quickly), the water is ready for the test. Procedure •    Cover your pointer finger on one hand with a thick layer of shortening, covering the entire area that will be submerged in the water. Leave your other pointer finger clean and bare. •    Have your partner prepare the stopwatch. When he or she is ready, put the pointer finger of each hand into one of the bowls of ice water and have your partner start timing you. As soon as your finger feels too cold to keep it in the water any longer, take it out. How long did you leave each finger in the bowl? •    Let your fingers warm up and return to their normal color. If any shortening came off of the covered finger, reapply it. •    Have your partner help you pour the cold water down the sink and refill the two bowls with warm water (make sure it is warm but not hot enough to burn the skin). •    Measure the temperature of the water in each bowl with a thermometer. They should be about the same. In the warm water, do you think you'll see the same result? •    Have your partner time how long you can leave each finger in the bowls of warm water. How long did you leave each finger in the bowl? Was the time difference between the two fingers larger or smaller than when you put your fingers in the ice-cold water?    •     Extra: How consistent are your results? You can repeat this activity two or three times, recording the temperature of the different waters tested and the time each finger was in the water. Then make a graph out of your results. In which environment did the shortening "adaptation" consistently give an advantage? Observations and results When you dunked your fingers in the ice-cold water, did the finger covered in shortening stay warm longer than the finger that was not covered? Was there not as large a time difference when you put your fingers in the warm water?

Mammals that have adapted to live in cold waters—such as polar bears and whales—can stay warm largely because of their blubber, a thick layer of blubber. The blubber is evenly spread over much of their body, just as the shortening in this activity covered the surface of your finger in a thick layer. Since adipose tissue has a relatively low thermal conductivity, it does not transfer heat well compared to other tissues and materials. Humans have developed some insulating materials for our own daily use. For example, Styrofoam is another material that does not conduct heat relatively well, whereas metals conduct heat very well. This is why hot drinks are often served in Styrofoam, since it keeps the heat inside the cup, thus preventing your hands from being burned. (For the same reason, it can also keep cold drinks cool longer than, for example, a paper cup.) What other materials can you think of that work as insulators?

More to explore Sink or Swim: Muscle versus Fat from Scientific American Blubber from National Geographic Education Is Muscle a Better Insulator than Fat in Cold and Heat? from MadSci What Are You Blubbering About? from Science Buddies This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies

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How marine mammals stay warm

Wear a “blubber glove” and plunge your hand into an ice water bath to investigate the insulative properties of blubber..

Please find a printable PDF of this activity  here .

• Blubber is important for most marine mammals, such as whales and seals. The thick layer of fat provides insulation from cold ocean temperatures.
• Blubber is also important because it stores energy that can be broken down to provide the animal energy when food is unavailable.
• Weddell seals live in Antarctica and can have more than 2 inches of blubber. Considering their massive weight of 400-600 kg (880-1320 lbs), that could be up to 240 kg (530 lbs) of pure blubber.
• Bowhead whales live in Arctic waters and can have 43-50 cm (17-20 inches) of blubber, thicker than any other whale's blubber layer.
• 3 gallon or quart size zippered plastic bags
• 1 large container of lard or shortening
• 2 large containers of ice or ice water
• Optional : Heavy rubber kitchen glove

Instructions

• Scoop fat into two of the zippered plastic bags. Spread the fat inside the bag so that it fills the bag and is about 1 inch thick. Seal the bags.
• Lay one bag on top of the other and tape three of the sides together making a “mitten."
• Slide the mitten into the third bag with the open side of the mitten facing out of the third bag.
• Put the mitten into one of the containers of ice, or ice water.
• Put one hand into the mitten and put your bare hand into the second container of ice.
• Optional : Use a heavy rubber kitchen glove can for the bare hand. If a lot of people are doing the activity this will help keep the demonstration area dry.
• Use a thermometer to measure the temperatures over time, with and without the mitten, and graph the results.
• Predict results and test mittens with different thicknesses of fat.
• Predict results and test mittens with different materials for insulators.
• Investigate the thickness of different marine mammals blubber and make models showing the actual thicknesses.

Related resources

• NOAA Education marine mammal resources
• N OAA Fisheries: Find a species
• Ocean Today: Whale anatomy (video)