Roll and Read (Yellow) 1 2 3 4 5 When they run, they use wings to change direction quickly. Many birds cannot fly! They are called flightless birds. An egg hatches when the inside pecks its way out of it. Female emus can lay up to ten eggs at one time. Have you every traveled to a country where flightless birds live? The of male kakapos booming can be heard from more than four miles away. There bones are heavier than those of flying birds. They have flippers instead of wings. Male emus sit on the nests for about days, until the chicks hatch. Scientists believe that the ancestors of flightless birds could fly. are endangered because of hunting by dogs and cats. Like humans, all birds have a sternum, or breastbone. Many penguins live on and around the frozen continent of Antarctica. Cassowaries are found in the swamps and rain forests of Australia and New Guinea. Scientists also think that flightless birds became flightless because the animals that once hunted them became extinct. Kakapos are parrots found in New Zealand. Ostriches are the largest birds in the world. They live in Africa. You may have seen penguins in an aquarium cuddle and snuggle with their chicks. Cassowaries weigh about 130 pounds. They eat fruit, insects, frogs, and snakes. They have few feathers and are black in color. They weigh about nine pounds. is a flightless bird called the kiwi. It lives in New Zealand. Both parents the nest while waiting for the eggs to hatch. Have you ever watched a penguin or clean and smooth its feathers? This world map shows the homes of many flightless birds. Flightless cormorants have webbed feet and are swimmers. If you roll a 6, choose 1 block to read.
Roll and Read (Green) 1 2 3 4 5 Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. Satellites help scientists study the weather in Antarctica. For emperor penguins, seals, fish, and whales, the climate in Antarctica is just right. Penguins use their bills to preen, or clean and smooth their feathers. They use a radio called an acoustic sounder. But penguins, seals, fish, and whales live there year-round. Weather information from the satellites is sent down to Earth. Scientists will continue to study Antarctica’s climate and what for signs of change. Scientists in Antarctica also study the weather with balloons. The beeping sounds make an echo that tells scientists the wind’s speed and direction. Few people than scientists have been to Antarctica. Some parts of Antarctica have become warmer. In this way they are protecting the animals that make their home there. Each day, they launch the balloons into the air. Antarctica is very windy. It is also very dry. It is a frozen continent covered in ice. Female emperor penguins lay one egg. Emperor penguins spend their whole lives in Antarctica. Radios attached to the balloons record information about the air. Antarctica is so dry that scientists call it a desert. The South Pole is the farthest south that you can go! Soon the is ready to hatch. It pecks at the shell until it breaks. Penguins cannot fly. But they are very good swimmers. Scientists study the weather in Antarctica. The small amount of snow that falls there never melts. If you roll a 6, choose 1 block to read. Roll and Read (Blue)
1 2 3 4 5 Penguins are dark on the back and white on the front. Because those body parts are smaller, emperor penguins lose less body heat. The calcium from the mollusk shells thickens the penguins’ eggshells. Emperor penguins get a lot of attention for being the biggest penguins. Penguins’ beaks have different shapes based on what they hunt and eat. Predators swimming on the ocean surface see black when they look down into the dark water. Emperor penguins also have a layer of fat called blubber. The king penguin is the second largest penguin. All penguins share lives that are tied to the sea and the Southern Hemisphere’s marine ecosystem. The Adelie penguin’s beak is short and stubby for catching krill. Most amazingly, this is the time they choose to incubate their eggs! A rookery is a colony of birds or other animals who have come together to nest and raise their young. The pupil is the black opening in the center of the eye. The smallest penguin in the world is the little blue penguin. Male emperor penguins huddle to help conserve heat. He the egg with his brood patch, which is a warm patch of featherless skin. They build their nests out of pebbles and lay two eggs. A is a tuft of feathers that sticks up from a bird’s head. Instead of making a nest, the little blue penguin digs a burrow in the ground. The inner fluffy part is called down. The down traps air close to the penguin, keeping the penguin warm. Emperor penguins breathe very cold Antarctic air. Magellanic penguins live on the southern tip of South America and the islands around Antarctica. All crested penguins have similar nesting habits. Penguins also cool off by panting, seeking and lying down on the ice. The Southern Hemisphere is the natural home of the world’s penguins. If you roll a 6, choose 1 block to read.