How do Arctic animals survive?

As we explored winter animals, we asked ourselves, "How do animals that live in cold temperatures survive without having houses like us?"

We did an experiment to see how fat helps to insulate animals. 

First the students stuck their hands in icy cold water... Brrrr! 

Then I filled a plastic bag with Crisco and put another bag inside of it to keep our hands clean. 

We submerged our insulated hands in the water and were shocked at how warm they stayed! What a "cool" lesson!