How DO Humans Keep Warm in the Winter?

If there's only one animal you see in your neighborhood this winter, it's sure to be a human. Whether you are wearing gloves or mittens, boots or snowpants, be sure to wear The Hat to keep warm in the chilly weather. Warm up your brain between December 16, 2013 and January 5, 2014 with the Winter Learning Challenge.

Discover

• Observe the people around you. Do they wear scarves? Hats? Boots? Track what people wear in cold weather, then graph your findings to show which item of clothing people wore the most. BONUS: Do this activity on a few different days. Record the temperature on each day. Do people wear different clothes when the temperature changes?
• Practice dressing for winter by dressing up other kids on this virtual coloring page.
• Investigate how Inuits survive in the Arctic, risking their lives for mussels under the ice.
• In winter, the days get shorter until the winter solstice, which is The Shortest Day of the year. This year, the shortest day of the year will be Saturday, December 21. Track how quickly the day length changes. Use the Farmer’s Almanac or check the newspaper to find out sunrise and sunset times.

Create

• Look up at the night sky. Did you know that depending on the time of year there are different constellations visible in the night sky? In Chicago it can be hard to see some of these constellations because of light pollution, but you can make your own constellation projector out of an oatmeal container.
• Want to make a scarf or hand warmers? Create a knitting spool using a toilet paper tube, popsicle sticks and tape.