March of the Penguins Field Study Research Report…
Sounds Fancy Doesn’t it? Read the note at the bottom of the page before reading the directions. You
might also want to familiarize yourself with the vocabulary section as well before you read this next
paragraph.
As you watch the film, March of the Penguins, I want you to take on the role of a field ecologist.
Ecologists study the community structure and role of organisms within an ecosystem so you should be
looking for different examples of how penguins live and participate in their communal population. You
should be looking for roles or jobs individual penguins adopt within the population and how they
interact with other members of the population as well. Look to answer the following questions as you
observe penguin behavior in the film:
 How do the penguins interact with members of their own population?
 How do the penguins interact with members of other populations?
 Are there any roles that specific individuals take on within the population?
 How or to what extent do penguins share resources or responsibilities (goods, space,
services) with members of their own populations? Other populations?
 How do mates care for their young (and each other) within the population?
 Do there appear to be emotional bonds to members of the population?
 Do they participate with their population or members of their population in any kind of
rituals (or instinctual habits)?
 How do they meet their energy requirements? How or to what extent do they help
other members of the community in regard to energy needs?
After you watch the film and observe, I want you to report on the physical, social, and emotional
structure and function of the emperor penguin population depicted in the film. Identify how individual
roles within the population serve to strengthen the population as a whole (discuss the niche of specific
penguins in their population). Discuss the impact of other species on the penguin population (both
positive and negative). Use specific examples from the film to support your ideas. Include in your
report a discussion of things that surprised you or that you thought were interesting about the film or
penguin populations in general.
Ecology Vocabulary to be familiar with (and use in your report if you want to sound scholarly):
1. Organism- a living thing
2. Individual Species- an organism of a specific type that can breed with members of its own
species and produce viable (able to reproduce) offspring.
3. Population- a group of one type of species in an ecosystem.
4. Community- all of the populations in an ecosystem.
5. Ecosystem- a physical region consisting of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components
6. Ecology- the study of ecosystems
7. Niche- an organism’s role within an ecosystem
*Note: I am not looking for an ELABORATE work of literary genius…Keep it simple and answer the
questions in paragraph form…you will probably at least fill a page hand written….more than 2 pages is
probably overkill…but if you want to overkill feel free. If you want a minimum passing grade, just answer
the questions in the bulleted section above. This will be a grade.
Due Date: 1/22-23...DO NOT TURN THIS INTO THE SUBSTITUTE!!!