Editing Polar Bear Glove (section)

== Why This Works ==

Some animals, such as polar bears, live very far north or south in extremely cold environments. In these environments, the animals need to be able to keep warm to survive, so they often will have a thick layer of fat under their skin. This ''Fat Insulation'' helps their bodies keep heat in, while also keeping the cold out. This is because fat does not conduct heat very well, so the warmth inside a polar bear's body cannot travel well through the fat. Likewise, this means that the cold outside the polar bear cannot affect much below their fur, so the polar bear is able to stay toasty warm all year round.

When a student puts their hand into the ice water, their body heat is quickly lost through their skin into the water. This is because we don't need a thick layer of fat on our bodies to stay warm, so we have very little fat insulation. When the student does it again with the glove, they find that their hand doesn't get cold nearly as quickly, if at all. This is because the shortening in the glove works similar to the fat on a polar bear, and keeps the cold from the water out while keeping the warmth of their hand in.