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Hare & Goat with AIR
Once upon a time there was a farm where in the summer all the young animals played together. Sometimes the children from the house came out to join them. However, on cold wintry days only a few animals came out to play and the children from the house seldom came out.
On one such cold wintry day only the young rabbit, which is also called a hare, and the little goat came out to play. They started to wonder why the other animals, like the pigs, calves and horses and even the children did not come out to play on cold days. The hare said: “There must be something about you and me that the cold does not bother us like piggy and the other animals.” “ Yes”, said the goat. What do we have that other animals do not have?” They thought and thought and finally the goat said, “I got it. It is our long hair. Other animals have hair but not as long as you and I.” “Yes,” said the hare. “It must be the hair.” They were very proud of themselves for figuring this out.
As they were celebrating this discovery the wise old owl came flying down on a nearby branch. The owl said “It is not your hair that makes you warm in the cold winter. “Look at me, I have no hair but keep warm in the winter. Also, what happens to you when it rains or snows on a cold day?” The hare said “I get cold and go into my hole.” The goat said “I get cold and go into the barn with the other animals.” “Yes,” said the owl, “this proves my point.”
The hare and goat asked the wise old own if it was not the hair that kept them warm what was it? The owl said: “It something you have between your hairs and I have between my feathers that keeps us warm. Do you know what it is?” The hare and goat thought and thought and finally the hare said, “There is nothing but air between our hairs.” “That’s it” say the owl, “it is the air between your hairs and between my feathers that keeps us warm. Other animals and even the children do not have such pockets of air and thus get cold. The children just stay inside the warm house or wear layers of clothing that make air pockets when they go outside. The animals stay in the warm barn. Goat and hare, it is not your hair but the air that keeps you warm. That is why on cold rainy or snowy days you get cold. The rain or snow water fills the pockets between your hairs and you do not have any air pockets to keep your warm.” “You are certainly a wise old owl,” said the hare and goat.
For an adult version of how AIR pockets can keep your home warm this winter and help save on energy cost check out the other AIR pages.