Animals

Day 21- Tomato Clownfish

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Day #21 (2/20/2014) Tomato Clownfish

      We spent our first full day in Southeast Asia snorkeling in a gorgeous reef. We were looking for an anemone fish. Most people know the clownfish from “Finding Nemo”, but most don’t realize that there are other species of anemone fish! We had a great time snorkeling and checking out this city under the water. Reefs are amazing places of diversity and color! We did find the fish we were looking for and it was the Tomato Clownfish!

e & e snorkeling

Their range and habitat: West Pacific/ coral reefs

Their length: 3-5 ½”   Their status: common

They are omnivores. (plankton and algae)

tomato clownfish3

  • Tomato clownfish live with a sea anemone.
  • They have a protective mucus to protect them from the anemones stings.
  • Tomato clownfish have one white stripe.
  • A family of tomato clownfish will live in one anemone.
  • Male tomato clownfish will turn into a female when the dominate female dies.

tomato clownfish2   tomato clownfish

 

We just love coral reefs and time passes so quickly when you are immersed in watching all that is happening there. Tomato clownfish and their anemones make up a small part of a huge ecosystem that is rich and wonderful. We must come back here!

-Ellie and Edmond

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, fish, nature, science, wildlife | 2 Comments

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Day #20 (2/19/14) – Guess the Animal

We boarded a plane to Australia and since our plane was late, we’re doing guess the animal today! This was one of the first animals we saw as we headed to our stop for the night! Check out the picture and read the clues. (We are looking for a specific species.)

red kangaroo

 

  •          They are the largest members of their species.
  •          They cannot walk.
  •          They are marsupials!

Who is it?

–Ellie and Edmond

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Visiting the Whales!

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

VISITING THE WHALES OF THE DEEP AT FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY!

We visited one of our most favorite places in Atlanta- Fernbank Museum of Natural History to check out the new exhibit Whales- Giants of the Deep! We’re giving you the top 10 reasons to go see this amazing exhibit!!

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1. You can learn about the whale family! That is one big reunion!

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2. You can see one of the first ancestors of whales! They walked on land by the way!

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3.There are whales floating from the ceiling (another whale ancestor).

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4. There are sharp teeth- really, really sharp!

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5. Dolphins have monkey lips! Whaaaaaaa???

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6. You can learn how whales eat! Who knew they scooped food off the bottom of the ocean!

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7. You can ride the SS Fernbank!

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8. You can touch a whale’s vertebrae!

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9. You can see a REAL Sperm Whale Skeleton and it is HUGE!!!

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10. YOU CAN SEE A REAL SPERM WHALE SKELETON! IT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!

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If you are in the Atlanta area make sure to put Fernbank’s new exhibit on your to do list! We only showed you a few of the many amazing things to discover in the super outstanding exhibit! There may even be a whale heart to climb…

Categories: adventure, Animals, Atlanta, Children, conservation, education, Environment, mammals, nature, science, whales, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK

tamandua adaptations

Welcome Students to this week’s lesson and the Science Word of the Week!

Today’s word is Adaptation \ˌa-ˌdap-ˈtā-shən, -dəp-\

Adaptation is when an animal or plant has a characteristic that helps them survive in their environment better. Adaptations include things such as camouflage, behavioral traits and the structure of an animal or plant!

Adaptations can be learned or inherited.

 Let’s check out some tiger  adaptations!

tiger adaptations

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, education, Environment, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

INTERNATIONAL HIPPO DAY!!

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL HIPPO DAY!! 

e e hippo

We’re celebrating one of our favorite mammals today! Come learn some fun facts about hippos and enjoy a hippo coloring sheet!!

  • Hippopotamuses means “river horse” in Greek.
  • They spend up to 16 hours a day in water!
  • Hippos are herbivores.
  • Hippos can hold their breath for 5 minutes.
  • Their nostrils,ears and eyes are located on top of their heads. They can be mostly submerged with their nose and eyes above water.
  • Hippos sweat a pink liquid to help them keep cool and it acts as  a sunblock when they are out of water.
  • They can eat up to 80 lbs of vegetation a day!
  • They do have large incisors made of ivory.
  • Hippos are very territorial.
  • Hippos can run up to 30 mph on land!
  • There are two species, the hippopotamus and the pygmy hippo!
  • Hippos closest living relative is the whale!

Hippos are amazing creatures. We are partial to the pygmy because they are so cute! There are even hippos who surf in the ocean off the coast of Gabon! Pretty cool!

hippo coloring sheet

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BIRDS OF FEATHER WEEK- BUILD A NEST!!

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK- BUILD A NEST!!

It’s the last day of our Birds of Feather Week! Today we’re sharing three birds who are wonderful architects! The males of these species work hard building and decorating nests to attract a female! Whew- it must be hard work!

 

Male Adelie penguins build nests from rocks. The carefully choose these rocks and if you’re a smart Adelie penguin then you steal the best rocks from your neighbor! Check out this funny video! Cheeky penguin!

Male Hamerkops build nests to improve the lady Hamerkops. The bigger the better is the rule with Hamerkops!

hamerkop  hamerkop2

Male house wrens will build up to 12 nests to impress the females. These ladies must be very picky!

house wren

Lastly the Bower bird decorates their nests elaborately to attract a female! Maybe they should have their own HGTV show!

bowerbird

We just love the way these birds work to attract their mates! Way to go hard working birds and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, Uncategorized, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK- GUESS THE ANIMAL

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK– Guess the Animal

We are featuring a bird for today’s Birds of Feather Week. This one is in honor of the snow storm that arrived at HQs yesterday!! Plus these birds are amazing parents! Tell us who you think it is.

emperor penguin

 

We live in Antarctica.

We are the largest of our species.

The males take incubate the eggs while the females go to find food.

 

Who is it?

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

ELLIE AND EDMOND VALENTINES!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

ELLIE AND EDMOND VALENTINES!

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and we’ve got our color you own Ellie and Edmond Valentine’s just in time to color and share! As always- show us your artwork!

crab valentine

sheep valentine

bear valentine

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, crafts, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK- DAY 2

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK- DAY 2

We loved those Birds of Paradise videos so much that we wanted  to know if other birds have mating dances! The first bird that came to mind was one of our most favorite birds ever! Come check out these fun mating dances!

First up: The Blue Footed Booby! We have a fun Blue Footed Booby coloring sheet below!

Next up: The moon walking Manakin Bird!

Last up: The Andean Flamingo who does a group dance!

Image

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK!

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

BIRDS OF A FEATHER WEEK!

e e birds

This week during our travels we’re celebrating Valentine’s week with Birds of a Feather. We’re off to find birds with elaborate mating rituals and those that mate for life. We’re also going to have our popular color your valentine cards! First up- Birds of Paradise. These amazing birds live in the untouched rainforests of Papua New Guinea. They are amazing looking birds come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Birds of Paradise are most famous for their mating dances and rituals which are extremely elaborate and complicated! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has done some great field work with these birds!  We can’t top these videos so we’re posting some of our favorites! Anyone out there want to try their hand at the Bird of Paradise dance?

Project Introduction- Learn about this cool project!

Here’s the Greater Bird of Paradise!

King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise!

Time to Dance!

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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