conservation

FEATURED ANIMAL- COMMON RAVEN

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

FEATURED ANIMAL- COMMON RAVEN!

We’re excited to introduce this week’s Feature Animal! This black bird had a very famous poem written about it. They are associated with Halloween along with their cousin the crow! Do you know who this bird is evermore?

e e grass yard

raven   Range/Habitat: North & Central America-Europe-Asia and North

Africa/woodlands, open fields and urban areas

   Diet: Omnivores: small mammals, insects, fruit

   Length/Weight: 26”/ 2 ½ lbs

   Conservation Status: Common

 

 

 

Fun Facts:

  • Common Ravens are the largest member of the crow family in North Hemisphere.
  • They are highly intelligent and very social.
  • Common ravens have very large brains and are known to be great at problem solving.
  • Common ravens mate for life. They can live up to 15 years old in the wild and have been known to live longer in captivity.
  • They have large bills to eat many different types of prey.
  • Common ravens are admired in many cultures. They are even kept by royalty at The Tower of London!

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These beautiful birds are really smart and have adapted well to live near and around people! It’s easy to see why people love them so much with their haunting calls and shiny black feathers.

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Who’s ready to Guess the Animal this week? This one is often considered creepy! Your clue: they are hairy!

tarantula

WHO IS IT?

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

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

swow melanism

Hello everyone! We’re ready to learn here at the University and I hope you are too!

This week’s word is Melanism: an increased amount of black coloration in the fur, feathers and scales. Some melanistic animals include the black jaguar. They appear black, but you can see the famous jaguar spots if you look close enough.

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

FEATURE ANIMAL!

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

FEATURE ANIMAL: BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS!

We’ve traveled to the Western Pacific Ocean, near Australia today to meet our creepy crawly Feature Animal. Yesterday was also World Octopus Day- so we knew we had to track down this elusive creature. It wasn’t easy to spot this cephalopod, but we did!

e & e snorkeling

BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS!

blue ringed octopus

Range/Habitat: Marine shallows, coral reefs/Western Pacific Ocean
Diet: Carnivore: crabs, fish, mollusks
Length/Weight: 5-7 1/2″/26 g
Conservation Status: common

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Fun Facts:
• Blue ringed octopuses are known to hide in caves, crevices and trash, such as bottles and cans.
• They are diurnal (hunt during the day).
•Blue ringed octopuses are shy!
• Blue ringed octopuses are extremely toxic. Their venom is more toxic than any land animal.
• They are not normally aggressive towards humans.
• They have rough wrinkly skin.
• Blue ringed octopuses display their famous blue spots when they feel threatened. This is called warning coloration.
• They are invertebrates.
• Blue ringed octopuses are considered intelligent.
blue ringed octopus3We love octopuses! They are such amazing creatures and so smart! Have you ever seen one solve a puzzle in an aquarium? Here’s a video of one opening a jar to get dinner! You humans are no match for our big brains- said all octopus :)!

 

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE ANIMAL!

It’s time to Guess the Animal this Week! We’ll be featuring animals who are considered creepy and crawly or who have creepy names or adaptations for the whole month of October! Do you think you know who today’s animal is? We’ll only give one clue!

ghost crab

  • I live on the beach and a named for my pale appearance!

WHO AM I?

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

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

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Hello students! I am so excited to see you this week! I hear Ellie and Edmond have some frighteningly good feature animals for you in the next few weeks, because we all know October is the month for tricks or treats! I know I”ll look forward to meeting these animals! This week for our science word, we’re talking about another genetic mutation that is similar to albino. Today’s science word is Leucistic: leucistic animals have a genetic mutation that causes them to lose some color- but not all, like in albino animals. Leucistic animals can have colored eyes or light stripes or color on parts of their body.

We have some examples of leucistic animals for you in these pictures!

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

FEATURED ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

 

FEATURED ANIMAL:
AMERICAN ALLIGATOR!

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We spent the weekend in Florida and took an awesome air boat ride to see if we could find alligators and WE DID! We saw several areas where there were babies and we saw one mother alligator warming herself in the sun! Come learn about these ancient reptiles!

 

alligator2   Range/Habitat: Southwestern United States/ wetlands, swamps,

rivers,lakes, ponds

   Diet: Carnivore: fish, deer, mammals

   Length/Weight: 9 ½-16 ft/ 200-500 lbs

   Conservation Status: common

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts:

  • Alligators are large, territorial and fierce reptiles.
  • They have been on the planet for millions of years.
  • Male alligators bellow or roar to attract females.
  • Female alligators lay 25- 60 eggs in a nest build of mud and vegetation.
  • They guard the nest from predators, such as raccoons.
  • When the baby alligators hatch they are all female or male.  The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the babies.
  • The temperature at which their gender is determined is 90 degrees.
  • Once they begin to hatch, the mother helps dig open the nest.
  • She protects them from predators by carrying them around on her head or in her mouth.
  • Baby alligators stay with their moms for around 3 years.

alligators   IMG_8307

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alligators are so cool. The males can get up to 1,000 lbs. They get a bad rap, but they really want to mind their own business. Alligators were on the verge of extinction 40 years ago, but with great effort they are thriving in the Southeastern United States! We love a great conservation success story!

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

It’s time to Guess the Animal- we’re going to just give you two clues this week! Tell us who you think it is!

barracuda

  • I am a long fish.
  • I have long sharp, pointy teeth!

WHO IS IT?

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

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!!

swow albino

Hello students and friends! We’re excited to see everyone this week in class! Ellie and Edmond just returned from a trip to Florida where they met some baby alligators and their moms- very exciting stuff! Let’s get on with our word of the week!

Albino- an animal that has a genetic mutation that causes them to have no pigmentation or color. Albino animals are all white and usually have pink eyes. Albino animals often do not survive well in the wild, as they lack the camouflage they need to help them survive. We have some examples of albino animals here:

albino3albino2

albino

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

SEA OTTER AWARENESS WEEK!!

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SEA OTTER AWARENESS WEEK!

e & e otter

We’re celebrating Sea Otter Awareness Week! We know we are aware of how stinking cute otters are! These comical creatures have faced being endangered over the years, but with the help of conservationists their numbers are increasing. Come learn some fun facts about these ottertastic mammals!

sea otter5sea otter4

Sea Otter Fun Facts:

  • Sea Otters are members of the weasel family!
  • Sea Otters live in the Pacific ocean along the North American shore and the Northern Asian shore.
  • Sea Otters spend most of their time in water. They will occasionally come ashore to rest.
  • Sea Otters’ fur is water repellant and very thick. They can have up to 1 million furs per square inch.
  • Sea Otters role in order to trap air bubbles in their fur. The air bubbles help keep them warm.
  • Sea Otters are often found floating on the surface of kelp forests. They will even wrap the kelp around themselves to keep anchored while sleeping
  • Sea Otters groom themselves constantly. This helps keep their fur clean and waterproof. 
  • Sea Otters use rocks to break some of their prey, including crabs and sea urchins.
  • Sea Otters help keep the balance in a kelp forest. One of their favorite prey, sea urchins eat kelp; and without the otters to keep the urchin population in check, the kelp would be gone!

sea otter3sea otter

 

 

 

 

 

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There are so many reasons to love sea otters and to protect them! There are many organizations that are working hard to make sure otters have a future in our oceans! Monterey Bay Aquarium has a great sea otter program.

What do you love about otters?

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

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