SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY #66
Check out the picture, read the clues and give it a guess on what animal it is!
- I live in the ocean.
- I can only be found in the waters off Australia.
- I can not breathe fire.
WHO AM I?
dragons
SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY #66
Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, dragons, education, Environment, oceans, science, wildlife
Tags: adventure, animals, children, conservation, education, environment, nature, oceans, science, wildlife
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YEAR OF THE DRAGON FRIDAY!
YEAR OF THE DRAGON FRIDAY!
Well folks, we’ve reached the end of our dragon theme week! We hope you have enjoyed our first theme week! We sure had fun searching the world for real dragons! Today we went searching into the fascinating insect world to find a dragon that flies! We bet you guessed our animal! Let’s meet…
MEET THE EMPEROR DRAGONFLY!
Range/Habitat: Europe-Asia/ near ponds, lakes
Diet: carnivore: tadpoles, butterflies
Length: up to 4” wingspan
Conservation Status: common
Fun Facts:
- Emperor Dragonflies are the largest species of dragonfly in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.
- Male emperor dragonflies have a large blue body and a green thorax.
- Female emperor dragonflies have all green bodies and thorax.
- Emperor dragonflies catch their prey while in flight.
- Emperor dragonflies are born underwater. They live in the nymph stage and take up to 2 years to reach adulthood.
- Emperor dragonflies are one of the fastest flying insects on the planet!
Emperor dragonflies are beautiful bugs! We love their iridescent colors! They can fly up to 25-30 miles per hour! WOW! Edmond wants to race some Emperor dragonflies! Who wants to join us?
YEAR OF THE DRAGON THURSDAY!
YEAR OF THE DRAGON THURSDAY!
We’re on day four of Year of the Dragon theme week and we have a biiiig lizard for you today! We bet you’ve guessed who it is by now! Well, have you? We’re heading to a special place called Komodo Island! Have you guessed it yet?
MEET THE KOMODO DRAGON!
Range/Habitat: Indonesia-Komodo-W Flores islands/open woodlands-savannas
Diet: Carnivore: carrion, pigs
Length/Weight: 6 ½-9 ¾ ft/ 155-300lbs
Conservation Status: endangered
Fun Facts:
- Komodo Dragons are the heaviest lizards in the world.
- Komodo dragons have forked tongues like snakes! They use them to “taste” particles in the air.
- They have an excellent sense of smell. They can smell carrion up to 3 miles away.
- Komodo dragons are ambush predators.
- Komodo dragons’ salvia is full of toxic bacteria. Their bite often does not cause death, but the bacteria causes an infection that kills them.
- These large lizards are fast and can run up to 11 miles per hour!
- Komodo dragons can eat up to 80 lbs in a single feeding!
- They can live up to 40 years.
Komodo dragons are awesome! These large reptiles have some amazing adaptations! We were surprised to learn that they could eat up to 80lbs! WOW and Ellie thought elephants could eat loads of food! These lizards definitely earned the name dragon!
Categories: Animals, Children, dragons, education, Environment, nature, reptiles
Tags: animals, children, education, environment, nature, reptiles
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YEAR OF THE DRAGON WESNESDAY
YEAR OF THE DRAGON WEDNESDAY
Who’s ready to meet another dragon? We’ve travelled back to the land down under today to find this dragon. This dragon lives in the water and not on land! So grab your scuba gear and let’s dive in to find this wild and strange dragon!
MEET THE LEAFY SEA DRAGON!
Range/Habitat: Southern Australian oceans/near kelp and sea grass
Diet: Carnivore: mysid shrimp, plankton
Length: up to 14”
Conservation Status: near threatened
Fun Facts:
- Leafy Sea Dragons are relatives of the seahorse.
- Leady sea dragons have leaf shaped appendages all over their bodies that help them camouflage.
- They use their dorsal and pectoral fins to swim.
- Male leafy sea dragons incubate the eggs in a pouch on their tales.
- They have long thing snouts that suck in their tiny prey.
- Leafy sea dragons are a fish!
Leafy sea dragons are the official marine emblem of South Australia! We think they’re pretty awesome with their strange leafy appendages! They look kind of like aliens! These special cousins to the sea horse are protected in Australia.
Categories: Animals, Children, dragons, education, Environment, fish, nature
Tags: animals, children, education, environment, fish, nature
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YEAR OF THE DRAGON TUESDAY
YEAR OF THE DRAGON TUESDAY
We’re continuing the Year of the Dragon celebration today with a lizard from down under! And yes this little guy has dragon in its name! Are you ready to board the plane and head to Australia? Let’s do this!
MEET THE BEARDED DRAGON!
Range/Habitat: Australia/arid woodland- desert
Diet: Omnivore: insects, vegetation
Length: 12-18”
Conservation Status: common
Fun Facts:
- Bearded Dragons are covered in yellowish-tan scales.
- They have spiked scales down each side of their bodies and on both sides of their heads.
- When a bearded dragon is threatened they open their mouths and spread a flap of skin open on their neck to make themselves look bigger.
- Bearded dragons are highly territorial.
- Bearded dragons brumate. It is similar to hibernation but they don’t sleep. They rest during the colder months and slow their metabolisms.
Beardies as they are often called are pretty cute if you ask us! We love that they make themselves look bigger! Scary!! What adaptation would you like to have to protect yourselves from predators? Edmond said he would like to fly and Ellie said she already has all the protection she needs because elephants are soooo big!
Categories: Animals, Children, dragons, education, Environment, nature, reptiles
Tags: animals, children, education, environment, nature, reptiles
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YEAR OF THE DRAGON # 1
NEW YEAR MONDAY
Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the Year of the Dragon and we’re celebrating with a dragon themed week! That’s right folks, all the animals we feature this week will have dragon in their name! Pretty awesome! Believe us when we say that finding these five animals wasn’t easy, there are no mammals or birds with dragon in their names! But we did find some reptiles! So are you ready to meet your first dragon? Let’s do this!
MEET THE THAI WATER DRAGON!
Range/Habitat: Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Chinese/rainforests
Diet: Omnivore: insects, vegetation
Length: 2 ½-3 ft
Conservation Status: common
Fun Facts:
- Thai Water Dragons are also known as Chinese water dragons.
- They are arboreal (spend most of their time in trees).
- Thai water dragons are excellent swimmers! They often drop into water to escape predators.
- They have a raised hump on their neck and a row of spikes down their backs.
- Male Thai water dragons are often brighter in color than females. Their color brightens during mating season.
- Thai water dragons are ambush predators.
- Their tails make up nearly two-thirds of their length.
We think Thai water dragons are pretty neat! Not only are they cute, but they can climb trees and swim too! Wow, these reptiles are athletic and amazing! And they’re pretty cute for dragons J!
Categories: Animals, Children, dragons, education, Environment, nature, reptiles
Tags: animals, children, chinese new year, dragons, education, environment, nature, reptiles
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