Posts Tagged With: children

Back to Basics- Babies!

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Babies!

As we continue our back to basics month, we are talking about reproduction today! All animals have offspring, but how they have babies is very different! We are going to learn those different ways!

Viviparous: when an animal gives live birth. Animals that give live birth include, mammals, some fish and insects (ex- scorpions), some reptiles and amphibians. There are two mammals who lay eggs- the platypus & the echidna. Marsupials also are viviparous, they give live birth to underdeveloped babies who grow in the mother’s pouch.

platypus

echidnas

 

kangaroo

 

Oviparous: when an animal lays an egg that the offspring hatches from. Animals that lay eggs include birds, fish, our two mammal friends, reptiles, insects and most amphibians. Eggs are laid externally . Some sharks and ray lay eggs called mermaids purses.

shark egg

Ovoviparous: when an animal’s offspring develop inside an egg, that is incubated inside the mother’s body. It then gives live birth. Animals that give birth this way include fish (some sharks- like the great white), some fish, some insects and some snakes. The most famous ovoviparous animal is actually not a female, it’s the male seahorse. Male seahorses incubate the eggs and then give birth to live young! Some ovoviparous animals, can store sperm and incubate their eggs months later.

 

Some fun reproduction facts:

  • Elephants have the longest gestation period of any animal- 22 months.
  • Many insects die not long after giving birth or mating.
  • Female giant pacific octopus protect their eggs over the 6-7 months they are incubating. During this time the octopus doesn’t eat or leave her eggs. She dies soon after her babies are hatched.
  • Female alligators and crocodiles are one of the few reptiles that protect their nests and offspring after they hatch.
  • Male anglerfish attach to the much larger female and absorb in to her.
  • Suriname toads incubate their eggs on their backs. Tiny little frogs explode out of the skin on her back.

The animal world is full of some crazy mating stories and even more crazy birth stories! It just makes each animal that much more awesome!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back to Basics- Mammals

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Mammals

We are excited to talk the group of animals we belong to- mammals! Our professor of mammals- Bertie Bear will give us the low down.

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Number of mammal species- 4475. They occupy every kind of habitat on earth including oceans and the icy poles.

Mammal traits:

  • They have fur and/or hair. Even cetaceans have hair, generally a few chin hairs when they are born that fall out. Mammal fur/hair is made of the protein keratin, including whiskers, spines and rhino horns.
  • Mammals give birth to live young- except the platypus and echidna, who lay eggs.
  • They give milk to their young through mammary glands.
  • They are endothermic (warm blooded). They have sweat glands for regulating temperature. They must eat often to keep their body temperature regulated.
  • Mammals are vertebrates.  

 

Mammals have two layers of skin. The top layer is the epidermis that is made up of dead skin cell. The inner layer is the dermis, which contains glands. Some mammals use these glands to communicate with each other, by marking territory or giving off scents to attract mates, etc…

Mammals have three types of teeth and a jaw that is attached to the skull. The three types of teeth include molars, incisors and canines. Baleen whales have teeth that are made of keratin and are like brooms.

whale

Mammals give birth to live young, except for the monotremes- the platypus and the echinda lay eggs. Most mammals develop in a mother’s uterus, but the marsupials give birth to underdeveloped young that grow in a pouch- like kangaroos.

Mammals have several types of locomotion, including walking on all four feet- quadrupeds, walking on two feet- bipeds, flight- only bats and swimming with fins.

Many mammals are social and intelligent. In mammals, like the great apes,they even share culture with each other. Some mammals are known to be tool makers and tool users.

orangutan

Mammals make up the largest animals on the planet- the elephant is the largest land animal and the blue whale is the largest animal on earth! Mammals include you humans too!

 

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back to Basics- Insects

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Insects

We are day number 3 of our back to basics month. Today we are learning about insects with our professor of insects Gracie Grasshopper!

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Number of species- nearly 1 million, that’s right we insects account for about 97% of all known species on earth. We arthropods outnumber all other animals on earth.

Insect traits:

  • Insects have a segmented body. It’s divided into 3 sections; the head, the thorax and the abdomen.
  • Insects are invertebrates. We do not have endoskeletons, like the mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. We have an exoskeleton! Our bodies are covered in hard coverings made of chitin.
  • We have two antennae and 6 legs. Each leg has five parts.
  • We hatch from eggs.

Insects are generally divided into two groups, insects with wings and insects without wings. I myself have wings.

insect

We either have compound eyes or simple eyes and there are some of us with both types.

We do not have true ears, but we have organs that help us listen to vibrations in our environment.

We do not have lungs or gills to breathe. Instead we have a series of tubes to “breathe” oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.

Yes, we insects have brains. They are tiny and we don’t quiet use them the way other animals do.

insect2

There you have the basics of being an insect!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, insects, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back to Basics- Fish

Posted on August 30, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Fish

Time to brush up on your fish knowledge with professor Sylvia the Seahorse!

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Number of fish species- 24,000 and growing! Scientists discover new species all the time! We fish were the first vertebrate animals on the earth! We occupy the world’s oceans and fresh water bodies of water; including lakes, rivers and ponds.

Fish traits:

  • Fish have gills that we use to extract oxygen from water and expel carbon dioxide. They serve the same function as a mammal’s lungs.
  • Fish have scales. Our scales are different, some are smooth and some are rough. Sharks’ scales are called dermal denticles. Some fish like hagfish have no scales.
  • Fish have fins for swimming. Fins are shaped for the type of swimming a fish does- some are built for speed and some are small (like mine).
  • We fish are vertebrates, we all have back bones.
  • Most fish are exothermic, cold blooded.

Fish are classified in three groups; jawless fish (hagfish and lamprey- they also have no scales), cartilaginous (sharks and rays) and bony.

fish2

Some fish lay eggs, some incubate their eggs in a womb and some incubate their young in wombs similar to mammals.

We fish can detect chemicals and vibrations. We often have keen eyesight and a great sense of smell.

Fish do have ears! Not big goofy ones like some mammals, but internal ones.

fish

We also have an extra “organ” to help us “hear” and detect vibrations. This is called the lateral-line. This line of cells runs the length of our bodies and helps us detect motion. Schooling fish who swim in synchronized groups use their lateral line to swim in these formations.

Sharks and rays have yet another “organ” that helps them detect electrical fields. It’s called the ampullae of Lorenzini, gel filled cells that help our cartilaginous cousins detect even the faintest of electrical fields. This is something no other animal can do!

We also have a swim bladder that keeps us buoyant in the water. Fresh water fish have a bigger swim bladder than salt water fish. Bony fish swim bladders are filled with a gas that is less dense than water. In cartilaginous fish, their swim bladder is a large oil rich liver that is less dense than water! 

 

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, fish, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back to Basics- Birds

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Birds

Our professor of birds is Professor Baxter and he is a Blue footed Booby! He’s going to share some basics about about birds!

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There are around 9,000 species of birds in the world. We are in every habitat on earth. Because we are so adaptable, we are considered the most successful animal on the planet. The earliest birds were descendants of the dinosaurs. Fossils of my long lost relatives have been found that are 150 million years old.

 first bird

What makes a bird a bird?

  • We have feathers. Our feathers are made from keratin.
  • We are endothermic (warm blooded).
  • We lay eggs.
  • We are vertebrates.
  • We have hollow bones. This helps us fly.
  • We have no teeth.

Feathers are our most distinctive feature. Feathers are made of keratin (the same protein that makes up human hair and nails). We have flight feathers on our wings. We have down feathers close to our body to keep us warm. Our tail feathers are made to help us fly. We must preen (clean) our feathers to keep them healthy. There are some birds who cannot fly including; kiwi, kakapo (the heaviest parrot on earth), penguins and ostrich.

kakapo

peguin

Our beaks/bills are also covered in keratin and they are shaped for what type of food we eat.

Instead of paws, we have feet. Our feet have 2 to 4 toes. Most of us have 4 toes, 3 that face forward and one that faces backward. This is perfect for sitting on tree branches. Those birds that spend time in water have webbed feet.

bird feet

We must keep our body temperature at 104 degrees. It is important that we control our heat loss.

Lastly, we lay eggs. Our mating rituals include dancing, songs and plumage displays. Our eggs are made of calcium carbonate. We lay eggs in nests, on rocks, on the beach and even on the ground. Some of us are born without feathers and our eyes closed. Some of us are, like ducks, are born with down feathers and our eyes open.

duck

 

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

Back to School 2017

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to School 2017

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Hellooooo! Welcome back everyone! We trust you had a wonderful summer, we know we enjoyed camp! It’s time to get back to the books and adventure though! This month we are kicking off school with a Back to Basics month! We’ll be go over some things you know and hopefully some things you don’t!

Come October we are heading off on our trip around the world just like last year, except where we go will be a secret. On the first day of each month, we’ll describe where we will be going and you will have to guess. We’ll have a prize each month for the first person to guess where we will be going!

As usual we’ll be meeting all kinds of new animal friends along the way! We hope you are excited for this wonderful new school year! Tomorrow we start with the bird basics!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Last Day of Camp

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Last Day of Camp

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Well pals it is the last day of Camp Ellie & Edmond. It’s always sad to say goodbye to summer and our pals. We will be taking the next three weeks off to move our site and work on a few improvements!

Then we’ll be back for a whole new year at the University of Ellie & Edmond! We will be getting back to basics for a month and then a we have an exciting year.

We are introducing Where Will The Next E&E Adventure Be? Each month we will be going to a new place. On the first day you will get a chance to guess where we are and there will be a prize for the person who guesses it correctly first! We know we are excited for all that is coming!

Let’s end this amazing summer with the Camp E&E song:

On the shores of Lake Salamander, among the old live oak…

We enjoy Camp Ellie and Edmond and the frogs that croak.

We salute you Camp E & E and all your animal friends…

All our days are each a gem.

While we sit next to the campfire, telling stories of old…

We laugh and sing and watch the stars of gold.

We love you Camp E &E and all our memories of our days…

We hold Camp E & E close to our hearts and we’ll never stray!

 

We will see all our campers during the school year!

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Categories: A, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pelican! Pelican!

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Pelican! Pelican!

We are meeting one last animal at Camp E&E! The summer has flown by hasn’t it? We can hardly believe it! We could spend hours and hours watching the brown pelican take diving in the ocean scooping up eats! Let’s mee them today!

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Brown Pelcian Fun Facts: 

  • The Brown Pelican is the smallest of all pelican species.
  • They are plunge divers. They fly above the surface of the water and then drop or plunge into the sea to catch their prey.
  • Brown pelicans have a greenish skin on their face that is brighter during mating season.
  • Brown pelicans like to nest in trees, shrubs and mangroves.
  • Both parents incubate eggs. They usually have 2-3 chicks. One chick can eat up to 150 lbs of food by the time they are 10 months old! That’s a bunch of fish for little guys
  • Their pouch can hold up to 3 gallons and the stomach can hold around 1 gallon.
  • Brown pelicans are the state bird of Louisiana.

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We love pelicans! Love them! They are one of the coolest birds around! Do you love them as much as us? Stick around for the last craft day of camp tomorrow!

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Catching Oysters with an Oystercatcher

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Catching Oysters with an Oystercatcher

It’s the last week of Camp E&E by the Sea! Can you believe it? This week we’re hanging by the beach to meet shore birds. First up is the American Oystercatcher! This neat bird is easy to spot with its bright orange beak. So let’s head out to spot some campers!

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American Oystercatcher Fun Facts: 

  • These brightly colored birds call salt marshes and shores their home.
  • They feed on shellfish, mussels, clams, oysters and sea stars.
  • American oystercatchers tend to spend more time on the ground than flying.
  • They often grab the shellfish inside the shell before it can close. They severe the muscle and swallow the meat whole.
  • They nest in higher areas away from the high tide line.

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We could sit on the beach and watch shore birds all day! These funny birds with their long legs are one of our favorites. What’s your favorite shorebird?

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wear Your Bonnet

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Wear Your Bonnet

Can you imagine a shark wearing a bonnet? That would be funny looking- not to mention hard to swim with- hahaha! Today we are meeting a relative of the hammerhead- the bonnethead shark!!

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Bonnethead Shark Fun Facts: 

  • Bonnetheads are smaller sharks- they can grow up to 59 inches- about the length of a refrigerator.
  • They call estuaries, bays and sandy bottoms their home.
  • Their heads are more rounded than that of the larger hammerhead species.
  • Like all other sharks they are carnivores.
  • Bonnethead sharks live in small groups.
  • They can live up to 15 years.

 

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These smaller hammerheads are so cool. A recent study by scientists may suggest that they eat sea grass, which would make them omnivores! Wow! That would be super cool!

Categories: adventure, aliens, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, fish, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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