Posts Tagged With: children

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 23

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 23

Happy Reptilian Tuesday! We’re excited for you to meet today’s reptile! This special tortoise has a spectacular shell! We have to head all the way to India to find this beauty! Do you have your board pass? Time to go!

MEET THE INDIAN STAR TORTOISE!

Range/Habitat: Southeast Asia-India/scrub-grasslands

Diet: Herbivore: grasses, fruit, flowers

Length: up to 11”

Conservation Status: common- near threatened

 

Fun Facts:

  • Indian Star Tortoises have raised bumps on their carapaces (top shell).
  • Each scute* is mountain shaped.
  • Each scute has star shaped markings.
  • Indian Star Tortoises’ shells are actually yellow with brown/black covering the yellow.
  • They have a life span from 30-80 years old.

Wow! Aren’t Indian Star Tortoises beautiful? We love their bumpy shells with their star patterns! These tortoises are super stars!

 

 

*Here’s a good illustration of a turtle’s shell anatomy!

http://scienceray.com/biology/marine-biology/turtle-anatomy/

 

Categories: Animals, Children, education, Environment, nature, reptiles | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

MAMMAL MONDAY # 23

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

MAMMAL MONDAY# 23

We’re back on our regularly scheduled program today! Happy Mammal Monday and man do we have a neat one today! This mammal lives in the desert, has very large ears and can JUMP! Do you have on your safari outfit, because we’re heading to Africa! Let’s gooooo!

MEET THE CARACAL!

Range/Habitat: Western Central Africa-Middle East/desert-grasslands

Diet: Carnivore: rodents, hares, birds

Length/Weight: 22-36”/13-42lb

Conservation Status: Common

 

Fun Facts:

  • Caracals are also called the desert lynx.
  • Caracals have large ears with tufts of fur on them.
  • They are the heaviest and fastest cat of all the small cats!
  • Caracals are excellent jumpers! They can jump up to 10ft vertically in the air!
  • Caracals can jump in the air and catch birds in flight! WOW!
  • They are mostly nocturnal (active at night).

 

Caracals are beautiful small cats! These excellent predators are quiet skilled! Ellie would like to have one on her basketball team, because they obviously can slam dunk!

 

 

Categories: Animals, Children, education, Environment, mammals, nature | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

YEAR OF THE DRAGON FRIDAY!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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?

 

 

 

Categories: Animals, Children, dragons, education, Environment, insects, nature | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

YEAR OF THE DRAGON THURSDAY!

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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: , , , , , | Leave a comment

YEAR OF THE DRAGON WESNESDAY

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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: , , , , , | Leave a comment

YEAR OF THE DRAGON TUESDAY

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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: , , , , , | 2 Comments

YEAR OF THE DRAGON # 1

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SQUIRREL PENCIL TOPPER

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

So who likes to make stuff? We do! We’re back at the crafting table this year! We’ll be posting an animal themed craft each month of the year!

In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day, which is January 21st, we’re making a squirrel pencil topper! Who’s ready to cut and glue? Let’s do this!

January 2012 Craft:  Squirrel Pencil Topper

Materials:

  • Fabric glue or hot glue gun*
  • Gray Felt
  • Cream Felt
  • Buttons, pom poms or thread
  • Black Permanent marker
  • Scissors
  • Squirrel Pattern

 

Step 1: Download and print the pattern.

Step 2: Trace pattern on to the felt and cut out the felt pieces.

Step 3: Glue the two body pieces together. Put a line of glue around edges- leave a hole in the bottom for your pencil.

Step 4: Glue the cream piece to the front of the squirrel body.

Step 5: Glue one head piece to the body, then glue the other head on the back.

 

Step 6: Glue the tail on the back of the squirrel.

 

Step 7: Glue on the face (you can use small buttons, pom poms or draw one on with the black marker)

Step 8: Put your squirrel on a pencil! Voila! You have a squirrel pencil topper!

 

*We had trouble with fabric glue sticking, so we ended up using a hot glue gun- make sure you have an adult do this for you J!

Categories: Animals, Children, crafts, education, Environment, mammals, nature | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FEATHERY FRIDAY # 22

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

 

FEATHERY FRIDAY# 22

Well, well, well have we a beautiful brightly colored bird for you today! These neat little birds are members of the pigeon family and we all know pigeons get a bad rap! Why is that? We think they are cute! Are you ready to head into the tropical forests of Asia and meet this pretty pigeon? Let’s do this!

MEET THE VICTORIA CROWNED PIGEON!

Range/Habitat: New Guinea-South Pacific Islands/ tropical forests

Diet: Omnivore: fruit, figs, seeds, insects

Length/Weight: 26-29”/ 5 ½ lb

Conservation Status: Vulnerable

 

Fun Facts:

  • Victoria Crowned Pigeons are the largest pigeon species on earth.
  • They are named after Queen Victoria of England.
  • Victoria Crowned Pigeons have beautiful blue-gray and purple coloration.
  • They have a lacy feathered crest on their heads.
  • Male Victoria crowned pigeons fan out their head and tail feathers during mating season. They bob their head and tail to attract females.
  • They spend most their time on the ground.

 

Aren’t these pigeons just spectacular? We just love their feathers! We would love to sit in the forest and watch them during mating season! What’s better than a bird dancing to find his lady? DANCE PARTY!

Categories: Animals, birds, Children, education, Environment, nature | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY # 22

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SUPER SURPRISE

THURSDAY# 22

We’re excited for Super Surprise Thursday! We found a fun bird who lives in Europe and Asia. These special birds have long beaks to dig out their prey! Do you have your waders on? Because this bird is the marshes! Let’s meet…

MEET THE EURASIAN CURLEW!

Range/Habitat: Europe-Asia-Africa/marshes, shores, mangroves, grasslands

Diet: Carnivore: invertebrates, crabs, insects

Length/Weight: 20-23”/16-48 oz

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

 

Fun Facts:

  • Eurasian Curlews have long curved beaks that they use to extract prey out of the sand and mud.
  • Eurasian curlews wade in shorelines and mangroves looking for their food.
  • Female Eurasian curlews have longer beaks than the males.
  • They get their name from their call.
  • Eurasian curlews migrate. They go as far as the Arctic Circle to breed.
  • They can live up to 37 years.
  • In Scotland they are called the “whamp”.

 

These pretty birds with their long slender beaks are amazing! We could sit and close our eyes and listen to their funny call all day! In fact, who wants to pretend that they’re in Scotland with us on the shore listening to these birds? We’ve got on our kilts!

Check out their calls here:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/curlew/index.aspx

 

Categories: Animals, birds, Children, education, Environment, nature | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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