Posts Tagged With: children

Hippos and Whales!

As we work on new We Are Fanimalys- here’s another one you made of missed!

WE ARE FANIMALY!!!

It’s another installment of We Are Fanimaly! Come learn who’s related to who!
That’s right everyone- hippos and whales are related to each other. This is recent discovery thanks to DNA. Scientist don’t have a full understanding of this relationship and it’s evolutionary timeline, but we think it is super cool!

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HIPPO FUN FACTS!
• Hippopotamus means river horse.
• Hippos have clear membranes that help them see under water.
• Hippos cannot swim. They actually walk along riverbeds.
• Hippos “sweat” a red/pink mucus that helps keep their skin moist.
• Hippos spend most of their day in water and their nights on land grazing.
• Hippos are social animals and live in herds.
• Hippos have large canine and incisor teeth.
• Scientist have discovered in recent years that hippos sing songs underwater.

WHALE FUN FACTS!
• Whales are marine mammals.
• Blue whales are the largest mammal on earth.
• Orcas or Killer whales are actually the largest member of the dolphin family.
Whales are carnivores.
• There are toothed whales and baleen whales.
• Toothed whales are smaller than baleen whales.
• Some whales, like the humpback sing songs to communicate with each other.
• Some whales use echolocation to find food.
• Many whales and dolphins are social animals.

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

It’s time to Guess the Animal this week! Make sure you read the clues with this one :)!

beaver

  • It’s a rodent.
  • They are one of the most destructive animals on the planet.
  • Their young are called kits.

WHO IS IT?

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

swow plankton

Who is excited for class today? I hope you have had a great weekend! I have a great word for you today!

Plankton: tiny plants and animals that float in oceans and fresh water. These tiny organisms are some of the most abundant life forms on earth. Some plankton produce oxygen and some are eaten by other animals, including whales. Plankton is an important part of the food web.

swow plankton cartoon

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

We Are Fanimaly!

We’re reposting our original We Are Fanimaly for all our new readers! New ones will be coming soon! We hope you enjoy it and let us know if you know of some animal families you would like added to our gallery!

WE ARE FANIMALY!©
We are so excited to introduce our new comic series- We Are Fanimaly!
Once a month (or more often if we can) we’ll post a comic showing two animals who are related! Some are quite shocking and some you probably already knew! We just want to increase your knowledge of the amazing animal kingdom and we want you to remember that we are ALL FANIMALY!
First up the only living relative of the tallest animal on earth- the Giraffe!

ImageGiraffe Facts:

  • I live in Africa in the forests.
  • My prehensile tongue is 13-15 inches long.
  • I have stripes on my back end and legs.
  • I am very shy.
  • I do not have horns, they are called ossicones.
  • My ossicones are part of my skull.

Okapi Facts:

• I live in Africa in the forests.
• My prehensile tongue is 13-15 inches long.
• I have stripes on my back end and legs.
• I am very shy.
• I do not have horns, they are called ossicones.
• My ossicones are part of my skull.

 

 

 

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

It’s that awesome day of the week where you have to guess the animal! Take a look at the picture, read the clues and tell who you think it is!

chimpDO

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

WORLD ORANGUTAN DAY!!

WORLD ORANGUTAN DAY!!!

orangutan4

We’re celebrating some orange apes today! These amazing great apes call Asia home. They are amazingly intelligent and have culture! These special creatures that we share the planet with are losing their homes at an alarming rate! We’re going to tell you why you should love them and how you can help!

Some of the food orangutans eat!

Some of the food orangutans eat!

  • Orangutans are great apes.
  • There are two species, the Bornean and the Sumantran.
  • Orangutans are solitary in the wild.
  • Orangutans are arboreal (spend most of their lives in trees.)
  • They are frugivores.
  • Orangutans are highly intelligent.
  • Baby orangutans stay with their mothers for around 8 years, the longest of any primate.
  • Orangutans have extremely long arm spans, up to 7 feet from finger tips to finger tips.
  • Orangutans’ feet are built just like hands and help them climb in the trees.

orangutan   orangutan2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

orangutan swow

We love those faces. Orangutans are losing their precious forest homes due to palm oil plantations. Palm oil is used in many products and food. It is very hard to avoid totally. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has a wonderful resource for consumers to use. They have a list of products that use palm oil that is produced in a sustainable manner and is not taking over orangutans homes. This resource is a great tool to help orangs! Visiting your local zoo and learning more about these apes is a great way to help! Our local zoo, Zoo Atlanta does some fantastic research with orangutans. They are learning to use computers!

Check out the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo website. They even have a nifty app you can take with you when you are shopping!

Learn more about Zoo Atlanta’s Orangutan Learning Tree Project! They are doing some amazing work! We’ll be participating in the Redhead Run here in Atlanta to support orangutans too!

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

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!!

swow echolocationIt’s time to get down to the business of the Science Word of the Week! Who’s excited?

Today’s word is Echolocation!

Echolocation is the locating of objects by sending out sound waves and those sound waves reflecting to the animal, giving them an image of the object.  Echolocation is used by bats and dolphins to help give them a picture of their environment and to help them locate prey.

swow echolocation cartoon

 

 

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

SHARK LOVE!!

SHARK LOVE!!!

e e sharks

We know shark week is super popular on TV and we wanted to share some fun facts about sharks to celebrate these amazing creatures! We’re going to give you some great organizations that are working to protect sharks too!

shark

  • Shark skeletons are made of cartilage, the same tissue that makes up human noses and ears.
  • Sharks can range in size of a few feet to up to 25 ft (whale shark).
  • Some sharks can go through 30,000 teeth in a lifetime.
  • Sharks have been in the oceans for 400 million years.
  • The largest shark in the ocean is the whale shark, these spotty large fish are filter feeders!
  • Falling coconuts cause more deaths than sharks due.
  • Bull sharks can live in fresh water and salt water.
  • Great white sharks are warm blooded.
  • Most sharks must swim contentiously to pump water over their gills. Some sharks like the wobbegong and nurse shark can rest on the ocean floor and pump water over their gills.
  • Some sharks lay eggs, while others give birth to live young.
  • Sharks are covered in dermal denticles, triangle shaped scales that give them protection and flexibility.

shark2 shark5

shark4

We think sharks are amazing creatures! They come in so many shapes and sizes! As the top predator in our world’s oceans they play a very important roll in keeping our oceans healthy! There is no need to fear these beautiful animals! Unfortunately sharks are facing an uncertain future! Check out these two great organizations and see how they are helping our shark friends!

The Pew Trust and the Ocean Conservancy!

For some laughs check out the web comic Shaaark cartoons!

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Can you guess this weeks animal? No clues this time! Remember to post in the comments what animal you think it is!

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

GO GREY FOR ELEPHANTS!

GO GREY FOR ELEPHANTS!

Today is International Elephant Day and we’re going grey for elephants! Unfortunately Ellie’s wild cousins are being poached in Africa at alarming rates and it’s up to all of us to help them! Put on grey today and tell people you are wearing grey for elephants!

elephant

What do we love about elephants? Let us tell you!

  • There are two species of elephants- Asian and African (Ellie).
  • Only male Asian elephants have tusks.
  • Both female and male African have tusks.
  • Tusks are modified teeth that are made of ivory.
  • All elephants are herbivores.
  • Elephants are the largest land animal on earth.
  • Elephants walk on their tip toes.
  • African elephants can walk up to 50 miles a day.
  • Elephants live in family groups that are made up of females, their female relatives and their offspring. The group is led by the oldest female.
  • Adult male elephants live a solitary live.
  • Elephants use their ears to cool off.

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How can you help elephants? Check out these organizations that helping elephants: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,  96 Elephants (Join the Herd)United for Wildlife.

You can also enter our art contest– we’re making calendars and the proceeds of those sales will go to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust!

We want to see you in your grey today! Show us your #elphies on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!

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

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