Posts Tagged With: education blog

We Spy What Cephalopod

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

We Spy What Cephalopod

We are giving you some clues to see if you can guess the cephalopod we are meeting today!

We spy a cephalopod who calls the deep ocean its home.
We spy a cephalopod that is rarely seen.
We spy a cephalopod with 40 ft arms.
We spy a cephalopod who has the longest tentacles of any cephalopod species.
We spy a cephalopod who has the largest eyes of any animal in the world.
We spy a cephalopod who is well known in stories and literature.

Can you guess who we spy?

Scroll down to see the answer.

It’s the Giant Squid!

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Categories: adventure, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, children, conservation, education, education blog, environment, nature, nature blogs, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

One Weird Cephalopod

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

One Weird Cephalopod

We are meeting a strange cephalopod today. It’s not an octopus or a squid or a cuttlefish! This animal actually has a hard outer shell. Any guess on who we are meeting?

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NAUTILUS FUN FACTS:

There are 6 species of nautilus.
Unlike their cephalopod relatives who only live 1-2 years; nautilus live up to 15 years.
Nautilus have chambers in their shells. They are born with 4 chambers and grow more as they get older.
These chambers also help them with buoyancy. They can allow water in or out to go up and down in the ocean.

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Nautiluses use a siphon tube near their eye to expel water to propel themselves in the water.
They do not have arms- they have cirri or cirrus (the plural form). They can have up to 90 cirrus.
These carnivores use those cirrus to grab prey like crab and fish.
They have poor eyesight, but an excellent sense of smell.

How cool are these cephalopods? They look like aliens if you ask us! What’s your favorite thing about these ocean going aliens.

Categories: adventure, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, education, education blog, envrionment, nature, nature blogs, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

Know Your Cephalopods

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

KNOW YOUR CEPHALOPODS

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It’s Cephalopod Week here at Camp E&E and all over! We’ll be learning more about our mollusk friends, don’t worry we’ll get back to our Echinoderm friends soon.

CEPHALOPOD FUN FACTS:

Cephalopods are marine mollusks. This means they are related snails and nudibranchs (distantly).
Cephalopods include octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus and squid.
All cephalopods have a head with eyes, a mantle that holds their organs and beak like mouth. Cephalopods are invertebrates- meaning they have no bones.
Cephalopod limbs are attached to their heads.
Octopus have 8 arms – yep they are called arms. Their arms are covered in suckers.
Cuttlefish and squid have 8 arms and 2 tentacles.
Nautilus have many tentacles and have no suckers. They unlike other cephalopods, have an outer shell.
Cephalopods only live a year or two, except nautilus who live around 15 years.
Cephalopods can change the color and texture of their skin to camouflage with their environment.
Cephalopods have been around for about 500 million years.

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: animals, children, conservation, education, education blog, envrionment, nature, nature blog, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

Know Your Echinoderms

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

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Echinoderm Fun Facts:

Echinoderms include sea stars, brittle and basket stars, sea urchins and sand dollars and sea cucumbers.
They have been around for around 500 million years.
Their name comes from Greek and means urchin and skin. They all have spines- some larger and sharper than others.
Most Echinoderms have radial symmetry- body parts are arranged around a central point.
Echinoderms do not have blood- they use water to circulate throughout their body. Water also helps them move their tube feet which they use for locomotion.
Some Echinoderms can regenerate their body parts. Sea stars are known for regrowing arms.

We’ll meet some neat Echinoderms this summer at camp? Do you have a favorite? We love sea stars and sand dollars in particular.

Categories: adventure, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, sea stars, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, children, conservation, creatures, education, education blog, environmental blog, envrionment, nature, nature blog, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

Meet a Hog?

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Meet a Hog?

We’re back on the Camp E&E boat today to meet some other fish! We may even done our snorkeling gear tomorrow! Today we’re saying hello to a species that is named after another farm animal- but this time they are named after a hog!

Meet the Hogfish

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FUN FACTS:

Hogfish have long snouts that they use to root around the ocean floor looking for prey.
They often make a grunting noise when looking for food too. This is where they get their famous name- the hogfish.
These carnivores are big fans of crustaceans.
Hogfish are Sequential hermaphrodites. That means they change their sex during their lifetime. All hogfish start off as female and change to male as they mature.
Males have a large black spot on their behind their pectoral fin and are a bright orange or red. Females are grey or brown.
They are members of the wrasse family, but are closely related to parrotfish.
These popular recreational fish are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The number of individuals that are fished is controlled to avoid overfishing.

Categories: adventure, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, education, education blog, endangered species, envrionment, fish, nature, nature blog, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

Moo?

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Moo?

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Hello campers! We’re heading out on a boat ride today to meet one of animals that calls the ocean just offshore from camp home. Any guess on the elasmobranch we’re going to meet from our title clue? Could cow be in the name?

Meet the Cownose Ray

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Fun Facts:

These adorable rays are named after that blunt square- cow shaped nose.
They are typically found near the surface of the ocean.
Cownose rays give birth to a live pup once a year.
These carnivores feed on oysters, clams and other mollusks. They have crushing plates – not teeth- to crush open shells and get to the soft bodies of their prey.
They do have mildly venomous barbs, but only use those when threatened. When rays are known to be in local waters, its a good idea to shuffle your feet when walking in the ocean as to not step on one accidentally.
These little sea flapper (hehehe) flap their fins to swim. They belong to their own group of rays.
These cartilaginous (skeletons made of cartilage) fish, are known for their migrations from the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay. They can be seen in schools with up to 10,000 individuals.

These amazing animals are one of our favorites. They are often spotted in aquariums too. Like other rays they have spiracles that pass water over their gills when they rest on the bottom of the ocean.

Categories: adventure, Animals, camp, Children, conservation, education, Environment, fish, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, chidlren, education, education blog, envrionment, fish, nature, nature blogs, oceans, science, wildlife | Leave a comment

CAMP E&E IS BACK

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

CAMP E&E

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Hello and welcome to Camp E&E this summer! We are so excited to head to the beach for our first part of camp! We’ll meet so many cool animals, talk about ways to keep the beach clean and tell great tales! We have missed all of our readers and friends- so we are especially excited for this years camp!

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So campers- it’s time to pack your bags and get your cabin assignment. Camp E&E is kicking off summer!

Packing list:
Sheets
Flashlight
Bug spray
Hiking shoes
Water shoes
Swimsuits or trunks
Mud SPF 50 sunscreen
Your favorite stuffed animal to sleep with
Sleeping bag
Refillable water bottles
Swim goggles
Binoculars
Nature journal

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

Penguins!

We are meeting an adorable species of flightless bird today, the chinstrap penguin! Everybody practice their waddle!

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Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: adventure, animals, conservation, education, education blog, environment, nature, nature blogs, oceans, science, wildlife | 1 Comment

Ox

We are meeting an animal that spends most of their life in the cold- the musk ox. These large mammal are so cool with their thick coats and horns! Let’s learn more about them.