Posts Tagged With: science

WE’RE BANANAS- FOR SLUGS!

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

WE’RE BANANAS- FOR SLUGS!

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  • Pacific banana slugs are the 2nd largest species of terrestrial slug on earth. They grow up to 10 inches long and weigh up to 4 ounces.)
  • They can be found from Alaska to California in forests.
  • Pacific banana slugs are decomposers. They decompose plant material and animal droppings. They produce very rich soil which is essential to the habitat they live in.
  • They are mollusks.

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  • They have teeth on their tongues.
  • Pacific banana slugs have 2 pairs of tentacles. The larger pair detect light and movement. The smaller pair detect chemicals. They can regrow tentacles.
  • Pacific banana slugs cover themselves in a layer of mucus to protect from themselves from drying out. This slick slime also helps them breathe.
  • They do lay eggs under leaves and cover.
  • Pacific banana slugs have one foot that they use to get them around the forest floor.

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

WHOOOO’S MADE OUT OF CLAY!

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

WHOOOO’S MADE OUT OF CLAY!

YAY!!! It’s craft day at camp! It’s our favorite day of the week! Let’s get started with some great crafty fun!

Materials:

Clay- grey, white, blue and brown

toothpick

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Instructions:

Roll the brown clay into a large ball

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Flatten your ball and indent the top. Then sculpt into points!

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Take your toothpick and add feathering.

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Roll two smaller balls of the brown clay.

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Press the balls flat and make into a tear drop shape.

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Add the teardrops to your bird for wings.

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Add feathering to the wings with your toothpick.

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Make two small balls out of the grey and white. Make the grey ones slightly bigger than the white.

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Flatten the balls into dots and place on your owl. Add two black balls of clay on the white.

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Roll three log shapes of the black clay and attach them together. Make two of these for beaks.

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Add the beak and your owl is done!

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Make sure to share your pics of your owl when you finish!

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

SLIDERS!!!

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SLIDERS!!!

We’re meeting an awesome reptile today at camp! These turtles live in Lake Salamander, we see them when we go canoeing or hang out on the dock! They are friendly,  but never wave back- maybe that’s because turtles are not good at waving! Hahaha! Let’s meet the red-eared slider!

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RED EARED SLIDER FUN FACTS:

  • Red eared sliders live in the Southern United States to Mexico in wetlands, ponds and rivers.
  • They are omnivores. They eat fish, tadpoles and plants.
  • They grow up to 13 inches.
  • Red eared sliders are listed as common by the IUCN.
  • Red eared sliders have red dashes around their ears.
  •  They bask in the sun during the day.

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  • Red eared sliders don’t have saliva and must eat their food under water.
  • Red eared sliders have claws on their front feet. Their feet are also webbed.
  • They brumate (become less active and hang out on the bottom of rivers/ponds during the fall and winter).

Red eared sliders are super cute. They unfortunately are listed as one of the most invasive species by the IUCN. They are popular pets, but once they grow to large or their owners get bored with them, they release them in to the wild, whether it is the proper habitat or not.

Having pet turtles is great, but you must do your homework and know how big they will grow and how long they will live. Releasing pets in to the wild is not good for them or for local wildlife that is native to the area.

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

A Prickly Camper

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

A Prickly Camper

We are meeting our first animal friend at Lake Salamander Camp E&E! She’s a prickly lady, but very friendly! Come meet the Penny, the North American Porcupine!

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  • Porcupines can grow up to 3ft long and weigh up to 40lbs.
  • They are herbivores. They eat twigs, berries and roots.
  • North American porcupines can be found in Western Canada, the Western US to Northern Mexico.
  • Porcupines are excellent climbers.
  • North American porcupines have antibiotics in their skin that protects them from their own quills if they fall out of tree. They are the only porcupine that has this adaptation.
  • They have around 30,000 quills.

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  • The quills are barbed and hollow.
  • They can not throw their quills- but they can be released.
  • Porcupines have a strong musky odor to help protect them from predators.
  • Their name means “quill pig” in Latin. They are not related to pigs though- they are rodents.
  • Porcupines are nocturnal.
  • Porcupines are good swimmers.
  • They are very vocals and make a variety of sounds.
  • When a baby porcupine is born their quills are soft & they harden after about an hour.

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Porcupines are funny creatures! We don’t recommend scaring one for sure! They like to be left alone and we like to be nice to them! Also- don’t share your sleeping bag with a porcupine! Hehehe!

 

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

SHARK STICK PUPPET!

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SHARK STICK PUPPET!

It’s craft day once again at Camp E&E! Let’s get right to it and make a shark stick puppet!

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Materials:

  1. Scissors
  2. Blue or grey felt
  3. White stiff felt
  4. White soft felt
  5. Felt glue
  6. white pom pom or googly eye
  7. marker
  8. popsicle sticks
  9. shark pattern (below)

 

Instructions:

  • Print and cut out pattern.
  • Then cut out one shark from the blue or grey felt and one from the stiff white felt.

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  • Glue the two sharks together.

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  • Cut out teeth from soft white felt and draw a black spot on the pom pom (skip if using a googly eye). Then glue the teeth and eye on your shark.

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  • Then take your sticks and glue them on the back of your shark. Make sure they are fully dry before you pick up your shark!

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  • Once the sticks are dry! You can have a puppet show with your shark! Make sure you give him a nice clean ocean habitat!

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There you have it! Our shark stick puppet craft! Enjoy making yours and share it with us!

Printable shark pattern

Printable shark pattern

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, crafts, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, sharks, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GUESS THE SHARK!

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE SHARK!

Can you guess the shark from the cartoon? Scroll down to the bottom to see if your answers are right and learn a few facts about each shark!

Shark A!

Shark A!

 

Shark B!

Shark B!

 

Shark C!

Shark C!

 

 

 

 

 

Shark A:

Bull shark!
They tend to head butt prey before biting.
They are known to swim in brackish & fresh water systems.
They are also known as the Zambezi shark.
They can grow to lengths of 11 feet & weigh up to 500lbs.
They are listed as near threatened.

 

Shark B:
Lemon shark!
They have a horizontal band in their retina that gives them ability to see color and detail.
They are crepuscular.
They rest on ocean floor- to get cleaned by other fish.
They are very social.
They are near threatened.

 

Shark C:
Tiger shark!

Their famous tiger stripes on a tiger shark usually disappear on adult sharks.

They can grow up to 14 feet long and weigh up to 1,400lbs!

They are called the “wastebaskets of the sea” because they are known to eat anything, including trash.

They are listed as near threatened.

They are nocturnal hunters!

 

 

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

C is for Cookie- Cookie Cutter Shark!

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

C is for Cookie- Cookie Cutter Shark!

Today we’re meeting a bizarre little shark today! We sure wouldn’t get to close to this crazy critter! Best to look from a distance campers!

  • Cookie cutter sharks can grow up to 22 inches.
  • They live in deep tropical waters world wide- especially near islands.
  • They are carnivores. They eat fish, marine mammals and even other sharkrs.
  • They are listed as least concern by IUCN.

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  • Cookie cutter sharks are members of dogfish family.
  • Cookie cutter sharks have light emitting photophores on it’s underside to blend in with moonlight.
  • They also have a bioluminescent collar that can flash & may help them attract prey.
  • They are famous for the cone shaped chunks it takes out of its prey- including larger sharks, marine mammals and fish.
  • Their famous bite marks have been seen on submarines and underwater cables.
  • Cookie cutter sharks  have lower teeth that are long, sharp and triangular shaped. There have 25-31 teeth on the bottom row of their mouth.
  • They travel in schools.
  • Cookie cutter sharks were discovered in the 1800s, but the strange bite marks were not attributed to the little sharks until the 1970s.

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    Aren’t they the craziest looking creatures ever? We think so! What’s your favorite crazy looking shark?

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

Meet a Megamouth!

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Meet a Megamouth!

Who’s excited for our last week of Camp E&E at the beach!? We are- because it’s SHARK WEEK!! Woohoo! We’re going to meet some super cool shark friends and have a nifty shark craft this week as we wrap things up on the coast! So let’s head off to meet our first super large shark friend- megamouth!

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Megamouth Shark Fun Facts:

  •  Megamouth sharks live in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
  • They are carnivores. They are filter feeders and eat krill and plankton.
  • They can grow up to 18 feet long and weigh up to 1,740 lbs.
  • Their status is listed as unknown by the IUCN.
  •  Megamouth sharks were discovered in 1976.
  •  Humans have only seen about 61 individuals.
  •  They live in deep waters!
  •   Megamouth sharks have small dorsal fins.
  •   They feed at the surface at night.
  •   They have a luminescent stripe around their mouth to attract prey.
  •   Megamouth shark mouths can reach a width of up to 4 feet across.

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Megamouth sharks are amazing! Can you imagine that we’ve only known about them in the last 30 years? The oceans are full of so many animals that we haven’t even discovered! Oceans- the last frontier!

 

 

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

SHELL ANIMALS CRAFT!

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SHELL ANIMALS CRAFT!

Happy craft day campers! We’re going to make shell animals today! Let’s get started!

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Materials:

Shells

Markers/paint

Glue

Cardstock

Instructions:

  • Glue your shells on the paper. You can arrange them in a pattern or put them all around.

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  • Draw your animal using the shells as bodies, head or feet- hehe!

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  • You can make a whole scene or a bunch of random animals! Use your imagination!

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Share your crafts with us on Facebook and Twitter!

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

CAMP NUDIBRANCH!

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

CAMP NUDIBRANCH!

We have some colorful friends join us at camp- sea slugs! So let’s meet our nudibranch friends!

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  • Nudibranchs are mollusks.
  • They are members of the sea slug family.
  • There are more than 3,000 species of nudibranchs.

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  • Nudibranchs can be anywhere from .25″ to 12″ long.
  • Nudibranchs are carnivores.
  • They get their bright warning coloration from the food they eat.

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  • Some nudibranchs are poisonous. They retain the toxins from their prey.
  • The tentacles on their heads are sensitive to taste, touch and smell.
  • Some nudibranchs store algae in their tissues. They live off sugar produced by that algae during photosynthesis.
  • Nudibranch can only detect light.

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These little campers sure are bright and colorful! When you’re done meeting them- head over to the craft tent and get out the crayons and color the nudibranch coloring sheet.

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

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