Posts Tagged With: science

CREEPY ANIMALS WEEK!

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

CREEPY ANIMALS WEEK!

Professor Tamandua and the rest of the University Staff are on a fall break, so we’re taking this opportunity to spotlight some creepy animals this week in honor of Halloween! First up, a newt…

This little animal is often referred to in stories about witches, or at least their eyes are! Ever heard of the eye of newt? Well this one doesn’t have scary eyes, but they have scary skin! Come meet them…

e & e wetlands

MEET THE ROUGH SKINNED NEWT!

rough skinned newt

Range/Habitat: Western United States-Canada/ woodlands and ponds

Diet: Carnivore: aquatic invertebrates, tiny fish

Length: 3 ½”- 7 ½”

Conservation Status: Common

 

rough skinned newt3

Fun Facts:

  • The Rough Skinned Newt is an amphibian. Other amphibians also include frogs, toads and salamanders.
  • Rough skinned newts have rough, bumpy skin as implied by their name.
  • They are extremely toxic. They produce a strong toxin that can cause death if eaten. It can also be absorbed through the skin if you have an open cut or wound.
  • They are brownish-black in color with yellow to orange bellies.
  • Rough skinned newts feed at night.
  • They can live as long as 12 years!
  • The common garter snake is the rough skinned newt’s only predator. The snakes have developed immunity to their toxin.

rough skinned newt2

Wow! Who knew a cute little newt could be so poisonous? Well we think they are pretty awesome! We think this animal is best seen and not eaten!

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

FEATURED ANIMAL OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

FEATURED ANIMAL OF THE WEEK!

We’ve got a deep sea spooktacular fish for the featured animal this week! There are so many alien and creepy looking creatures in the dark depths of our oceans- many of which haven’t even been discovered! Come meet this one…

THE SPOOKFISH!

 

Range/Habitat: tropical- sub-tropical ocean waters/deep oceans

Diet: Carnivore: crustaceans, copepods, and anything they can get

Length: 3 ¼”

Conservation Status: unknown

Fun Facts:

  • Spookfish have a very odd shape.
  • They have transparent white bodies and long thin transparent pectoral (side) that are half the length of their bodies.
  • The Spookfish most spectacular adaptation is their eyes. They are tubular and point upwards.
  • Spookfish have a second eye on the side of their eye. It looks like a black spot.
  • The second eye is actually part of the primary eye and points downward. It acts as a mirror and is thought to help the spookfish find animal are bioluminescent. (They have chemicals in their body that give of light.)

It’s only been in the last few years that scientist figured out how the Spookfish’s eye works. They aren’t seen very often because they live so deep in the ocean! Wow!

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Who’s ready to guess another spooky creature! We’re only give you one clue!

vampire bat

Flying mammal named after a creature of the night!

WHO IS IT?

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

swow compounds eye

Welcome back to class everyone! We have a great word for this week- are you ready?

This week’s word is Compound Eye: a compound eye is made of up of many light sensitive units that form the retina of the animal. Insects and crustaceans are the creatures we see the most with compound eyes.

compound eye pic Aren’t compound eyes cool?

swow compound eye

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

FEATURED ANIMAL- COMMON RAVEN

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

FEATURED ANIMAL- COMMON RAVEN!

We’re excited to introduce this week’s Feature Animal! This black bird had a very famous poem written about it. They are associated with Halloween along with their cousin the crow! Do you know who this bird is evermore?

e e grass yard

raven   Range/Habitat: North & Central America-Europe-Asia and North

Africa/woodlands, open fields and urban areas

   Diet: Omnivores: small mammals, insects, fruit

   Length/Weight: 26”/ 2 ½ lbs

   Conservation Status: Common

 

 

 

Fun Facts:

  • Common Ravens are the largest member of the crow family in North Hemisphere.
  • They are highly intelligent and very social.
  • Common ravens have very large brains and are known to be great at problem solving.
  • Common ravens mate for life. They can live up to 15 years old in the wild and have been known to live longer in captivity.
  • They have large bills to eat many different types of prey.
  • Common ravens are admired in many cultures. They are even kept by royalty at The Tower of London!

raven3raven2

 

 

 

 

 

These beautiful birds are really smart and have adapted well to live near and around people! It’s easy to see why people love them so much with their haunting calls and shiny black feathers.

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

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

swow melanism

Hello everyone! We’re ready to learn here at the University and I hope you are too!

This week’s word is Melanism: an increased amount of black coloration in the fur, feathers and scales. Some melanistic animals include the black jaguar. They appear black, but you can see the famous jaguar spots if you look close enough.

photo 3(1)photo 2(1)

photo 1(1)

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

FEATURE ANIMAL!

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

FEATURE ANIMAL: BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS!

We’ve traveled to the Western Pacific Ocean, near Australia today to meet our creepy crawly Feature Animal. Yesterday was also World Octopus Day- so we knew we had to track down this elusive creature. It wasn’t easy to spot this cephalopod, but we did!

e & e snorkeling

BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS!

blue ringed octopus

Range/Habitat: Marine shallows, coral reefs/Western Pacific Ocean
Diet: Carnivore: crabs, fish, mollusks
Length/Weight: 5-7 1/2″/26 g
Conservation Status: common

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Fun Facts:
• Blue ringed octopuses are known to hide in caves, crevices and trash, such as bottles and cans.
• They are diurnal (hunt during the day).
•Blue ringed octopuses are shy!
• Blue ringed octopuses are extremely toxic. Their venom is more toxic than any land animal.
• They are not normally aggressive towards humans.
• They have rough wrinkly skin.
• Blue ringed octopuses display their famous blue spots when they feel threatened. This is called warning coloration.
• They are invertebrates.
• Blue ringed octopuses are considered intelligent.
blue ringed octopus3We love octopuses! They are such amazing creatures and so smart! Have you ever seen one solve a puzzle in an aquarium? Here’s a video of one opening a jar to get dinner! You humans are no match for our big brains- said all octopus :)!

 

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

GUESS THE ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

GUESS THE ANIMAL!

It’s time to Guess the Animal this Week! We’ll be featuring animals who are considered creepy and crawly or who have creepy names or adaptations for the whole month of October! Do you think you know who today’s animal is? We’ll only give one clue!

ghost crab

  • I live on the beach and a named for my pale appearance!

WHO AM I?

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

SCIENCE WORD OF THE WEEK!

swow

 

Hello students! I am so excited to see you this week! I hear Ellie and Edmond have some frighteningly good feature animals for you in the next few weeks, because we all know October is the month for tricks or treats! I know I”ll look forward to meeting these animals! This week for our science word, we’re talking about another genetic mutation that is similar to albino. Today’s science word is Leucistic: leucistic animals have a genetic mutation that causes them to lose some color- but not all, like in albino animals. Leucistic animals can have colored eyes or light stripes or color on parts of their body.

We have some examples of leucistic animals for you in these pictures!

photo 1

photo 2 photo 3

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

FEATURED ANIMAL!!

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

 

FEATURED ANIMAL:
AMERICAN ALLIGATOR!

e e swamp

We spent the weekend in Florida and took an awesome air boat ride to see if we could find alligators and WE DID! We saw several areas where there were babies and we saw one mother alligator warming herself in the sun! Come learn about these ancient reptiles!

 

alligator2   Range/Habitat: Southwestern United States/ wetlands, swamps,

rivers,lakes, ponds

   Diet: Carnivore: fish, deer, mammals

   Length/Weight: 9 ½-16 ft/ 200-500 lbs

   Conservation Status: common

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts:

  • Alligators are large, territorial and fierce reptiles.
  • They have been on the planet for millions of years.
  • Male alligators bellow or roar to attract females.
  • Female alligators lay 25- 60 eggs in a nest build of mud and vegetation.
  • They guard the nest from predators, such as raccoons.
  • When the baby alligators hatch they are all female or male.  The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the babies.
  • The temperature at which their gender is determined is 90 degrees.
  • Once they begin to hatch, the mother helps dig open the nest.
  • She protects them from predators by carrying them around on her head or in her mouth.
  • Baby alligators stay with their moms for around 3 years.

alligators   IMG_8307

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alligators are so cool. The males can get up to 1,000 lbs. They get a bad rap, but they really want to mind their own business. Alligators were on the verge of extinction 40 years ago, but with great effort they are thriving in the Southeastern United States! We love a great conservation success story!

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

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