Our New Class Pet: September 6, 2007

Jackson, the Jackson Chameleon
We have a new addition to our classroom!  The Ramirez family has generously contributed their pet Jackson chameleon to us. The students are thrilled to have such a cool class pet.  Jackson came complete with a beautiful cage, plant, spray bottle, and supply of food (crickets and mealworms).  It was very exciting to witness Jackson's first meal at school - a juicy mealworm that he snatched from the plant in his cage.  The class discussed what Jackson needs to be healthy and happy.  The students came up with the following:
    What Jackson Needs

• Food: Crickets, Mealworms - 2 every 3 days.
• Water: Spray leaves every day with water bottle.
• Change newspaper when dirty.

    How to treat Jackson

• Treat Jackson the way you want to be treated.
• Do not take him out of cage without permission from teacher.
• Treat Jackson with respect - do not poke, taunt, or hurt.

We look forward to learning more about Jackson chameleons along with many other animals as part of our animal inquiry unit.
Animal Inquiry
We began our Animal Inquiry this week with a discussion about what we think we know about animals.  Since "animals" is such a broad topic, we focused our discussion on the classification of different animals.  So far, the students have come up with the following list of "What We Think We Know About Animal Classification":

Birds

• Birds lay eggs.
• Some birds fly.
• Wild ducks can fly.
• Some birds can swim.
• Birds live in nests.
• Penguins and ducks swim.
• Birds have soft feathers.  
• Birds are scared of people.
• Feathers are many different colors. 
• There are many different types of birds.
• Some birds chirp a lot and wake you up.
• Parrots can copy what you say.
• Some birds have different feet.
• Some birds have three toes.
• Birds have beaks.
• Some birds eat dead things - vultures.
• Some birds have long beaks and some birds have short beaks.
• Parrots have two voice boxes so they can make two sounds at once.
• Flamingos turn pink because of what they eat.  They eat crab.
• Names of birds: pigeon, parrot, Emperor penguin, eagle, hawk, owl (pueo), bald eagle, woodpecker, pelican, golden plover, puffin, seagull, cockatoo, robin, peacock, ducks, toucan, parakeet, flamingo, hummingbird, chicken, rooster, vulture, kingfisher, ostrich, emu, dove, finch.
  

Fish

• A shark is a fish.
• Fish need to live in water.
• A fish lives underwater and it doesn't need to go up to get air to breathe.
• You can tell if it's a shark or if it's a dolphin by gills.  A dolphin doesn't have gills.  A dolphin is not a fish.
• A fish sleeps with its eyes open.
• Fish die when they don't have water.
• There are a lot of different kinds of fish.  
• All fishes do not have to have salt water.  
• Fish need food.
• Some fish have shiny scales.
• The black tip reef shark has cartilage bones.
• Names of some types of fish: Ahi, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, goldfish, bait stealers, swordfish, tuna, the frog fish, clownfish, flying fish, aku, salmon, catfish, guppy, fighting fish (beta), mahi mahi, parrot fish, pink glowfish, puffer fish, sucker fish, jellyfish, stingray, viper fish, angler fish, piranha, barracuda, tilapia, gobi, lionfish.
• A Portuguese man-'o-war is three types of animals and a fish - one catches the food, one stings, and one is the bubble.
  

Reptiles

• An alligator is a reptile.
• Reptiles have scales.
• Alligators eat meat.
• A snake is a reptile.
• Some crocodiles live in salt water.
• The largest snake in the world is the anaconda.
• Dinosaurs are reptiles.
• Some snakes swim.
• A male Jackson chameleon has three horns; female Jackson chameleons do not have horns.
• Reptiles can bite.
• Snapping turtles get food by pretending it's a rock.
  
• Reptiles protect themselves using camouflage.
• Iguanas are big lizards.
• Some sea turtles have moss on their shells.
• A python is a big snake.
• The biggest lizard is a Komodo Dragon.
• Some lizards can go in water.
• The Komodo dragon is an endangered animal.
• Names of reptiles: turtles (sea turtle, snapping turtle, box turtles), chameleon, Jackson chameleon, crocodile, alligator, snakes (boa constrictor, black mamba snake, King Cobra, python, brown tree snake, rattlesnake, Hawaiian blind snake), lizard.
  

Amphibians

• Amphibians can be big and small.
• Some amphibians have horns.
• They live in the water and on land.
• A bufo frog feels like a balloon.
• Some amphibians eat flies.
• Frogs are slimy.
• Frogs and toads are kind of different.
• Frogs are smaller than toads.
• Some frogs have bumpy skin; some frogs have smooth skin.
• Frogs jump high.
• Some frogs are poisonous. 
• All frogs are cold-blooded. 
• Some frogs and toads have poison sacs.
• The Hawaiian blue frog is poisonous.
• Frogs have webbed feet.
• Names of amphibians: bufo frog, red-eyed tree frog, toad, bullfrog, frogs, Hawaiian blue frog, coqui frog, poison dart frog.
  

Mammals

• Some mammals have horns like the buffalo.
• A bull runs fast and has huge horns.
• Some mammals live on land and some live in the water.
• Mammals do not lay eggs.
• Humans are mammals.
• Names of mammals: bull, cheetah, lion, tiger, dolphin, ox, saber-toothed tiger, humans, dog, horse, cat, bunny

Today we will be focusing on the needs of animals and where animals live.  The students will create a list of "What We Think We Know About The Needs of Different Animals" and "Where Animals Live."  We will also come up with questions we have about animals, or, "What We Want to Learn About Animals."

Math
This week, the first graders continued their work with addition story problems.  We also focused on finding and exploring relationships between combinations of numbers up to 10, solving a problem with multiple solutions, and representing the solution using mathematical notation.

First and second grade parents, please be involved with your child's math.  Read the Family Letters that go home, play the games as much as possible, and save the materials that are sent home to use throughout the year (primary number cards).

Thank You
Thank you to EM for donating two games to our classroom: Eye Spy Eagle Eye and Scrabble Junior: The Disney Edition.  The children love having an exciting selection of games to play with!

Thank you to JC for giving our class our very own violin concert.  JC played a few songs for us, and we were so impressed with his musical talent!  The students also enjoyed the shave ice from Matsumoto's Shave Ice and the delicious cookies that the Chen family brought for post-concert refreshments.

Posted on September 6, 2007 10:18 AM | Permalink