Monkeys, Zebras, Giraffes, Oh My! October 25, 2007

Honolulu Zoo
The children loved visiting the Honolulu Zoo and going on a guided tour to learn about some of the mammals in residence. We had a fabulous guide who "talked" to the animals and got the animals to respond.  The children were thrilled with the chatter of Elvis, the gibbon ape, and the responses of the many animals we visited when our guide, Mr. Jason, would rattle his keys or call the animals by name.  Our fact-filled trip certainly had an impact on the students.  The following list includes some of the information the students learned during our visit:

• Cheetahs will eventually be extinct.  There are less than 1,000 in the wild. ZC
• Giraffes have black or purple tongues so their tongues don’t get sunburned.  CH
• Monkeys don’t like water, so there is water around their island so they won’t escape. EM
• Cheetahs are the fastest land animal.  They don’t run; they glide.  Cheetahs' feet are on the ground for two seconds out of two minutes. JC and ZC
• A giraffe's tongue is as long as an adult's arm. SY
• Water bucks don’t taste good to their predators.  JH
• Rhinoceroses can’t see very well.  They just bump into things.  MM
• Zebras go in groups because some animals can’t count, and the group of zebras looks like one big zebra.  Spider monkeys have a strong tail, so it’s like having another hand or foot.  KL
• There are two different kind of elephant,  the African Elephant and the Indian Elephant.  KM
• Giraffes stay under trees, and their coloring looks like the ground and the light that shines through the trees, and that way lions can’t see them.  LW
• All animals have different protection and defenses.  Different animals eat different things, like fruits and vegetables and meat.  TC
• Rhinoceroses can weigh up to eight tons, and their horns are made up of hair. AW
• Zookeepers carry keys so they ring the keys and the animals come because they think they are going to get food. MH
• The black Gibbon ape can blow up its throat really big because it wants to protect its territory. SA
• Hippopotamuses kill more people than crocodiles and lions and sharks.  Hippopotamuses kill 6,000 people per year.  The water buck’s horns are made out of hair. ER
• Horns don’t fall off.  Only antlers fall off.  AK
• Cheetahs can glide when they’re running.  SY
• Giraffes have long necks to eat the leaves on trees. KJ
• Hippopotamuses stay underwater a lot so their skin doesn’t get dehydrated and sunburned. SA
• The black monkey with pointy ears bangs on the trees, and when cheetahs hear the noise, they think it is a bigger monkey. LW
• The black monkey with pointy ears has orange babies because the dad monkey will hurt it or kill it because he wants to protect the girl monkeys. SA
• Lemurs have thirteen stripes on their tails. JH
• When a wart hog loses a tusk, it will grow back in a little while. KL
• Wart hogs are sometimes very dangerous because their tusks can hurt you. MM
• All mammals have hair. They don’t lay eggs - they give live birth. They are warm-blooded. They feed their babies milk. They all have seven neck bones. If they are swimming, they need to go to the surface to breathe. -Class

***Check out the photos from our trip in our Classroom Photo Gallery.***

"Animals in Art"
On Friday, October 26, The Academy of Arts Ambassador Program will bring its Museum in a Box "Animals in Art" unit into all the 1/2 classrooms. An artist will explain how different cultures at different periods in history represented animals in art. On November 2, we will visit the Academy for a docent tour of "Animals In Art" in the galleries, and the artist will return on November 7 for classroom art activities.

Pumpkin Carving
Our classroom is beginning to look like a pumpkin patch!  Thank you to all the families who have donated a pumpkin or who will be donating a pumpkin for our carving festival on Monday, October 29, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm.  The children can't wait to carve pumpkins!

Spooktivity
We're looking forward to seeing all the animals or animal-themed costumes from our class on Wednesday, October 31.  All parents are welcome to join us for the Spooktivity festivities from 12:30 to 2:00 pm.

Thank You
Thank you to the wonderful parents and family members who joined us on the field trip to the Honolulu Zoo: Steve Adams, Jill Cullinan, Wendy Handa, Carolyn Hersh, Theresa Kuo, Ann Loo, Tracy McConnell, Karen Mento, Torry Montes, and Sandy You.  Our class (and Ms. Revard's class) also enjoyed a special, refreshing treat from Theresa -- thanks for the yummy shave ice!  Thank you to ER for supplying Jackson with more scrumptious crickets.  Thank you to CH for the delicious Mega Chocolate Chip Cookie that the class shared to celebrate CH's birthday!  We were amazed at the circumference of the supersized treat!

Posted on October 25, 2007 10:11 AM | Permalink