Sunday, June 5, 2011

Wonderful, Wild, and Amazing Animals!

As part of our animal adaptation science unit, Beverly Critcher 
from Wildlife Experience will bring wild animals
that are native to North America
to Mrs. Ranney's class for careful
scientific observation.



They are a non-profit wildlife education organization that brings native and exotic animals to schools and teaches children about the importance of our natural world.


During our first lesson, the class talked about animals 
that come out at night (nocturnal
as well as day dwellers (diurnal).

Diurnal  animals:  lizards, squirrels, crows and ravens, snakes, hawks, and vultures

Many California animals are nocturnal:  coyotes, owls, raccoons, bats, bobcats, mountain lions, and opossums

Beverly said that wildlife is all around, even if we don't see it.  We can look at what the animals have left behind and know that they have been around:  bones, fur, owl pellets (if you open the pellets, you'll find undigested bones!), feathers, tracks, dung or scat. 
*********
Our first wild visitors were....

an eight-year-old gopher snake and...


Hoot, a barred owl!

**************

Enjoy the slide show about these two incredible critters!

 Native Neighbors on PhotoPeach

 




************

What did you learn from Beverly during her first Wildlife Experience visit to our class?

Have you done any additional research about these animals?
Do you have some fascinating facts to add?

21 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We appreciated and will appreciate the wildlife animals. The bizarre animals were very fasinating.

    The gopher snake felt like a leather football.

    We learned some interesting facts about the owl such as it can turn its head 2/3 of the way around.

    We are excited about seeing more of the animals!

    Best,
    Aidan and Justin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We loved having Beverly show us all the wonderful animals. The gopher snake was interesting to us. When Beverly showed us the shed, she told us to look very closely to find the eyes. We can't wait until she brings more interesting animals today.

    Warmly,
    Edo and Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We enjoyed looking at the Wild Life animals. We learned a lot about animals from Beverly and the animals. We thought the snake looked like a rattle snake, and its shed looked amazing! We both learned that the barred owl can only turn his head half way around to look. We also learned that the girl owls are bigger than the boys. We are looking forward to seeing her today again. We are really excited to see the next amazing animals she is going to bring.


    Warmly,
    Shawn and Gal

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We loved having Beverly show us all the wonderful animals. The gopher snake was interesting to us. When Beverly showed us the shed, she told us to look very closely to find the eyes. We can't wait until she brings more interesting animals today.

    Warmly,
    Edo and Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ariel and Ella☺June 6, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    (Ariel) That was a splendid slideshow! I learned that owls can’t twist their heads all the way around. I didn’t do any research, so I can’t tell you extra facts.

    (Ella) I also think that the slideshow was stupendous. I learned that there are two types of snakes: venomous and constricting. Like Ariel, I did not research for any extra facts.

    Your students,
    Ariel and Ella ☺

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mikayla and Emiy:)June 6, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We loved the animals that Beverly brought in especially Hoot the owl! Mikayla thought the gopher snake felt like a basketball. Emily thought it felt like an orange. We remembered why the owl’s feathers are softer. It is softer because the owl needs to fly silently at night, so that is why the owl has softer feathers. We are excited to see what Beverly has for us today. See you soon!

    Your Students,
    Emily and Mikayla

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We learned that a gopher snake can sound and look like a rattle snake Sydney thought that all owls can turn their heads all the way around their bodies, but they can't.
    Warmly,
    Sydney and Mikey

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rachel and PhilipJune 6, 2011 at 9:12 AM

    Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We liked seeing all of the amazing animals! We mostly enjoyed the barred owl, but we still liked the gopher snake. While we learned that a barred owl can fly very quietly, we also learned that a red feathered hawk
    flaps very loudly.

    We can't wait to see more animals!

    Yours Truly,
    Rachel and Philip

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    This is Leah and Grace. We had a great time observing the two animals.

    Grace liked comparing the feathers and learning about the owl.


    Leah liked touching the snake. Her mother wouldn’t ever do that!


    We are looking forward to seeing more animals with Beverly.

    Sincerely,

    Leah and Grace

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    What a great post about wildlife animals. I was surprised how much a gopher snake looks like a rattlesnake. Snakes are scary.

    Mrs. Culbert

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mrs. Ranney

    I thought the gopher snake felt like a hot dog and beads put together.

    It was interesting that the female is bigger than the male. I was interested about its backbone.

    I want to see more animals, and have one as a pet!

    Sincerely,
    Carl and Mark

    (From Mrs. Wilson's class.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Ranney

    I think your blog is is awesome. I did not know that snakes are cold blooded. Mrs.Ranney your blog is full of animals and your video shows the owl more than the snake , I think that it was cool.

    Mrs. Culbert taught us how to blog today.


    Ethan and Alex

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs.Ranney
    We are from Mrs.Wilson's class. We think you have a wonderful blog.Our favorite part when Beverly came with the animals was when she showed us the awesome, cute, big owl. It was a nice experience.

    From Alexa and Olivia ;)

    P.S We like the video!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We liked the Native American animals video. We thought the gopher snake felt like an orange or a football.


    Best,
    Zaakirah and Maren

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs.Ranney

    We are in Mrs. Wilson's class. Our names are Reed and Nathan. We're really interested in the gopher snake. We couldn't believe that it looked so much like a rattlesnake.

    Mrs. Culbert showed us your blog and taught how to post a comment.

    Sincerely,
    Reed and Nathan

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Mrs.Ranney

    We thought the gopher snake was a rattlesnake at first. The barred owl was so cute. This is the first post on a blog that we have ever done. We are in Mrs. Wilson's class.

    From,
    Amir and Nicholas

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Mrs.Ranney

    We thought the gopher snake was a rattlesnake at first. The barred owl was so cute. This is the first post on a blog that we have ever done. We are in Mrs. Wilson's class.

    From,
    Amir and Nicholas

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    We enjoyed the video. We thought the gopher snake felt like an orange. We can't believe that the barred owl can turn its head 2/3 of the way. The turkey vulture had long wings that were 5 feet wide! The tarantula was very hairy and interesting.

    From,
    Sarah and Brianna
    (Mrs. Wilson's class)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Mrs.Ranney,

    Adam says he thought the gopher snake felt like a hot dog.He also says that it is amazing that an owl can turn its head 2/3 of the way around. My friend says he wishes he could have been there. He would have loved the gopher snake.

    From,
    Adam and Kai

    June 6, 2011 1:13 PM

    ReplyDelete
  20. Raelynn and CarlyJune 6, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,

    Hello, this is Raelynn and Carly. We have enjoyed this school year SO much. Here are some of Raelynn’s favorite things that she has done this school year: the project Frozen Fractions, and the biography speech, and diorama.

    Both of our favorite projects are the biography speech and diorama. (Carly’s was Robert Fulton, Raelynn’ was Eleanor Roosevelt).


    One of our favorite games to play in class is silent speedball. Our favorite game to play at recess is handball.

    We have enjoyed this school year so much!

    Warmly,
    Raelynn and Carly☺

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dear Reed and Nathan,

    Thank you for commenting on our blog. I am also interested in the gopher snake. Here are some facts: The Gopher Snake adults range in size from 2.5-7 feet. However, most of the subspecies reach a length of 4.5-5 feet.



    Dear Mrs. Ranney,

    I have some facts about the Barred Owl: An adult is 40-63cm, with a 38–49 in. wingspan. Its weight is 500 to 1050 grams.


    Regards,
    Ariel☺

    ReplyDelete

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