Happy Groundhog Day!

Today, February 2, is Groundhog Day in America! Many people believe that Punxsutawney Phil can predict the weather on this day. This morning, the famous Punxsutawney Phil came out of his burrow at Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania.

Did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow?

In class, we took a survey:

3 students thought Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow.

19 students thought he wouldn't see his shadow.

  

He did NOT see his shadow!

Tradition says that:

If Punxsutawney Phil 

sees his shadow... then winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

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If Punxsutawney Phil 

 does NOT sees his shadow... then spring weather will come soon

Official Punxsutawney Phil Link

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What do you think of  Punxsutawney Phil?

Do you know of any other traditions? 

Who Wants to See a California Quail?

Over the weekend, Mrs. Yollis had some unexpected backyard visitors.

The state bird of California dropped by!

One male perched on top of the fountain while the others scratched around for food.

They were difficult to spot because they blended in with their surroundings.
(Anyone recall what kind of coloration that is?)

There were four birds on the ground.

Their beautiful plumage and crest are visible in this photo Mr. Yollis took!

Here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds!

(Ornithology is a fancy word for the scientific study of birds.
An ornithologist is someone who studies birds.)



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Mr. and Mrs. Yollis have never seen the state bird in the wild.



Do you know any fun facts about the California quail?

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The Smarties left a comment telling us about Western Australia's state bird, the black swan. 

Please share, what is your state bird?

Nature of Wildworks Assembly

Today Mollie Hogan from The Nature of Wildworks visited our school with her rescued friends.

Nature of Wildworks Assembly on PhotoPeach

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Here is a link to Bobby the Bobcat's Blog!

Which animal did you like the best?

What facts can you add in the comment section?

Animal Research!

Mrs. Yollis' class is finishing up a reading unit called 
Animal Habitats.

We read Nights of the Pufflings. It was about some children in Iceland who rescue pufflings.

 

Another story called, Seal Surfer, was about a boy and his grandfather who befriend a mother seal and her pup.

 

Our final story, Two Days in May,  is about an urban community that must solve a wildlife problem.

Use Mrs. Yollis' Website or the Online World Book Encyclopedia 

to research information about animals.

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Which animal story did you like the best and why?

Leave us a comment with facts you've learned about an animal! 

(Remember,  plagiarism is wrong! What is plagiarism?)

See a Skunk and a Barred Owl!

By Matthew and Chloe

Today was the third visit from Wildlife Experience and they started the presentation talking about teeth. We learned that you can tell if an animal is an herbivore (plant eater), a carnivore (meat eater), or an omnivore (eats both plants and animals) by looking at its teeth. There are three different types of teeth: incisors for gripping food, canine teeth for ripping meat, and molars for grinding food.

Below is the skull of a bobcat. It is a carnivore...just look at those canines!

We also learned about food chains. An animal that eats another animal gets energy. The animal that is at the top of a food chain gets the most energy. Some animals, like humans, are at the top of a food chain.

The first animal Ms. C. shared was a striped skunk. Many of us were worried because we thought it would spray us! Ms. C. told us that the scent gland had been removed during a surgery, but it did not hurt the skunk.

Skunks help humans because they love to eat spiders. They get rid of a lot of black widow spiders, which are poisonous.

Here is a picture of the skunk eating!

Here she is showing us her two stripes which give her the name striped skunk.

She also brought a barred owl!

This owl hooted when she came out! She has brown eyes instead of the yellow eyes that most owls have.

Have you ever heard that owls can turn their heads all around? Well, that is not true. They have a backbone, and if they turned their head all the way around, their neck would snap. Owls CAN turn their heads two-thirds of the way around. That helps owls see because their eyes are in the front of their heads.

The ears of barred owls are asymmetrical. That means one is on the top of the head and one is on the bottom of the head. Having ears in different locations helps the owl hear predators coming from above and below.

What did you learn that you did not know?

Think about the animal you researched. Where is it on a food chain?

Kodiak Grizzly Bear Facts

Our class has been studying animals and animal habitats. Mr. Yollis visited our class today to share the videos and photos he shot last summer on his trip to Kodiak, Alaska.

Enjoy and Learn!

Kodiak Island is the largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, and is the second largest island in the United States.

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Transportation to rural areas in Alaska is done by float plane. Watch the video to see a float plane land on the ocean!

Did you know that grizzly bears love water! Here is one looking under the water for salmon!

Below is a video clip of a grizzly fishing for salmon at the bottom of a waterfall.

Below is a video clip of a mother bear playing with her three cubs!

What did you learn about grizzly bears?

Please leave a comment below!

See a Turkey Vulture and a Salamander

By James, Shane F., and Sean

Thursday, we had Ms. C. from the Wildlife Experience program. She will be visiting us five times before school is out and will share animals from North America. This is a complement to our science unit on Animal Adaptations.

We learned that a fly has a compound eye. That means it sees many of the same images at one time. Above is a picture of a fly's compound eye.

They are difficult to swat because they really see you coming.

She told us that snakes are reptiles, and that they shed their skin as they grow.

Here is the turkey vulture, the only bird in North America that can smell. It can smell something two miles away. It eats dead things off the ground. If you look closely at its right wing, you will notice it is deformed. He was injured when he got hit by a car. Luckily, someone called the Wildlife Experience group and they saved him. Its predators are bobcats and red tailed hawks. Because he had a hurt wing, he could not fly away and a predator could have killed him and eaten him.

The salamander is an amphibian that has holes on its body so it can breathe in water and on land. Interestingly enough, the salamander had tiger strips that were yellow and black. These beautiful stripes give it the name the tiger salamander. The tiger salamander had a long, lizard-like tail that the class got to stroke. The Wildlife Experience was fun and great for learning about animals from North America.

Have you ever seen these animals in the wild?

Do you know anything else about turkey vultures or salamanders?

If so, please comment!

Mobile Marine Lab

The Mobile Marine Lab visited our school today as a complement our habitat unit.

OCTOPUS!

HERMIT CRABS!

BAT STAR!

KELP! (Used in ice cream!)

DECORATOR CRAB!

RED BAT STAR!

PURPLE SEA URCHIN!
(With and without the spines.)

What did you learn at the Mobile Marine Lab?
Comment about it!