EC blog April 17, 2012

First Impressions

How do you feel about bats? Do you find them scary or weird? What about spiders? Do they give you the “creepy crawlies”? People often have misconceptions about wildlife based on inaccurate stereotypes. While bats, spiders and other “scary” wildlife may not be cute and cuddly, they are important contributors to healthy ecosystems. Scary doesn’t mean bad!

Create three different circles on your classroom floor or outside in the schoolyard. Make the circles big enough for several students to stand in at once. Ideas for circles are hula hoops, length of rope etc. Label each circle: one with a smiley face, one with a frown, and one with an unsure face (straight mouth). Show children pictures of different “scary” animals. Ask them how the animal make them feel. Tell them to stand in the circle that represents how that animal makes them feel. Why does it make them feel that way? Have they ever seen this animal in real life?  Go through several animal pictures, discussing each one as you go. Make a chart and record the children’s reactions to the different animals as a class.

As a class pick one or more of the animals to explore further. Read books, take a walk to find them in nature, or even have a County Conservation Board Naturalist bring an animal or activity to your class. Learn all you can about the animal and how it contributes to a healthy ecosystem. After children have learned more about their animal(s) repeat the circle test again. Have anyone’s feelings changed? Why or why not?

Did your students enjoy exploring “scary” animals? Why not host a “Misunderstood Animals Week” and share your findings with the rest of your school and parents? Children could make posters or think of other ways to share their findings!

For this and other activities, crafts and snack ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “First Impressions”.

Book List

Arnosky, J. 2009. Slither and Crawl: Eye to Eye with Reptiles.

Boutiller, J. 2005. Pigs Aren't Dirty, Bears Aren't Slow: And Other Truths about Misunderstood Animals. Annick Press, Limited.

Burns, D. and L. Garrow. Frogs, Toads, and Turtles (Take-Along Guide). NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Cannon, J. 1993. Stellaluna. Harcourt Children's Books.

Cronin, D. and H. Bliss. 2005. Diary of a Spider. HarperCollins Publishers.

DK Publishing. 2007. Backyard Bugs. DK Publishing, Inc.

Dorros, A. 1988. Ant Cities (Let's Read and Find Out Science2). HarperCollins Publishers.

Earle, A. 1995. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. HarperTrophy.

Fredericks, A.D. 2001. Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs and Other Ughs. Dawn Publications.

Fredericks, A.D.  2006. On One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks and a Few More Icks. Dawn Publications.

Graham, M. B. 1967. Be Nice to Spiders. HarperCollins Publishers.

Gibbons, G. 2000. Bats. Holiday House.

McDermott, G. 1987. Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti. Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

Milton, J. 1994. Bats and Other Animals of the Night. Random House, Incorporated.

Monks, L. 2007. Aaaarrgghh! Spider! Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Pallotta, J. and R. Masiello. 1990. The Icky Bug Alphabet. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Pallotta, J. and R. Massiello. 1989. The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

Priddy, R. and J. Rigg. 2004.  I Love Animals: Wild, Scary, Cute or Cuddly, We Love Them All. St. Martin's Press.

Pringle, L., and M. Henderson. 2000.0Bats!: Strange and Wonderful. Boyd Mills Press.

Sill, C. 2003. About Arachnids: A Guide for Children. Peachtree Publishers.

Simon, S. 1987. Animal Fact, Animal Fable. Random House Children's Books.

Simon, S. 1994. Snakes. HarperCollins Publishers.

Waldrop, V.H., D. Anker, and E.B. Blizard. 1988. Unhuggables: The Truth about Snakes, Slugs, Skunks, Spiders, and Other Animals That Are Hard to Love. National Wildlife Federation.

Links:

Bats Live: A Distance Learning Adventure

http://batslive.pwnet.org./

10 scary animals that are totally harmless

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/10-scary-animals-that-are-totally-harmless/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cov

Grow As We Go

All living things grow and change in their lifetime.  Some animals, people included, start off life looking the same as or very similar to adults.  Other animals look very different from the adults when they are young and change significantly over the course of their lifetime.  Frogs and butterflies are examples of animals that change, or metamorphosis, during their life. 

For this activity have children and educators bring in a picture of themselves as a baby and as they look now.  Gather pictures of baby and adult animals - include animals that have young that look similar to adults, and animals that have young that look different than the adults. 

Lay the pictures of people out on a table and as a class guess which baby pictures go with each person.  Ask: In what way do babies and adults look different?  The same?  Was it hard to match baby pictures to children/adults?  Why or why not?  How do our bodies change as we grow?

Share the animal and baby pictures of familiar animals that do not change much over their lifetime such as dogs and cats.  Match up the babies with the adults.  Ask: Has anyone watched a pet grow from a baby into an adult?  How do these animals change as they grow?

Now share the pictures of animals that change significantly from baby to adult.  Try to match up the baby pictures with the adult pictures.  Ask: Was it harder or easier to match these animals? Why or why not? How do these animals change as they grow?  Go over the life cycle of a frog, butterfly or similar animal. Show pictures of how the animals change, you may introduce the names of the animal stages such as tadpole, caterpillar etc...Give each child a picture of a stage of an animal and have them find their matches with each other.  Have them share with the class what they are and if they are a baby or an adult.

Take a walk outside to look for baby and adult animals.  When you find an animal have the children decide if it’s a baby or an adult.  Did you find more babies or more adults? What did the children notice about the animals that you found?

If possible, raise a small animal(s) from a baby to an adult in your classroom.  Tadpoles or caterpillars can be obtained from nature supply stores.  Or borrow an incubator and hatch chicken or duck eggs.

For more information and for snack and craft ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Grow As We Go” activity!

Book List

Anderson, H.C. 1999. The Ugly Duckling. HarperCollins Publishers.

Arnosky, J. 2002. All About Frogs. Scholastic, Inc.

Boring, M. and L. Garrow. 1999. Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies. NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Carle, E. 1994. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Penguin Group (USA).

Coleman, G. and T. Gibbons. 1997. Butterflies. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Fisher, A. 2001. You Don’t Look Like Your Mother (Bowmar Nature Series). Economics Pr.

Goor, R. and N. Goor. 1990. Insect Metamorphosis: From Egg to Adult. Simon & Scuster Children’s Publishing.

Heiligman, D. and B. Weissman. 1996. From Caterpillar to Butterfly. HarperCollins Publishers.

Kalman, B. 2007. Animals Grow and Change. Crabtree Publishing.

Kalman, B. 2008. Animal Life Cycles: Growing and Changing. Crabtree Publishing.

Kottke, J. 2000. From Egg to Robin. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Lionni, L. 1998. An Extraordinary Egg. Dragonfly Books.

Lionni, L. 1974. Fish is Fish. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Marzollo, J. and N. Sheehan. 1998. How Kids Grow. Scholastic, Inc.

Moignot, D. 1998. Frogs: A First Discovery Book. Moonlight Publishing.

Nelson, R. 2003. From Egg to Chicken. Lerner Publishing Group.

Pfeffer, W. and H. Keller. 1994. From Tadpole to Frog. HarperCollins Publishers.

Wallace, K. 2000. DK Readers: Wild Baby Animals (Level 1: Beginning to Read). DK Publishing, Inc.

Waring, G. 2007. Oscar and the Frog: A Book About Growing. Candlewick Press.