Rules for choosing your animal
Choose your animals from either the BioKids or Animal Diversity Web (in the right column, there is a search function that says "Search ADW")
When you research which animal you would like to report on, copy the webpage URL's and paste it next to the name of the animals you listed in your Google Classroom assignment.
Tell me very briefly a bit about the adaptations or features that make this animal interesting to you. Do not use judgement or opinion words (i.e., cute, scary, lovable). I want to know about what unique features it has that interest you. Also, please do NOT choose an animal you have previously reported on in any class.
I will make a selection from your choice list, making sure that no two students are reporting on the same animal.
NOTE:
Sea World Animal Bytes
San Diego Zoo Animal
National Wildlife Federation
Animal Fact Guide
KidsPlanet This website lists and describes animals that are endangered
Arkive One of the things I like about Arkive is that it shows other organisms which live in your animal's habitat, which helps with building a food web.
The next two websites have information about adaptations, but not very much about the habitats:
Soft Schools Animal Facts
Science Kids
Wild Kratts Creaturepedia
Wikipedia can sometimes be a good source of information as well.
When you research which animal you would like to report on, copy the webpage URL's and paste it next to the name of the animals you listed in your Google Classroom assignment.
Tell me very briefly a bit about the adaptations or features that make this animal interesting to you. Do not use judgement or opinion words (i.e., cute, scary, lovable). I want to know about what unique features it has that interest you. Also, please do NOT choose an animal you have previously reported on in any class.
I will make a selection from your choice list, making sure that no two students are reporting on the same animal.
NOTE:
- If you can find your animal on BioKids or ADW AND at least 1 or 2 of the following websites, there's a good chance I can assign it to you because it will have information that will be necessary for your report.
Sea World Animal Bytes
San Diego Zoo Animal
National Wildlife Federation
Animal Fact Guide
KidsPlanet This website lists and describes animals that are endangered
Arkive One of the things I like about Arkive is that it shows other organisms which live in your animal's habitat, which helps with building a food web.
The next two websites have information about adaptations, but not very much about the habitats:
Soft Schools Animal Facts
Science Kids
Wild Kratts Creaturepedia
Wikipedia can sometimes be a good source of information as well.
Oceanic Biome Information
Oceanic biome descriptions are a bit more difficult to find information on. I do not mind if you find a good resource that shows food webs and trophic pyramids for your marine animal, but make sure you verify with your teacher (or parent) that it is a reliable website. And if you find a good food web, you may copy it.
Biomes and their plant communities
We'll be using this website to investigate the biomes later on in your research project. Click on this Blue Planet website to find out about the biome's climate and what it looks like. It also describes some representative plants in the different biomes. Biomes are collections of similar ecosystems. When you click on the name of the biome, it will describe it and there is a list of plants associated with it.
Wisconsin lies in a temperate climate zone and has both grassland & deciduous forest ecosystems. (Deciduous trees are those that loose their leaves in the winter.)
Here is the link to the Blue Planet Biomes Table of Contents You will be using this website to answer many of your questions.
Wisconsin wetland & aquatic plant websites
Here's a link for Wisconsin wetland plants
Here's a link for Wisconsin's aquatic plants
Antarctica Biome plant information
Here's are links for the Antarctica biome - which is considered a separate and unique biome. This link describes the animals. This link describes the food web (which, if you are researching a penguin, is important because it shows the producers), as does this one. And this link describes some of the plants and, most especially, the lichens that grow on the Antarctic continent.
This link talks about plant life in both the Arctic and Antarctica.
The following links give lots of information about biomes and food webs of endangered species:
Endangered species biome project has good information with food webs
endangeredspeciesbiomesprojects.wikispaces.com/Useful+Websites
Wisconsin lies in a temperate climate zone and has both grassland & deciduous forest ecosystems. (Deciduous trees are those that loose their leaves in the winter.)
Here is the link to the Blue Planet Biomes Table of Contents You will be using this website to answer many of your questions.
Wisconsin wetland & aquatic plant websites
Here's a link for Wisconsin wetland plants
Here's a link for Wisconsin's aquatic plants
Antarctica Biome plant information
Here's are links for the Antarctica biome - which is considered a separate and unique biome. This link describes the animals. This link describes the food web (which, if you are researching a penguin, is important because it shows the producers), as does this one. And this link describes some of the plants and, most especially, the lichens that grow on the Antarctic continent.
This link talks about plant life in both the Arctic and Antarctica.
The following links give lots of information about biomes and food webs of endangered species:
Endangered species biome project has good information with food webs
endangeredspeciesbiomesprojects.wikispaces.com/Useful+Websites
Habitat Report Resources for some specific animals
These are some organisms students have chosen in the past. You DO NOT have to choose these.
Gray Tree Frog - There are two species of gray tree frog which are very hard to tell the difference between. They are called the Eastern Gray tree frog and the Cope's Gray tree frog. Here are some links that can help you learn more about them.
BioKids has a lot of information that will help with your report
Frog Forum is useful for information on how to keep them in captivity
Wikipedia article
When choosing the ecosystem plants and animals, choose those that are around Eagle school (marsh wetland, woodland or forest, and prairie or savannah)
BioKids has a lot of information that will help with your report
Frog Forum is useful for information on how to keep them in captivity
Wikipedia article
When choosing the ecosystem plants and animals, choose those that are around Eagle school (marsh wetland, woodland or forest, and prairie or savannah)
Snapping turtle - The two snapping turtles in our classroom were found by Andrew's dad, Dan. We went back to the site by Dunn's Marsh and found 3 nests buried in the sand that had hatched at least 30 baby turtles. They were heading down to the pond when Dan discovered them. I can't yet tell whether these are common or alligator snapping turtles. Here are some other useful links:
BioKids has a lot of information that will help with your report
Kenny's Critters - all you want to know about raising snappers
BioKids has a lot of information that will help with your report
Kenny's Critters - all you want to know about raising snappers
Meal worms
Information on darkling beetle from San Francisco zoo website
Wikipedia
Enchanted Learning
How to raise mealworms
Information on darkling beetle from San Francisco zoo website
Wikipedia
Enchanted Learning
How to raise mealworms
13-lined ground squirrel
BioKids
BioKids
Blunt head minnows
BioKids information
Feeding minnows
When describing the plants & animals, think about all the organisms you see around Wisconsin's ponds and rivers.
BioKids information
Feeding minnows
When describing the plants & animals, think about all the organisms you see around Wisconsin's ponds and rivers.
Artic fox
Blue Planet biomes website Wikipedia |
Racoon
BioKids information
Keeping raccoons as pets
When choosing the ecosystem plants and animals, choose those that are around Eagle school (marsh wetland, woodland or forest, and prairie or savannah)
BioKids information
Keeping raccoons as pets
When choosing the ecosystem plants and animals, choose those that are around Eagle school (marsh wetland, woodland or forest, and prairie or savannah)
Red-tailed hawk - every year a pair of red-tailed hawks returns to there nest in the large cottonwood tree in the marsh just north of our school. I'm sure you can think of several reasons why I didn't put information about how to raise hawks in captivity, but one reason you may not know is that it is illegal to keep hawks. In fact, it's illegal to even collect their feathers!
BioKids information
When selecting the ecosystem plants and animals, choose the ecosytems around Eagle School - wetland marsh, woodland and savannah or prairie
BioKids information
When selecting the ecosystem plants and animals, choose the ecosytems around Eagle School - wetland marsh, woodland and savannah or prairie
Pacific Giant Octopus (2014 - we are not doing this organism this year)
National Zoo website
New England Aquarium website
Bioweb site (has many links)
Video explaining Giant Octopus habitat and other animals in their habitat
Kelp forest habitat
List of kelp forest animals
National Zoo website
New England Aquarium website
Bioweb site (has many links)
Video explaining Giant Octopus habitat and other animals in their habitat
Kelp forest habitat
List of kelp forest animals
Freshwater leech
BioKids information
Leeches Of the 50 or so species of leeches found in the United States, only Nephelopsis obscura, the ribbon leech, is commonly used as fish bait. The ribbon leech is not a blood sucker. In fact, most leeches don't suck blood; they prey on aquatic worms and insect larvae or scavenge dead animal matter. Fish apparently know the difference too. Leech expert Phil Devore says that in side-by-side tests, fish will gobble up a ribbon leech and spit out a blood-sucking leech.
Collecting ribbon leeches is easy. "You have to find a winterkill lake or pond with no game fish," says Devore. These shallow water bodies freeze all the way to the bottom or are so oxygen-starved under the ice that all game fish perish. How the leeches survive under these circumstances isn't well understood, but that's where to look for them. Leeches have a two-year life cycle. The adults spawn in early spring and die as water temperature climbs in late June and early July. The collecting season runs the following spring from ice-out through the first week in July, says Devore. If the water remains cool, a few adults may last a bit longer. Consequently, there's a real shortage of leeches in August and September.
You can make a leech trap from a one-pound coffee can or a large soup can. Bait the can with chicken, beef or turkey liver. Pinch the top of the can shut, leaving a few small openings. In early evening, stake or place the trap in knee-deep water with a muddy or silty bottom. Use some kind of a marker to guide you back.
You'll have to return early the next morning, preferably at or before sunrise; the ribbon leech is a nocturnal scavenger and it will leave the trap if you don't get back early the next morning.
© Robert Queen Leeches will stay fresh in a refrigerator for several days. Bait stores sell small, inexpensive foam storage containers with thick, insulating walls. Change the water every few days, but don't feed the leeches as this will foul the water. Leeches lose some size and bulk after a week or so. Once they get soft, it's harder to keep them on the hook when you cast, so only buy or pick as many as you can use within a week.
BioKids information
Leeches Of the 50 or so species of leeches found in the United States, only Nephelopsis obscura, the ribbon leech, is commonly used as fish bait. The ribbon leech is not a blood sucker. In fact, most leeches don't suck blood; they prey on aquatic worms and insect larvae or scavenge dead animal matter. Fish apparently know the difference too. Leech expert Phil Devore says that in side-by-side tests, fish will gobble up a ribbon leech and spit out a blood-sucking leech.
Collecting ribbon leeches is easy. "You have to find a winterkill lake or pond with no game fish," says Devore. These shallow water bodies freeze all the way to the bottom or are so oxygen-starved under the ice that all game fish perish. How the leeches survive under these circumstances isn't well understood, but that's where to look for them. Leeches have a two-year life cycle. The adults spawn in early spring and die as water temperature climbs in late June and early July. The collecting season runs the following spring from ice-out through the first week in July, says Devore. If the water remains cool, a few adults may last a bit longer. Consequently, there's a real shortage of leeches in August and September.
You can make a leech trap from a one-pound coffee can or a large soup can. Bait the can with chicken, beef or turkey liver. Pinch the top of the can shut, leaving a few small openings. In early evening, stake or place the trap in knee-deep water with a muddy or silty bottom. Use some kind of a marker to guide you back.
You'll have to return early the next morning, preferably at or before sunrise; the ribbon leech is a nocturnal scavenger and it will leave the trap if you don't get back early the next morning.
© Robert Queen Leeches will stay fresh in a refrigerator for several days. Bait stores sell small, inexpensive foam storage containers with thick, insulating walls. Change the water every few days, but don't feed the leeches as this will foul the water. Leeches lose some size and bulk after a week or so. Once they get soft, it's harder to keep them on the hook when you cast, so only buy or pick as many as you can use within a week.
Ignore below this for now
I'm leaving this info here until I can contact the web host for the "terrific Island Creeks website" I mention here. It is no longer available, but I'm leaving it here for a placemark until I can resolve this.
Island Creeks Organism menu This one is excellent for animals typically found in Wisconsin and in North America. Use this for your food web and trophic pyramid if your animal is on it's list!!
Here's a terrific website that talks about the plants and animals in your animal's community and the relationships among them. For example, what it eats and what eats them. The only thing is that it is limited to organisms that typically live in Virginia. However, many of these plants and animals also live in Wisconsin.
Island Creeks Organism menu This one is excellent for animals typically found in Wisconsin and in North America. Use this for your food web and trophic pyramid if your animal is on it's list!!
Here's a terrific website that talks about the plants and animals in your animal's community and the relationships among them. For example, what it eats and what eats them. The only thing is that it is limited to organisms that typically live in Virginia. However, many of these plants and animals also live in Wisconsin.