No matter the habitat they live in, animals all around the world use camouflage. Today you are going to learn about what that is, why animal use it, and you are even going to try to camouflage yourself! This is always something we enjoy learning about each year, and we have some fun activities that you can try out from your own home! Writing TimeWrite your nameWrite the date: 4-30-20Write the word of the day: LIONWriting Time Reminders: -Names can be all uppercase, or start with uppercase and then use lower case. -Parents write the date first, then kids write or trace it. -”Word of the Day” words reinforce the weekly theme and provide practice writing letters that may not appear in their names. Parents can talk about the word and encourage a story or drawing -Parents, your children may need help with these tasks, so feel free to practice along with them. Circle TimeCamouflage is extremely important to an animal’s survival in their habitat. Camouflage allows an animal to hide from a predator (someone who wants to eat them) or sneak up on prey (someone they want to eat) without being noticed. Camouflage has a few meanings; most people think it describes the coloration and patterns found on the animal and how it blends with the surroundings. Another way to camouflage is to “mimic” or pretend to be an object or different animal. Look at the photos below….can you spot the animals?? Remember our stick bugs that we had at school? They use camouflage too. They look just like sticks, which is why they are always hard to spot! Now let’s do a couple of experiments to help us understand how camouflage works! First, I am going to use a newspaper as my “habitat” Exhibit 1. I also have some “rectangle” animal friends. Look at Exhibit 2 and count as many “rectangle” animals you can find. How many do you see?? Look at the bottom of the blog to see Exhibit 3 for the answer! The second experiment involves you or a stuffed animal friend! What are you wearing right now? Can you blend in with something around your home? You are not limited to the inside of your house; are you wearing green? Can you lay in the grass and hide? Take photos and send them to [email protected] and we will try to find you! These friends are hiding on top of a carpet; their clothes match the environment! There is a furry friend hiding on this carpet! Can you spot him? Daily Activity - Camouflage Art HabitatToday you will be using your creativity to make an habitat that your animal can be camouflaged in, just like some of the pictures of camouflaged animals we saw in Circle Time. Here is another - can you spot the animal hidden with this tree? Materials needed:
Directions:
And now you are finished! Show your camouflaged animal to your family - can they find where your animal is hidden? You can send us a picture and we will try to find your animal too! Daily Book JournalThree times a week, help your preschooler to pick out a book and read it together. Then, help your preschooler to create a journal entry using any of these same options from our book bag job.
Extra Activity - Number GraphingThis activity is great for practicing 1 to 1 counting. Also, the graph is not in numeric order, so you are practicing number recognition. Print the PDF below (or make a number line in your journal) and use materials you find around the house…..cereal, popcorn, beads, shells, etc. (I used little rocks I found outside). You can change up the rules by placing the objects in numeric order. Start by finding the animal with #1, then #2, etc.
Book Reading with our TeachersJoin us as Ms Anne reads: Leo, the Lovable Lion By: Giles Andreae Fun Activities
Exhibit 3: Here is the answer to where all our "rectangle" creatures were located in our newspaper habitat! Did you find all 8?? Adventures with our FriendsRemember you can send us pictures of the projects you are doing, how you have been keeping busy, and more! Here is our email: [email protected]
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Yesterday we talked about some animals that live in the desert and savanna. Today we will be learning about the plants that grow there! These plants are unlike any we find growing here in Oregon, and have some super cool and unique traits. We also have a cute craft that goes with our circle time learning today and a fun new suprise! Reminder: Two weeks ago we had an extra activity where we pressed flowers. If you did that, it is now time to check on your flowers! Writing TimeWrite your nameWrite the date: 4-29-20Write the word of the day: CACTUSWriting Time Reminders: -Names can be all uppercase, or start with uppercase and then use lower case. -Parents write the date first, then kids write or trace it. -”Word of the Day” words reinforce the weekly theme and provide practice writing letters that may not appear in their names. Parents can talk about the word and encourage a story or drawing -Parents, your children may need help with these tasks, so feel free to practice along with them. Circle Time - Savanna and Desert PlantsWhen we planted our vegetable seeds, we learned they needed soil, water and sunlight to grow. What kind of plants do you think grow in a desert or savanna habitat? Do you think you can grow vegetables?? The answer is YES! People have been farming and living in and around the edges of deserts and savannas for thousands of years. They have had to be very creative to make sure the plants get enough water to grow. Native desert and savanna plants are unique in their own way. Only special types of plants can survive these hot and dry habitats. These plants include cactus, grasses, shrubs, and some short trees. What makes these plants special is how they can survive a long time without water. They have 3 special characteristics:
Plants must also adapt to avoid animals. To survive, some animals will get their water supply from eating plants. So plants have created a couple methods to turn away animals:
Fun Fact!Giraffes have extra long and prehensile (finger-like) tongues that help them clean bugs off their face as well as reach for food sources high in the trees. The lips are very thick and the lining of the mouth is leathery; this helps protect them while eating plants with spikes and thorns. Daily Activity - Desert Cactus CraftToday's art activity is taught by Teacher Noemi! Most cacti live in the desert such as in Mexico, Arizona, or Texas. Do you know what the weather is like in a desert? There are so many different types of cacti. They can be as small as a penny, to as tall as a house. Even animals like birds, use it as a home and build their nests on top of it. Today, our project will be making our very own small potted paper cactus. You can follow along with the instructions in the slideshow below! Daily Book JournalThree times a week, help your preschooler to pick out a book and read it together. Then, help your preschooler to create a journal entry using any of these same options from our book bag job.
Book Reading with our TeachersTune in as Teacher Bethany reads: "The Water Hole" By: Graeme Base Notice all the animals and plants that we have talked about the past few day. (And see if you can find all the silly frogs on each page!) Fun Activities
Stuffed Animal Savannah Puppet Show!Today we have a special treat! Teacher Sam has brought to us... A Savannah Themed Puppet Show! Adventures of our FriendsThis week we are going to be learning about two more habitats - The Desert and the Savanna! Like last week's theme (Rainforest and Jungle), these habitats are unique in their climate (that means the weather), wildlife (that is the animals that live there), and terrain (that means how the land looks!). And you're in lucky, because we have a ton of super fun activities this week to teach us all about the Desert and the Savanna! Here is the link to all of our past book reading video! www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_wycvdbPXid21bzNjwCqj9Ta9hhhi3Ao Writing TimeWrite your nameWrite the date: 4-28-20Write the word of the day: DESERTWriting Time Reminders: -Names can be all uppercase, or start with uppercase and then use lower case. -Parents write the date first, then kids write or trace it. -”Word of the Day” words reinforce the weekly theme and provide practice writing letters that may not appear in their names. Parents can talk about the word and encourage a story or drawing -Parents, your children may need help with these tasks, so feel free to practice along with them. Circle TimeThe next habitats we are learning about are Desert and Savanna (also known as: Savannah or Grasslands). A Desert habitat is an area that gets very little rain each year. It generally gets only 10 inches or less rain in a year. Remember Oregon gets 43 inches a year. Not all deserts are made of just sand; many are rocky with scattered plants and shrubs. A Savanna habitat is mostly grassland also having trees and shrubs scattered across the land. A Savanna has two main seasons, wet and dry each lasting about 6 months. During the wet season, it will rain 10-30 inches. Both habitats have dry soil, and very little water. Sometimes they are so hot and dry that the rain from the clouds evaporates (dries up) before it can hit the ground! Last week we learned that snakes can live in many different habitats. Let's explore and see how many animals live in both a hot and wet environment and a hot and dry environment. Below is a fun graph, it’s called a Venn Diagram and it will help us sort data to compare the animals from different habitats. Today we are going to compare the Rainforest with Savanna to see what animals live where. The list of animals that live in both habitats is so long it doesn’t fit our diagram! You can learn about more animals at kids.nationalgeographic.com/ Have you seen any of these animals--from the lists above??? Which ones? Write their name or draw them in your journal. Daily Activity - Animal GameOur activity today is taught by Teacher Tayler M.! The Savanna is an amazing place to explore! As we said above (Circle Time),, Savannas are huge grasslands covered with a couple of trees and A LOT of animals like rhinos, giraffes, elephants, lions, and so many more. Did you know that lions are nocturnal animals so they sleep for 15-20 hours a day! South Africa is the one of the best places to go visit a Savannah habitat,, but since we can't convince mom & dad to take us to one yet come join our animal friends in a fun game of spin & graph! Steps for activity
(If you don't have a printer) Make a table (5x4) in your preschool journal and label the bottom row with animals (add stickers if you have them or drawings) 2. Give each kid a game board and a handful of cheerios or whatever you're using to mark the boxes. 3. Use the spinner provided wheelofnames.com/x87-dkk 4. Mark whatever animal the spinner lands on and continue spinning until all of the boxes are filled. This was a super fun activity! I spun the giraffe the most times. Which animal did you spin the most? What is your favorite animal that lives in the Savanna? Daily Book JournalThree times a week, help your preschooler to pick out a book and read it together. Then, help your preschooler to create a journal entry using any of these same options from our book bag job.
Extra Activity - lowercase letter practiceLowercase letters have some similar characteristics to our animals friends we have been studying. This activity will help with lowercase letter sorting and identification. Print the 2 page PDF (seen below), cut the letter tiles and 4 sorting panels. Start sorting! Parents help with identification of letter names and sounds.
Celebrating Birthdays!Happy Birthday to Blake and Ethan! We hope you both have a great birthday today! Fun Activities!
Adventures of our FriendsA tropical rainforest is such a unique environment that we could study it for weeks. Here is a quick fun fact: Rainforests cover less than 2% of the Earth’s total surface area, yet they are home to 50% of the Earth’s plants and animals. Writing TimeWrite your nameWrite the date: 4-23-20Write the word of the day: WILDRemember: -Names can be all upper case, or can start with upper case and then use lower case. -Word of the day will help reinforce the weekly theme and provide practice writing letters that may not appear in your child's name. Parents can talk about the word and encourage a story or drawing. -Parents, your children may need help with these tasks, so feel free to practice along with them. Your child may need you to write their name or the date lightly and have them trace or copy it. Circle TimeToday we're going to talk about a new word → CLIMATE. The climate is the average pattern of weather conditions (rainy, sunny, cloudy, etc) over a long period of time. Climate isn’t weather---weather changes every day and climate is a pattern! A tropical rainforest climate is a TROPICAL climate because it is closest to the equator. Global climates are often divided into five types: tropical, dry, temperate, continental and polar. Being close to the equator means that there is more direct sunlight hitting the land and the sea. The average temperature for a tropical rainforest is 70-85 degrees F; which is pretty hot. It is like summer every day! . What also happens is the warm air causes the water from the ground, lakes, rivers, and oceans to evaporate into the air making water vapors. As these water vapors rise (moves away from the warm land), they meet the cool air. When warm meets cold, condensation takes place and the vapor creates droplets and clouds form. The clouds then produce rain. It rains alot in a tropical rainforest; the rain amount ranges from 80 to 400 inches a year. Wow! Sometimes it rains so hard, that is rains 2 inches an hour. Just to compare that to Oregon’s rainfall for the WHOLE YEAR, which is 43 inches. Rainforests provide alot of people with food and spices. Fruits like Bananas, Oranges, Lemons, Guava, Figs, Mangos, Passion Fruit. And spices such as Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Allspice, Vanilla, Ginger, Cloves (see below). This is just a few! Do you have any of these items in your kitchen?? [Your fruits may have been grown locally ... just like the rainforest provides crops for the people in that area.] Daily Activity - Rainforest In a BottleTo explore the moisture and humidity of a rain forest even more, today we are making a rain forest in a bottle presented by Teacher Beatriz. After creating your rain forest "scene," you will spray or pour water on the "ground." Then wait a day or so to see if your water has evaporated into the air and created rain droplets, or moisture on the inside of the bottle. Your rain will drip down and water the materials you choose - kind of like a real rain forest! Materials:
Directions:
Daily Book JournalThree times a week, help your preschooler to pick out a book and read it together. Then, help your preschooler to create a journal entry using any of these same options from our book bag job.
Fun Activities1. Go on a nature hike in a forest (like Noble woods) and see if you can spot any wildlife. 2. Cozy up and watch a documentary about rainforests on your TV (Disney + and Netflix have many) 3. Go on a bike ride to our lending library that we have at Little Jags Preschool Book Reading by our TeachersJoin , Ms. Anne as she reads A Mountain of Friends by Kerstin Schoene SurveyAdventures of our Friends*This picture was taken last year when the reptile man came. Though we didn't get to see him this year, he often comes to the Hillsboro Public Library to do shows - so once it re-opens, keep your eye out for him!* There are many animals that live in different habitats. Remember, a habitat is a place where an animal naturally lives and includes the animal’s surroundings and home. For example a frog can live in a Pond habitat and as we learned yesterday, they can live in a Rainforest habitat. Animals are like families, they belong together but live in different places. When they live in different habitats, they learn to live in that environment. That is the same for snakes! There are so many types of snake but each will adapt to their own specific habitat. Let's take a closer look at the snake family! Writing TimeWrite your name:Write the date: 4-22-20Write the word of the day: SNAKERemember: -Names can be all upper case, or can start with upper case and then use lower case. -Word of the day will help reinforce the weekly theme and provide practice writing letters that may not appear in your child's name. Parents can talk about the word and encourage a story or drawing. -Parents, your children may need help with these tasks, so feel free to practice along with them. Your child may need you to write their name or the date lightly and have them trace or copy it. Circle TimeSnakes can be found in a variety of habitats all over the Earth. Some snakes live in habitats on land, including forests, prairies, and deserts. Others live in water environments. Even though snakes can be found all over the world, most of the snakes live in warmer climates. Snakes are reptiles and are cold blooded so must regulate their own body temperature. You can find snakes laying in the sun to warm themselves up and slithering to shady spots to cool themselves down. Snakes that live in cold places hibernate (sleep) all throughout the winter so that they survive! Snakes are so interesting….they use their tongues to smell! A snake’s tongue has a fork on the end of it because it helps pick up little pieces of smell---odor particles---that are floating in the air. The snake flicks its tongue and brings it back into its mouth and presses it against a special organ in the roof of the mouth. This organ helps the snake smell things like dirt, plants and animals. This is how a snake avoids predators and catches food. Snakes don’t have eyelids or ears…..and their eyes don’t move. They feel vibrations of movement through the ground. [You try it…..close your eyes and have a parent or sibling walk behind you. Can you “sense” they were behind you??] Snakes are not slimy, they are covered in scales. Scales serve several purposes: They trap moisture in dry climates and reduce friction as the snake moves. Some snakes will angle the scales so they can dig in soft ground and even climb trees! The hissing sound a snake makes is a sign the snake feels threatened (scared or worried). Snakes will hiss at its enemy to seem “scary” so they won’t be eaten. They will also hiss when they are unhappy and just want something to go away. There are almost 3,000 different kinds of snakes! Here are just a few you may find in different habitats: Daily Activity - Paper SnakeAll snakes have unique patterns to their scales. The colors often match their environment to help hide them from both predators and prey. Today’s activity is making a snake! Materials:
Instructions:
EARTH DAY!!!Today is Earth Day!!!! Woohoo! Last week we learned all about gardening, recycling, and wildlife - and now is the time to put what you learned to good use. Today, think about how you can take care of our environment and be a better global citizen. Please send us pictures of all the nature-y things you do! Daily Book JournalThree times a week, help your preschooler to pick out a book and read it together. Then, help your preschooler to create a journal entry using any of these same options from our book bag job.
Fun Activities1. Go for a walk in the rain (remember how we said it rains a lot in the rainforest?!) 2. Pretend you are a rainforest animal and build a fort (with blankets, pillows, etc.) to be your home 3. Print out a coloring page of your favorite animal and color it! Book Reading by our TeachersJoin Natalie Mix (Sarah's Mom!), as she reads Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae Survey |
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