With Keith, we talked about the different characteristics of mammals : they have fur, warm blood, give birth to live young, and feed milk to their young. We confirmed that we are mammals! We touched a piece of fur to discover the different types of fur that cover a mammal's body.
We learned through observation that by examining the animal's teeth we can tell what they eat (herbivore or carnivore). We observed and touched skulls of a raccoon, beaver and bear to compare. It was impressive!
We talked about birds too, in particular how they have different beaks and feet depending on what they eat and where they live.
We then had to answer a series of questions, and with each correct answer, we added a piece of a costume until our classmates became a bear and a bird. This was a fun way to reinforce what we had learned!
We also got to view some live animals too. Keith brought a bat, which we fed mealworms, and a duck that is 18 years old and has been a valuable member of the Chewonki team for all of his many years! What a fantastic lesson!
In the afternoon after the visit, we drew in our notebooks about all we learned!
