Zoos - Blogging from A to Z Challenge

I want to thank everyone who visited my blog during this challenge. Your comments were very encouraging and they were such a highlight of my days.

I hope you continue to follow along during the year if you found what I wrote interesting and you enjoyed reading the posts.

Hope you have a great weekend!

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This year for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I'm focusing on going through my homeschooling files that I've created from the time that Sophia and Olivia were in preschool.

Some of the files are still relevant while others I will be decluttering and recycling in the process. Each day during April, I will pick one of the files to focus on - either doing a hands-on activity or sharing some information from one of the files.

For the 26th and final day - Letter Z - I am focusing on Zoos.

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The file I had about zoos included handouts and lesson plans from the Minnesota Zoo. One of the handouts focused on the Northern Trail - which we went on in March (last month) for a 4-H field trip.

Some of the animals we saw and information about them follows:

Bison

Watching the bison on March 16, 2017.

- Usually found in herds, which may be quite large.
- Most often travel at a walk, but they are quick to respond and can travel very fast over rough terrain for extremely long distances.
- They wallow or roll in the dust or mud. This protects them from  biting insects found in their habitat.
- They usually eat prairie grasses until late morning and then will lie and chew cud during the hot afternoon hours.

Bactrian Camels

Camels on March 16, 2017.

- Usually congregates in small herds of females and calves, and one male.
- Long eyelashes and closeable nostrils are great adaptations for the cold windy climate of the Asian steppe.
- The humps contain fat, not water. These fat stores are useful in times when food is scarce.

Caribou

Caribou that we saw on March 16, 2017.

- Live in small herds.
- They have a tendon in their legs that clicks when they walk.
- During blizzard conditions or high winds, this clicking sound helps keep the herd together.

Moose

I didn't take a photo of the moose at the Minnesota Zoo.

So, I found this photo of Sophia and Olivia

by a male and female moose at a wildlife sanctuary.

This was taken during our trip to New England.

(Taken on September 9, 2011.)

- The largest of the deer family.
- Usually solitary.
- Young calves may live with their mom for 1-2 years before they go out on their own.

Prairie Dogs

Two of the prairie dogs we saw on March 16, 2017.

- Live in family groups called cateries.
- When two prairie dogs meet, they touch mouths with their mouths open and teeth bared.
- Traditionally bison would use prairie dog mounds for "dust bathing."

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In the process of going through the single file that I had that began with "Z," I recycled 1 bag of clippings and photocopies. This brings the total number of bags of recycling to 20!

It feels good to have so much more space in my homeschooling files; and have only the information and ideas that we will be using during the upcoming year.