Two Tails Ranch

[taken in part from a friend's blog]

15 miles south of Gainesville in Williston is a large animal rescue/sanctuary, the Two Tails Ranch. We went there this week with our home school group to see elephants, zebras, giant tortoises, tigers, ostriches and more.

It turns out that the reason she was “dancing” is because elephants are so heavy, they have to stay in constant movement or their organs will become crushed under their own weight. This is also why they sleep standing up; lying down for more than 20-30 minutes causes fluid to build up in their lungs. Amazing.

The elephants at Two Tails are all Asian elephants, distinguished from their African cousins by smaller ears, lighter skin, no tusks for the females, two domes on the head instead of one, and a difference in toe count. The lighter skin pigment includes freckles, as see on this female’s face:


The information given was rather sobering. Unless current bans on importing elephants to the US are lifted and intensive breeding programs are implemented, these endangered animals will likely be extinct in the next 75-100 years. They require enormous amounts of land in order to thrive, as they are destructive of their habitats and must migrate often. Unfortunately, current preserves are insufficient, and elephants in Asia are being culled as nuisance animals in areas heavily populated by humans. Their shrinking habitat has also caused insufficient genetic diversity among potential mates for healthy offspring. Add to this the fact that elephants are actually choosy about their mates, and the birth rate is drastically insufficient to keep up with the death rate.

Luke, a beautiful male, did a log-manipulation demonstration for us. He also lay down for the trainer, which she said requires absolute trust, as that is the elephant’s most vulnerable position, since they can’t get up quickly.


This emu is about 4 months old, half the size of an adult. A handler picked it up and let the kids pet the feathers on his back.


The sanctuary also had several zebras. We learned that predators see mostly in black and white, so the zebras’ stripes make it hard for the predators to distinguish individual animals in a herd, which discourages attack. The zebras were fearless and came right up to our group to check us out:

Habitats at Morningside Nature Center

[taken in part from a friend's blog]


Our group took a lovely field trip this week to Morningside Nature Center. They’ve been doing programs for both public and home schooled children for years, and it shows. Their presentation was well-organized, engaging, and really reached the kids.

The title was “Animal Homes.” There was a brief discussion of animals’ physical adaptations which give them advantages in their environments (complete with skeletons and taxidermy for illustration), then the focus moved to habitats. The kids learned that the 4 necessary components of any habitat are: food, water, shelter, and space. Then the fun part began.


Each student was given a small plastic animal and a laminated sheet with information about it. Then, with the presenter’s guidance, they built a habitat for the animals in a big wading pool filled with sand that included all the necessary elements. The presenter talked them through the food chain and how it influenced the spacing and placement of different species. One of the children was feeling contrary and refused to place his frog in the habitat, but instead of derailing the lesson, the presenter used the frog’s absence to demonstrate how the entire ecosystem could be disrupted by the destruction of one species. It was really quite ingenious.

Then she used a toy bulldozer to level some trees and build a “house” by the lake, and she talked about all the various ways that humans dwelling in that particular spot were likely to cause damage. She guided the kids through ways that humans could more thoughtfully establish their own habitat within the system to minimize environmental impact, and the kids really got into it. It warmed my heart, I have to say.

Then we went on a nature walk. It was quite cold, so we didn’t see any animals, but our guide pointed out many signs showing where they’d been.

Learning about Bats

The Lubee Bat Conservancy is about 10 miles north of Gainesville, not too far from our own dwelling. The Conservancy’s focus is on plant-visiting “fruit and nectar” bats, which include the giant flying foxes with wingspans up to to six feet. They are absolutely gorgeous.


We learned that most fruit-and-nectar bats are “macro-bats,” while most insectivorous bats are “micro-bats.” While the micro-bats have the large ears and tiny bodies that allow them to hear their prey and swiftly chase it, macro-bats have relatively small ears, but large eyes and noses to help them find their food.

Cuttlefish, Chromatophores, & Coolness

Today, thanks to Creature Cast, we learned about both multicellular organisms and squid iridescence. Although I think much of it was over P's head, he seemed to grasp some of it. We talked about it more, made reference to how the iridescence was similar to butterfly wings (like in the video), and then sought out videos to showcase it in "real life".

we looked at some of Loligo squid (the kind mentioned in the Creature Cast), including some neat light displays. At about that point, we watched the NOVA "About Cuttlefish" short, and had to learn more!

NOVA has a website on these "Kings of Camouflage", and we enjoyed learning more about the Anatomy of a Cuttlefish (including its weird W-shaped pupil, its 200 chromatophores or pigment cells per square millimeter, and its blue-green blood!) and watching videos of these Quick Change Artists.

Pretty awesome stuff.

The Buzz about Bees

We attended a presentation on honey bees at the Museum of Natural History. They all enjoyed the program. The learned about the different classes of bee (queen, worker, drone, etc.), the fact that bees can be promoted from one job to another, and what different “dance moves” mean in communicating the location of food. Apparently there was a movie and honey samples, so it must have been good.

Owl Sanctuary

Today, we went with our homeschooling group to the Owl Sanctuary down in Ocala (actually called the Ocala Wildlife Sanctuary). This is a non-profit organization that specializes in rescuing birds of prey, primarily owls. We heard about the owls, how they are able to hunt using sound (echolocation) and that they don't need daylight to see.



There were many other birds and fowl there, including ducks, a parrot, a kestrel, a crow, a goose, and more. We saw screech owls, barred owls, great horned owls, and barn owls. Because it was daylight and many of the birds were in heavily secured "mews" (for their safety as well as ours), it was a bit hard to see them, and very hard to photograph them.

We ended the tour by receiving an owl pellet to take home and dissect (this is the undigestible parts of the animal that the owl fed on). Ours was a dark brown one, which should be a barred owl's pellet. It will be a fun thing to dig through.

Not Back to School Potluck

Today, along with six other homeschooling families, we celebrated not going back to school. A potluck gathering meant lots of fun and socializing to be had, for kids, moms and dads alike! Among this setting, there were groups forming to act out the Boxcar Children, a children's army, petting and caring for the goats, dress-up, water play, trains, LEGOs, and archery.



It was really a great way to continue our summer past the arbitrary school calendar cut-off. It was a hard transition to leave for pretty much everyone. Luckily, we'll see almost everyone again tomorrow (most dads will be back to work, and miss our fun trip to the owl sanctuary!).

City of Ember

"P" and "K" listened to the audio presentation of "City of Ember". Later, they discussed sections of the book with us and incorporated some of the scenarios of the book into their creative play.

August 12

P worked on his handwriting - Print and cursive for the letters A and B.

Yellowstone and vulcanism

Discussed geology with the kids in and around Yellowstone park. What causes geysers and hot springs, and how a magma chambers can heat the liquids and earth above it. Discussed the possibilities of an eruption and how remnants of earlier eruptions on volcanoes in western United Sates can be found in several western states.

Mineralogy and Geology; gardening

A geologist from the University of Florida talked for thirty minutes today to "K" and "P" of the different types of rocks and minerals and how they form. "P" was able to identify the difference between internal and external in relation to a diagram of a volcano. They were able to hold and feel rocks and minerals of various types, look at them with a magnifying glass, and then drew their own volcanoes and rock formations.

After this activity they helped to pick ripe vegetables in a community garden, and to tell the difference between zucchini that were ready to harvest and which should be left to ripen more.

Ancient and Modern Athens

P and I talked about Ancient Greece and the acropolis. Reviewed photos of the building and models of what it used to look like. Watched a NOVA special on the Acropolis and attempts to renovate it and what they learned about its construction.

International Space Station

P and K and dad talked about the ISS and the different kinds of experiments they do on the station. Reviewed the NASA tracking website to monitor how fast it travels around the world.

Whaling

"P" and I discussed the history of whaling. We talked about the uses for blubber, Moby Dick and current whaling practices, including the stand-off between Japanese whaling vessels and environmentalists.

Countries and Capitals

Reviewed countries and capitals. Parker can now readily identify the capitals of the following countries from a list (and a majority from memorization):

• Egypt
• Russia
• Mexico
• United States
• Great Britain
• France
• Greece
• China

Carousel Horses

Went to library and learned about the miniature (under 27" tall) therapy horses. Heard about a ton of books about horses, but P wasn't interested in checking any out. Instead, we checked out Star Wars and other books.

Civil Action for Love

There was a peaceful gathering on Wednesday, starting at 6:45 pm, expressing love for ALL of our neighbors in front of the "Dove World Outreach Center". It was a good gathering -- between 70 and 100 people on the street in front of the church. Noone seemed to show for their 7 PM service, though it is summer, and things often change then. A nice gathering of many faiths all talking love. :)

http://www.wcjb.com/news/4288/hateful-sign-causes-neighborhood-uproar

Blue Springs exploriation

We enjoyed exploring the spring-fed "watering hole", looking for snails, watching the fish swim past, feeling the cool water.

http://www.bluespringspark.com/

Almost Molecules

P and I had a brief conversation about molecules, and how these things are connected, but he just wanted to try it out for himself. I guess not quite ready for organic chemistry.

Circle Camp Finale

After two weeks of our peace talk-themed summer camp, the kids put on an amazing performance complete with drumming, dancing, singing, and skits. Lots was learned in terms of talking with others compassionately and getting to feelings and needs instead of blame and hurt.