Monday, September 23, 2013

You rescued a what?

So.... Mrs. Roper walked into school this morning carrying a box. But, not just ANY box. It had a mysterious item in it. The students had to solve the riddle to find out what...
I live outside near wooded areas and water.
I move very slowly.
I hide in my shell when I am shy or scared.
What am I?
 
A TURTLE!!!



During Daily 5 in the Work on Writing station, our authors wrote about the turtle. They wrote everything from what we need to put in it's aquarium to where they think it lived before she was rescued. 
 
We had to do a little research. We can't just keep a turtle and not know what it needs in order to survive!
And we were thrilled to know just how much Room 202 Kiddos already know about nature, habitats, and survival!!! Wow, we were impressed!



We did find out that our friend is an Eastern Box Turtle.  Male and Females have different shell shapes, eye colors, and colorings on their legs. To the best of our knowledge, we believe we have a female. After voting, the students named her Linda (coincidentally Grant's mom's name!) haha, sorry Mrs. McAbee; Mrs. Roper and I had nothing to do with this!
 
Eastern Box Turtles can be found in wooded areas. They like to hide in moist leaves.
They like to eat worms, slugs, crickets, grasshoppers, lettuce, carrots, and apples to name a few.
Mr. Daniel, my husband, asked "How can a turtle eat grasshoppers? I would like to see Linda catch one!" hahaha We will have to do some research on this for him.
In the meantime, Linda is being well taken care of. Some of our precious boys caught worms for her at recess today.
Tomorrow, we are going to work on building a habitat for her. When I asked, "What is a habitat?"
This was my first response...
 
Check back soon! We will have pictures of Linda's new home!!!
 
And don't worry... we are following a "Look but don't touch" policy for Linda. We are looking out for the safety of our Room 202 Kiddos and of course, Ms. Linda.
 

4 comments:

  1. What a great explanation of the meaning of a habitat. How exciting! I have turtle envy! :) We have discussed ideas for a class pet in Room 106, but a decision has yet to be made. I hope that you all have a fun time creating a perfect habitat for Linda.

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  2. This is such a wonderful opportunity for inquiry! Your students, I'm sure, are loving their time with their new friend! Thanks for sharing their learning and excitement with us! Can't wait to meet Linda! So what is the difference between a turtle and a tortoise, Ranchers?

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  3. You all found out a lot of information about turtles! I am curious too... how does a turtle catch a grasshopper????

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  4. Caleigh was so excited to meet Linda! She had turtles of her own at one time and loves them! This was such a neat experience for her to learn more about the different types of turtles and that some live on land vs mostly in water! Great Job!

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