Ms. Zmijewski's Third Graders Really Dig Science!
January, 2002
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Ms. Zmijewski's Third Graders Really Dig Science!January, 2002 |
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See our Anole movie! (Quicktime required) |
During the 1st week of studying grass and anoles, we did some experiments to see the best way to grow grass.
The questions were:
Which grows better, plants watered with water or vinegar or both? We found out that vinegar kills the seed. The one with regular water grew the best.
Does grass grow differently if you water it with food coloring in the water? We found that it does not grow differently. The plain grew the best, but we also found that there were different levels of how high each plant with food coloring grew. The yellow was the highest, blue was in the middle, and red was very small and skinny.
Will grass grow better in dirt, a mixture of gravel and dirt, or just gravel? We found that grass in dirt grew the tallest. The mixture had the most blades of grass. The gravel didn't grow until the 5th or 6th day.
Will grass grow better planted in sugar, flour, salt, or dirt? Salt and sugar dissolved and didn't grow. The flour turned into paper mache and didn't grow. Regular grew.
Which grows better: the grass in the dark, in the sunlight, or the mix? The one with mix of sun and shade grew best. The one in the shade was taller than the one in the sun. But maybe that's because we didn't have a lot of sunny days. The one in the shade the tops of it were yellow and the bottoms were white.
We then started studying green anoles (otherwise known as American chameleons), the creatures that live in the grass that we planted. We found some interesting facts about anoles in the library. We know we have to take care of the anoles once they get here. We found out that we shouldn't pick them up too much. We also found out that if they are dehydrated for more than 24 hours, you should take them to the vet. Finally we learned we should keep the room warm, because anoles are cold-blooded.
We planted grass in the terraria that the anoles will live in. Some grass is sprouting already, but some isn't.
First we put in 2 cm. of gravel. Next we put 6 cm. of soil. Then we planted the seeds. We added more soil and watered it.
Anastasia was measuring the grass.
Two groups were watering the grass.
Another group was noticing the grass that sprouted.
A group was looking to see if they could find roots.
We hope our anoles will be very comfortable in their new homes!
On the first day, everyone was really excited. Maybe some people thought that they weren't going to come because they came 2 days late. They went to 5 different towns before they came to us. One town was Chelmsford.
One of the anoles died today, October 10th, sad but true.
Some of Ms. Zmijewski's last year's students (Karen, Elise, and Rebecca) came in to show us how to give water and how to feed the anoles.
When you give them water, you have to make sure you don't open the lid too much because they can climb out. They are very fast. You should open the lid on the side that the anoles are not on.
You have to spray water on the walls and not on the anoles. They will lick the water off the walls.
We feed the anoles in our classroom crickets. They can also eat spiders, grubs, any kinds of insects, moths, and cockroaches. Green anoles eat brown anole hatchlings. Brown anoles eat green anole hatchlings. Whatever you feed the anole, should have some food in it so it's more nutritious.
Bigger anoles sometimes eat smaller anoles. Sometimes they eat mice.
When anoles are hunting for food, they are very fast at catching their prey. The prey is very unlikely to escape.
Sometimes anoles stop eating. It may be because they are shedding. It also might be because you are trying to feed them at the wrong time of the day or because it is too cold.
You should not feed an anole anything longer than its head. Crickets will nibble at anoles if they are left uneaten.
Birds and cats eat anoles. If a predator is chasing an anole, and it catches the tail, the tail breaks off. The anole has time to get away. Slowly the tail grows back, but it doesn't look as good as the original one. It's harder to catch a skinny anole than a chubby one.
When anoles are about a year and a half old, they can start to mate. Male anoles bob their heads at female anoles when they are trying to impress them. They also stick out their dewlap, the place on their neck that is brightly colored, when they want to mate. Males run over to the females and bite their neck. That starts the mating. If females aren't ready, they run away.
Anoles breed from late March through early October. Baby anoles are born from eggs. Anoles usually lay 1 egg at a time. They do this each week for a few weeks. Females bury their eggs in soil. Eggs hatch after 60 to 90 days. Eggs are about the size of a pebble.
Most anoles live about 2-3 years. Some grow to be 16 years old.
