Welcome to another fun class!

Materials for Activities:
Scrap pieces of paper with varying colors and backgrounds
Nature Magazines (to be used to cut pictures from)
Glue Sticks 

Literature Resources:
Explore Spring: 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring (Explore Your World series)
Draw 50 Baby Animals: The Step-By-Step Way to Draw Kittens, Lambs, Chicks, and Other Adorable Offspring
Baby Animals of the Woodland Forest (Nature's Baby Animals)
I See Animals Hiding
Animals With Crafty Camouflage: Hiding in Plain Sight (Amazing Animal Defenses)
Where in the Wild?: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed ... and Revealed
How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects (Reading Railroad)
What Color Is Camouflage? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2)
Animal Disguises (Science Kids)
Spring Song

Key Words:
camouflage
mammals
fledglings
predators
burrow
instinct

Internet Resources:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/camouflage.shtml
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/camouflage/camouflage.html
http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/animals/camouflage/grownups.weml#teachers
http://home.howstuffworks.com/animal-activities4.htm

CLASS TIME:
Welcome Back to Class
Class Attendance
Recap Last Week – Signs of Spring
Weekly Challenge Participants Sharing Time

Class Starters:
Quote:
“Have ye not seen Him, when through parted snows
Wake the first kindlings of the vernal green?
Have ye not heard Him, when the tuneful rill
Cuts off it’s icy chains and leaps away?
In thunders echoing loud from hill to hill?
In songs of bird, at break of summer’s day?
Have ye not felt Him while your kindling prayer
Swelled out in tones of praise, announcing God was there?

- Mrs. Heman, from Type Lessons for Primary Teachers

 

Nature, God’s creation, speaks of Him. Over and over I will say this to you, if you learn nothing else from my class, I want you to understand that nature is a place that if you open your eyes to see, you WILL find Him. And one of the many ways that I see Him in nature in spring is by noticing the birth of baby animals..baby birds, baby bunnies, baby chipmunks and squirrels, baby raccoons, baby frogs, baby opossums, and even baby skunks! Spring is alive with new birth, babies everywhere!!

Questions to be answered in class today: Why do so many animals have their babies in the spring? How do animals find and make their homes? How do animals keep their babies safe? What is camouflage?

1) Why do so many animals have their babies in spring?
Spring is a time when loads of animal’s babies are born. Why do you think that is? Basically, because the weather getting warmer. Because the weather is getting warmer that means #1 the temperatures are more suitable for raising young ones; and #2 there is more food available to eat. If babies were born when winter time was coming, the babies wouldn’t stand as much of a chance of survival because they would could freeze or die from starvation. Now, what’s one of the main things that animals have to have before having their babies?

2) How do animals find and make their homes?
Animals have to have homes just like people do. Many animals make new homes in the spring or return back to the same ones if they’ve migrated, or just keep using the one they’ve used all along if they do not leave. Animals have homes for the same reasons we do. They need a place to have their babies and keep their families safe from bad weather and danger. Animals are born knowing what kind of home they need. Now how is that? The instinct that God gave them tells them exactly what they need to do to survive. And one of those things is to have a suitable home. Some animals find simple shelters to call home, yet others build complicated structures. Some use homes that other animals built before them, they just move right in and make themselves comfortable.

The majority of animals build their homes using natural materials like grass, dirt, sticks, and mud. It all depends on the type of home they need, and where they live. Animals that live on or near ground level will make or find homes naturally close to the ground. Such as the Song Sparrow, even though it can fly, tends to hang around the ground a lot, not much in trees. Therefore it builds its nest down low near the ground. And some mammals, like skunks, rabbits, chipmunks, and groundhogs dig burrows down underground to have their babies. Often snakes will find old burrows and make them into their homes. Sometimes the old owners will come back to find a new animal has moved in! How would you like it if someone moved in to your home while you were out at the store?

Some animals make their homes using material they make from their own bodies. Many insects do this. Such as bees make their own homes from beeswax, paper wasps use their own spit, spiders spin webs from their own silk.

Large animals like deer and moose actually don’t build homes. These kinds of animals move around a lot, so they have their babies in the woods or in tall grass. They push some grass down and make a soft nest, but leave tall grass around so they are hidden. Animals that live in trees such as squirrels make nests in high places. Sometimes they’ll find holes in trees to make their nest in or make it in the crook of the tree. Squirrels use leaves and twigs to build their nest.

Generally, it’s not too easy to find animal’s homes, and that’s good, that’s the way the animal wants it. So most animals will spent a lot of time finding the safest, hardest-to-find place for their homes that they can.

3) How to animals keep their babies safe?
We as humans will hardly ever leave our babies alone. But animal mothers do it all the time, they have to seek after food. If baby animals are hidden well they are actually pretty safe when their parents are not around because babies have no scent yet, so predators cannot smell them.

Animal parents often leave their babies alone during the day. Deer and rabbits only visit their babies a couple of times a day to feed them. The rest of the day the mothers are close-by, but not right next to their babies. This keeps the babies safe from any predators that may be hunting.

Baby animals have other ways to stay safe from predators. One way is how they look. Many animal babies have fur or feathers of a different color from their parents. For example, a baby fawn has light colored spots on its brown coat. Adult deer do not have spots. The light spots help the baby deer to blend in wherever it is. Does anyone know the name of this?? This is called camouflage. Baby birds are usually grayish brown, no matter what color the parents are. Their drab colors blend in with their nests, so it’s really hard for predators to see them.

4) Bible Lesson –
Psalm 32:7
“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Psalm 91:14
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”

When God created animals, He gave many of them the gift of camouflage. This gift helps to protect them from harm, guard them from trouble. This camouflage is symbolic of when we choose to follow and love Jesus Christ we are in His protection. Much like being camouflaged; He IS our camouflage in an evil world. And when we choose to not follow and love Him, much like the animals that have no camouflage, we will stand out in the way of danger and be subjected to the evils of this world.

There are many species of birds that have very creative ways of protecting their eggs and babies. Have you heard of the Killdeer bird? The Killdeer bird is the only “shorebird” we have in this area. Although technically shorebirds, they often times as in our case live very far from the ocean. Well Killdeer birds have an amazing way of protecting their eggs and babies. Now first it’s interesting to know that they lay their eggs right on the ground, right out in the open. Now that doesn’t seem very safe does it? But, when a predator approaches they exhibit a clever “broken wing display” in which they appear to be struggling with a broken wing while leading the predator away from their babies! Why would a predator be more interested in that? If the Mama Killdeer has a broken wing she will be easy prey, and she’s much meatier. Therefore she’s willing to sacrifice herself for her babies.

Another interesting fact is that many birds that make traditional nests will use their wings to cover their eggs and babies to protect them from the weather elements. When cool weather and cold rain comes down, parent’s waterproof-feathered wings give warm protection. Psalm 91:4 says, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

 

 

Being in His protection doesn’t mean that everything will always be perfect and that nothing bad will ever happen to us. Being camouflaged or under His wings simply means that we are under His care, and whatever happens to us we know that He is ALWAYS with us and that He will be there to help us through whatever comes our way in life. And that nothing bad will happen to us that He will not use for our good.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

5) Notebook Entries
Label top of sheet with Camouflage and the definition (from board)
Look at camouflage photos I took - download by clicking image below.

Have students choose a photo
Glue onto top section of page

Do “My Camouflage Creation” activity
- hand out magazines
- have student pick a picture of an animal that would be easy to camouflage
- have students come up to table to find a piece of paper as a camouflage background for the animal
- glue animal on the paper scrap
- glue onto bottom half of notebook and label “My Camouflage Creation”

6) Nature Challenge
- Interesting Video on Camouflage
Below I have posted a video about a Marine Biologist who studies camouflage and the Cuttlefish. Watch the video. Make sure you pay special attention toward the end of the footage of the octopus, VERY cool!

- Baby Animal Name Game/Quiz
Visit the link below and take the Baby Animal Name Game Quiz. At our next class, tell me how many you missed. I missed TWO! http://biology.about.com/od/animalnamegames/a/aa102308a.htm

- Birds in Pairs
As we discussed in class, this time of year, birds are pairing up to have a family. It is a frequent sight in backyard trees, or overhead flying above you to see birds in pairs. Take a nature walk simply to try and observe pairs of birds together. Also look for things like pieces of nesting material in bird’s beaks. Also, look in the trees and bushes, can you spot any nests?