Week 3: Herpetiles

(That’s Reptiles and Amphibians!)

Hooray for Herps! Skin, scales or shells, we love ‘em all. The lesson outlines for each day are below. On Monday, be sure to tune into the Facebook Live Video, but all of the other activities are optional. Try them all, try just some, it’s up to you!

HERE’S THE PDF DOWNLOAD FOR ALL OF THE LESSON DETAILS OF THIS WEEK.

Need extra ideas to keep kiddo busy? We’ve got you covered. Check out our Safer and Funner pages for more.

Check out this video from our guest teacher: a kid just like you! Lily shares a cool snake encounter with us. Learn a little bit more about reptiles & rattlesnakes in this 3 - minute video.

Watch it on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4bCzjLw3jU

Monday

what makes a herp

1. Facebook Live Video: Carolyn kicks off camp with a video introducing herpetiles. Watch it live on our Facebook page at 1pm (the feed will start automatically). After the live lesson we’ll post the link here so you can watch it later.

2. Mystery Herp: Try to figure out the mystery herps on this page. Look at the photos, read the descriptions, and look for field marks. Then, use field guides or the internet to identify the creatures. The WDNR webpage is a great place to start. The answers are at the bottom of this page.

3. Warm blooded vs cold blooded: Animals that are warm blooded (endothermic) can regulate their body temperatures internally. They shiver to produce heat and sweat to cool down. Animals that are cold blooded (ectothermic) need to use their environment to regulate their body temperature. They move to a sunny or warm spot to warm up and the opposite to cool down. Humans are endothermic/warm blooded, but we can pretend to be ectothermic/cold blooded. Try to thermoregulate using sunlight and shade or drinks of different temperatures. First, try making your body warmer by laying in the sun or drinking tea. Then try cooling off by moving to the shade or drinking ice water. What happens if you drink tea in the shade or ice water in the sun?  

4. Scavenger hunt: Go on a walk around your neighborhood or a natural area to look for things herps would eat. How many can you find? Snakes eat rodents, small birds, bird eggs, insects, amphibians, slugs, worms, and small fish. Frogs mostly eat insects as adults, but the tadpoles eat mostly algae. Adult salamanders eat mostly insects and worms, and salamander larvae eat tadpoles and other smaller salamander larvae! Turtles eat lots of different things: some eat mostly plants, others focus on earthworms, slugs, and snails, and still others hunt fish!

5. Sit spot: Visit your old sit spot or try a new one. Listen for birds, look for mammals, think about whether herps are there too. Can you hear any herps in your sit spot?

6. Nature journal prompt: write or draw about your spark herp (which one makes you want to learn more about other herps?)

7. Dino Dig (dinosaurs aren’t herps, but we learn about all kinds of animals through fossils): You choose the medium and the "fossils." Scientists have been able to document the evolution of reptiles and other animals with the help of fossils. Some of the most well-known fossils are from a group of animals we know as dinosaurs. People who dig for fossils are called archaeologists. Do you want to practice your fossil-finding skills? You can use sand, flour, cornmeal, dirt, or anything else that you have handy. Put a bunch of your "soil" material into a bowl, bucket, or pile. Have someone bury "fossils" in your soil. You could use plastic toys, small objects, rocks, or any other things you are ok getting dirty. If you want to make it more challenging, use something that can be taken apart in pieces (a puzzle, an action figure, legos...). Carefully dig into your soil and try to find all of the hidden objects. If you hid different pieces, see if you can then rebuild whatever it was that was broken apart. You could even make your own puzzle by drawing an picture (of a herp!) onto some cardboard and cut it up into pieces.

Tuesday

Metamorphosis

1. Metamorphosis Obstacle Course: set up your own easy obstacle course to see what it’s like to be a frog growing up. Make it harder by inviting another family member to be a predator! Check this week’s lesson PDF for the full instructions.

2. Metamorphosis Rock, Paper, Scissors: Grab a partner or your whole family to play a round of rock, paper, scissors. Everyone starts out as an egg. Play a round of rock, paper, scissors. The winner becomes a tadpole! Play another round. If you win as an egg, you become a tadpole. If you win as a tadpole, you become a froglet (a young frog that still has a tail)! If you win as a froglet, you become a frog! See who becomes the first frog in your family. 

3. Scavenger hunt: Find a body of water and look for frogs and toads. Do you see eggs, tadpoles, or adults? If you don’t find any, why do you think that is (are there too many predators around)?

4. Journal Prompt: Write the word “metamorphosis” and then draw or write what you think it means. If you could metamorphose your body, what changes would you make? Draw or write about it.

Wednesday

Frog fun

1. Frogs are NOISY! Learn about the different sounds frogs make at these websites:

   1. Muisc of Nature (better images and sounds, not all of the frogs we have in WI): Frogs of the Northeast

   2. WIDNR Eeek page for kids: Know your Frogs

2. Test your frog call knowledge with this quiz (great for older kids, younger kids might need help - try having two devices: one to do the quiz and another to play frog sounds to match with the quiz).

3. Creative: make a play about frogs. What sounds are they making? Why are they making those sounds? Act it out with puppets, stuffies, or other people. 

4. Nature Journal Prompt: If you were a frog what would you sound like? How would you write (or draw!) that sound? Ask an adult if you need help.

5. Art: Fold an Origami Jumping Frog. View instructions that are drawn out here. If a video is easier for you to follow, try this easy frog first, and then a more challenging frog. Fold the frogs using white or lined paper, then color them to look like Wisconsin’s frogs. Make your favorite or make a whole fleet of frogs.

6. Scavenger hunt: go find frogs or toads! Take a hike near water if you can, but toads are common in prairies or forests. Keep your eyes on the ground and your feet moving, and chances are good that you’ll see one.

7. Camouflage: Frogs, chameleons, snakes, and other herps are well-known for blending into their environment. When their appearance matches their surroundings, they are using camouflage! This might help them escape from predators or sneak up on their prey. Can you camouflage into your environment? Pick a place inside or outside of your home and see how well you can camouflage. What clothes should you wear? Do you need to be still? How can you add texture to your camouflage? How long does it take someone to find you? (DO NOT hide without someone knowing where you are and what you are doing). 

Thursday

Snake day

1. Check out WI’s snakes!: Take a look at all of the amazing species of snakes WI has. You can find information at the UW Steven’s Point web page, in your WDNR Snakes Book, or another field guide.

2. Move like a herp: Get moving! Slither like a snake, walk like a lizard, hop like a frog, stroll like a salamander. If you have someone to play with, create “rules” for moving like each animal and then race. Who is fastest at snake? Who is fastest at frog?

3. Art: Make your own rattle (it can double as a rainstick!): Wisconsin is home to two species of rattlesnakes! Rattlesnakes have a distinctive rattle that they use to warn predators that they are dangerous. The rattle is made of connected, hollow segments made of keratin (human fingernails are partially made of keratin). Special "shaker" muscles in the tail cause these segments to vibrate against one another. The muscles they use are some of the fastest known; they can fire an average of 50 times per second. We can't make our bodies rattle, but we can make a rattle for fun (or to warn a sibling that you want to be left alone...). You will need an empty toilet paper or paper towel tube, dried rice or beans, or peas, paper, and tape. Make a paper covering for one end of the tube and tape it into place. Pour 1 or 2 Tablespoons of your dried material into the tube. Make a paper covering for the open end and tape it into place. Then you can decorate the tube. Shake your rattle! You can use it as a warning device, or you can repurpose it as a shaker or a rain stick. 

4. Scavenger Hunt: Go on a snake hike. Garter snakes are commonly found both in grassy and in forested areas. Try to get out before the day gets too hot. If you get out really early, you might find a snake sunning itself in a warm patch of sunlight. Remember give snakes space when you find them.

5. Nature Journal prompt: Write a story! Herps have lots of cool body features that are so different from our own. Why do you think snakes don't have legs and why are frogs born in the water? Why are certain frogs bright colors and why can some lizards regrow their tails? Why do alligators have eyes on the top of their heads and why do turtles have a shell? Why does it look like crocodiles are always smiling and why do some frogs and toads spend part of the year underground hidden in the mud? Write a poem or story about a herp and create your own reason why they look or act in a certain way. If you want to take this a step farther, look up how scientists think these animals evolved to be this way.

Friday

Terrific Turtles

1. Wisconsin has 11 species of turtles! Check them out at the Turtles for Tomorrow website.

2. Turtle mouth (activity): Turtles sometimes catch their food underwater. When they do this, their mouth opening under the water creates suction that sucks their food right into their mouth. Try it yourself: get a small tupperware container with a lid that closes well. This will be our turtle mouth. Put the lid on tightly. Fill a larger vessel with water (bowl, bathtub, kiddie pool). Find something to be your turtle food: goldfish crackers, a bit of bread or pieces of cereal work well! (note: do not feed anything to real turtles!) Place the tupperware under the water near the food. Open the tupperware under water, opening the side near the food first. Can you suck up the food?

3. Turtle shell kitchen scavenger hunt: Look at different turtle shells using the Turtles of WI guide or this website. Now head to the kitchen! Find plates, bowls, or tupperware that match the shape/dome of turtle shells. 

4. Turtle Races: You’ll need: cardboard, string, scissors, markers/crayons, chairs. Cut turtle shapes out of poster board,thin cardboard, cereal boxes, or cardstock. They should be 8-10 inches long by 5-7 inches wide. Cut one for each person who wants to race. Number, name, and/or decorate each one. Punch a hole (you can use the scissors for this) just above the center of each turtle and put a five to eight foot long piece of string through it.
   Get one chair for each turtle. Tie one end of each piece of string to one of the legs of a chair. Line up the chairs along the finish line. Have those who are racing their turtles stand in a row at the starting line. Each person should hold the loose end of one of the strings. Begin the race with the turtles near each racer's hands. When you say “Go,” the racers should start jiggling their pieces of string so that the turtles bounce toward the finish line. Which turtle made it to the end first? Which one was last? Race again.

5. Scavenger hunt: go on a nature hike at a wet place (river, stream, pond, wetland) look for logs or rocks that turtles might bask on. Can you actually see any turtles? 

6. Sit spot: While you enjoy your sit spot, think about what resources are available for herps. What would they need to be able to live there? Do you think any herps live there now? Don’t forget to listen for birds and look for mammals! 

7. Nature Journal Prompt: Write or draw about a cool think you learned about turtles today. 

lizards are herps too!

There are only four species of lizard in Wisconsin, and they’re all pretty tricky to find. If you’d like to learn more about lizards, go for it! We think they’re cool too!

Banner Photo credit: Jennifer Bulava, Flickr Creative Commons (painted turtle)

Mystery Herp Answers: 1: wood frog, 2: tiger salamander, 3: leopard frog, 4: garter snake, 5: blanding’s turtle.