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Elephants lesson

March 10, 2013 Ticia 19 Comments

We’ve been marching through our study of land animals, and have reached the chapter on Ungulates.  Last week we learned how ungulates are categorized.

Studying elephants lesson

(there are affiliate links here)

Elephants lesson supplies

Apologia land animals, measuring tape, sidewalk chalk, bowl of water, small toys, straws, tongs, and a towel to clean up the mess

This week we learned about elephants. 

We started off with their size.  Elephants are HUGE!

learning about elephants

Elephant lesson, activity 1: measuring elephants and comparing sizes

After reading all about elephants we headed outside with a measuring tape and some sidewalk chalk.

measuring ourselves before measuring elephants

First we measured ourselves to get a general idea of size.

measuring elephants

Then we measured each of the elephants.  The range in size from only somewhat huge (Asian elephants at 7 feet) all the way up to ginormous (African elephants at 14 feet).

elephant lesson comparing heights to elephants

Then we figured out how many of us it takes to be an elephant.  We figured out one of the boys and me is taller than an Asian elephant.  All three kids are as tall as an African elephant.

We read some more about elephants, and learned how they take baths.  They spray dirt or water on themselves using their trunk.  Of course we had to try, but we don’t have trunks, so it took some creativity……..

Elephant lesson activity 2: trying an elephant trunk

Elephants do not actually drink through their trunks. They can “suck up” water through their trunk and then squirt it into their mouth. They can use their trunks for all sorts of things, carrying materials, giving themselves a bath, getting food to their mouth.

We attempted to imitate their abilities. We used our straws to try and suck up water to give toys baths, and to try and fill a cup to drink from.

elephant trunk experiment

Who doesn’t love a good experiment with a straw?  My kids certainly did, they spent 15 minutes after we were done trying it some more.

playing with the elephant lesson and the elephant trunk experiment

So, we spent the next few minutes trying to give their toy a bath like elephants do.  We discovered it was a lot of fun, but it took some concentration.

Next we had to try and move things like elephants do with our own trunks.  At the very end of their trunks are two finger-like extensions, they use to pick things up.  To simulate this we grabbed some tongs and some small toys.

Then we spent the next several minutes seeing how quickly we could pick up things with the tongs.  It was a difficult experiment, but one the kids really enjoyed.

For more Land Animal ideas check out my pinterest board or my posts

Let’s see what others did this week:

Elephant lesson biology zoology 2nd land animals

Each week I’m spotlighting a few posts that were shared previously.  Many posts get linked up later in the week and they don’t always get as many clicks as they deserve, so I’m trying to spotlight a few every week.

Over at Buggy and Buddy she made a great craft and science experiment: Chromatography butterflies.

Gift of Curiosity had a great post about magnets, I really loved the challenge to remove a paper clip using the magnet.  Reminds me of our how to get a popcorn kernel out of the ear challenge.

Over at All Things Beautiful, she shared a blast from the past (when her daughter was in elementary school) to help us learn how the earth, sun, and moon interact.

Elephant lesson for homeschool science

And another post from All Things Beautiful, this one tells us about the job of zookeepers.  If you haven’t read the posts in this series, you NEED to now.  I think I’ve found our summer project.

My last one, for whatever reason the picture is not showing up on my pin, and pinterest is mad at me, so you’ll have to take my word and  go visit the awesome post on skeletal system from Weiser Adademy.

More great learning ideas

I’ll add this later, says Future Ticia 2022

Elephant lesson plan

science 2nd grade, biology, land animals, zoology

Comments

  1. Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says

    March 10, 2013 at 8:12 am

    I love elephants! Did you see the elephant series I did a while back? I did some of the things you did as well. Great minds think alike! LOL

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 10, 2013 at 8:16 am

      I don’t remember it, can you send me the link?

    • Phyllis at All Things Beautiful says

      March 10, 2013 at 10:42 am

      Sure. Although I think I like yours better. : )
      Asian or African? https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/asian-or-african-elephant.html
      Measuring Elephants https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/measuring-elephants.html
      Elephants and water https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/elephants-and-water.html
      Elephant Tusks https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/elephant-tusks.html
      At the Waterhole https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/crocodilians-elephants-at-waterhole.html
      Elephant Trunks https://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/elephant-trunks.html

  2. Claire says

    March 10, 2013 at 9:00 am

    Yipidee dipidee! I’m actually DOING some science to link up! I feel warm and fuzzy inside!!
    Your Land Animal Studies are making me want to redo that particular book!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 10, 2013 at 11:43 pm

      We are really loving this one a lot. Of course I think I’ve said that about every single Apologia book we’ve done. I can’t quite decide if Land Animals or Swimming Creatures is my favorite.

  3. Chelsey~ Buggy and Buddy says

    March 10, 2013 at 11:09 am

    Thank you for sharing our chromatography butterflies! I’m excited to have found your fabulous linky party!

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 10, 2013 at 11:44 pm

      They were so adorable, how could I not share them?

  4. Emma @sciencesparks says

    March 10, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    This made me smile as we did a very similar measuring activity when learning about swordfish recently.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 10, 2013 at 11:45 pm

      How funny! We did an activity like this when we studied whales last year, and that one was insane because the blue whale went all the way out into the street and was much longer than our tape measure.

  5. Lindsay @ Bytes of Memory says

    March 10, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    What fun! I think Sammy would love to do these hands on activities! But I think the giving a toy a bath would be his favorite! 🙂

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 11, 2013 at 12:06 am

      It was certainly my kids’ favorite.

  6. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    March 10, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    I LOVE your elephant experiments! Pinning this to my science board 🙂

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 11, 2013 at 12:07 am

      Yeah!

  7. Joy says

    March 10, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    I always love reading what you do for activities. They are always wonderful and such great ideas! Loved how you measured you and your kids to see how many of you it takes to see how large an elephant is. I can’t wait to do this with the kids when get study Land Animals! I need to start blogging about our science lessons again.

    Reply
    • Ticia says

      March 11, 2013 at 12:16 am

      Yes, please do! I love to see how others are using Apologia as well because it’s such a great curriculum.

  8. Natalie says

    March 18, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    Great lesson regarding relative sizes and non-standard measurements 🙂 I still dream of riding an elephant one day!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Flying by the Seat of Your Pants Homeschooling says:
    May 1, 2013 at 4:10 am

    […] we start reading the lesson.  I get 2 paragraphs in and inspiration hits!  Elephants are huge, let’s go measure them.  So we read the rest of the short section and traipse outside with […]

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    February 19, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    […] in Mommydom – Zoo Animal Observation Form, elephants, beavers, tigers, snakes, rattlesnakes, cougars, polar bears, […]

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  3. Elephant Unit Study - Unit Study Ideas says:
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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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