Studying primates

 

 

We’ve spent the last 2 weeks learning about monkeys and apes.  I was a bit disappointed to have a total brain freeze and not think of lots of great hands on ideas, until we were almost done studying them.  Then I had sudden inspiration:

Noses, one of the big ways primates are classified is by their noses.  So we studied our noses, then we looked through the textbook and studied all of the noses in the chapter.  There are a wide variety of noses.  It was fascinating to look at.

I’m thinking I’m going to go back to it with a google search on primate noses.  I did a similar lesson on teeth, and the kids still remember it several months later.

 

Then we learned how most apes are arboreal and spend most of their time in the trees, so we had to see what it’s like to move like an ape.

We discovered it’s very hard to swing from tree to tree (and yes he is wearing short sleeves in January, two days earlier we were huddled by our fireplace because it was in the 30s and ice was threatened).

 

We also figured out apes probably have very strong arms if they spend all that time swinging from the trees.  Our arms are not anywhere near as strong as the apes are because we mostly move on our legs.

 

We’re going to the library tomorrow to find books on primates.  Do any of you have favorites on that subject?

 

Let’s see what others did this week:

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.

I thought this was a great idea from STEMMom, putting together a scientist kit birthday present and lots of ideas for starting a science journal.  I want one.

 

 

This is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a great post on dissection from 4 kids, 2 guinea pigs…….  I have to admit I skimmed more than read in depth.  My squeamish factor is going through the roof here.

 

And last one for this week: learning about moles with Mum Makes Lists.  I love how she followed up on the discovery of tunnels with research at home.  That and the background info I learned from her post.

 

<div align="center"><a href="https://ticiamessing.com/category/science-sunday/" title="Science Sunday"><img src="https://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g344/Ticia1/AiMScienceSundaycopy.jpg" alt="Science Sunday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>