We know you’re missing our turtle-y awesome friends Manny, Charlie, and the rest of our Nature Museum turtles. So, we’ve dedicated today’s newsletter to bringing our box turtles and Blanding’s turtles to you! Read on to learn more about what they eat, how we’re working to save their populations, and how their body structures help them survive.
It’s a box turtle breakfast!
Can we interest you in a turtle salad? These delicious dishes showcase some of the foods that our box turtles enjoy every day. They also get to enjoy earthworms, wax worms, and more. Click here to see Charlie, the three-toed box turtle, chow down!
Guiding Question: What fruits can you see in the dishes? What vegetables? Why do you think it’s important for the turtles to have those?
Why are box turtles called box turtles?
Have you ever wondered where the name “box turtle” comes from? There’s a pretty big clue in this picture of Manny, our western ornate box turtle. He can close up like a box! Rebecca explains more here.
Teaching Tip: Take a closer look at box turtles with this handout as your guide. Download and print this handout to help you and your young scientist examine a box turtle’s body and learn more about how it helps the turtle survive.
Meet some Blanding’s turtle hatchlings!
If you’re a Nature Museum regular, you’re probably familiar with our Blanding’s turtles in Mysteries of the Marsh. But did you know that our involvement with this special threatened turtle species goes beyond the Museum’s walls? Click here to watch a video of our scientists releasing some of our headstarted hatchlings a couple years ago.
Guiding Question: What do you notice about these turtles? How are they like the box turtles we talked about earlier? How are they different?
Reptile Story Time!
Love turtles and reptiles as much as we do? We’ve got a great story for you! Click here to listen to Elena read a story all about a trailblazing reptile expert, Joan Procter.
Teaching Tip: Encourage your young scientist to observe and learn about animal behaviors in the same way Joan did by creating an ethogram. An ethogram is a record of the common behaviors of a species, often in pictorial form. Click here to download an ethogram and then choose an animal to study!
Teaching Tip: Use technology
Use technology to look more closely and think more deeply about the natural world! There are so many awesome ways to use technology to connect with the natural world. You can also use it to bring the natural world into your home. Try searching “turtle” on Google on your phone and then scroll to view a 3D image. You can use augmented reality to bring that animal into your home! Try googling different animals you can think of and see what comes up! Click here for more tips from our educators.
Behind the scenes!
Looks like Fiona is excited for today’s target training session! If you missed it, you can see the whole process on video here.
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