Caterpillars and Butterflies

I looked the other day and found a cocoon in nature. I watched it go through metamorphosis and now it is a butterfly and has scaly wings which are still drying. If you look close with a microscope you can see the scales which are smaller and drier than goldfish scales. It's easier to see the goldfish scale, but the powdery wings of the butterfly are also scales. I'm not sure why they have scales but it is interesting. I think you shouldn't catch a butterfly with your hands because it can take the scales off of their wings and if you do catch one release it after a few minutes of watching and looking at it, instead of keeping it in a jar.You don't want a butterfly to die in your tank after all.

I love butterflies because they are so beautiful to look at and then letting them go and watching them fly. Butterflies like to land on flowers to eat and that's a good place to observe them. The other day I found a green caterpillar in my garden who was eating my parsley. I took him off the parsley and learned that will be black swallowtail butterfly.

I love monarch butterflies too. They are so amazing to look at.

Butterflies can come in all sorts of colors, yellow, black, blue, brown, orange and white. I have never seen a pink butterfly. I wonder if they exist. Mostly in my yard I find only white butterflies. If you look super close with a magnifying glass you can see little poky things on their feet. It's fun to see a butterfly transform from a caterpillar to a cocoon to a chrysalis to a butterfly.

A monarch butterfly is especially amazing. She flies far away and then when the milkweed comes she lays her eggs. When the caterpillars hatch they don't have any color. They get their color from eating leaves. Some of them get eaten by insects like spiders and praying mantises. I usually try and save them but if they are dead I leave them for lunch for the insects.

My Pet Animals

I have I think 52 animals for pets. Each day it takes about 60 minutes to take care of them all. I feed them each morning and turn their lights on and mist them. Then at night I put them to bed and turn off their lights.

Many of them are fish, guppies and tadpoles.

I have two cute guinea pigs that I only feed a little each day so that they don't get fat. I try and make sure they always have a clean cage and clean it once a week. I also take my guinea pigs outside and they love to eat grass which is their favorite food.

I have two beta fish too. One of them is huge so I only feed her two pellets. I feed the other one more pellets so she can get bigger.

I have an aquatic frog named Daisy who loves to eat beetles. I go outside to find beetles and she eats them right away.

I have 7 other frogs and they are a lot of fun to play with, although I don't handle them too often. I have one green tree frogs, one gray tree frog, two fire-bellied toads and 3 American toads. They have to always keep there skin wet so I spray them a lot.


I have a lizard who is an anole. Her name is Alexandra. She does bite so I don't handle her that often. I have to mist her often so she doesn't dry out. Sometimes my lizard escapes and climbs on the walls and tries to run away. That's why I don't ever take her outside.

I have two turtles. One is a Eastern painted and one is a Western painted. They aren't too big, just middle size. My turtles like to eat worms, turtle pellets, shrimp and one secret ingredient (crickets). Both are aquatic turtles and live mostly in the water, but some time they like to get out and bask on the log.

I love my animals because they are lot of fun to play with. Sophie my dog is my favorite. I love playing with her and throwing her stick. The thing is she never drops her stick, she always runs and plays chase until she is too tired, but then she won't run and she just comes to the door. When she comes in she loves to sleep on her favorite chair

I have 7 chickens which like to peck a lot. I try and be careful not to get pecked. They are bigger now and will lay eggs in about a month. My favorite chicken is Gustavus who is a Polish hen with a funny hairstyle.

Goldfish

Taking care of your goldfish

First you want about a 10 gallon tank. Never put a Goldfish in a tank that is too small with other fish. Make sure your goldfish has the right food. Also your goldfish tank needs to be clean. If your tank has real plants it will help your goldfish breath. Giving to much goldfish food to your goldfish will make its tank dirty. Only give your goldfish goldfish food night and day, Only a pinch of goldfish food. If you see any bruises on your goldfishes skin call the vet. Your goldfish needs hiding places to hide. Buy your goldfish from a good pet store. If you see an active goldfish with fins pointing strait up that is a good one to pick. A goldfish you win as a prize may not be healthy. You need a filter in your tank to filter the water. When you get a goldfish in a bag put the bag in the tank for around 20 minutes to make the water temperature the same in the bag  as the temperature in the tank. Then you can free your goldfish. Only remove your goldfish with a net never with your hands. Their scales will become less smooth and the fish will not be able to swim. Clean your tank once a week.


Goldfish
 Goldfish eggs are like little jelly balls. A goldfish can live up to 25 years. a mother goldfish can lay 1000's of eggs. The different parts of the goldfish are: Tail for swimming, Smooth body for swimming, scaly skin for protection, Eyes for seeing, Fins for steering,Breaking and balancing, Gills for breathing the oxygen in the water, Mouth for tasting ,eating and drinking. 




Source: A pets life: Goldfish

Pocahontas

Pocahontas
Pocahontas was an American Indian. Her real name was Matoaka which means little snow feather. Pocahontas means playful child. She liked to play and have fun so her nickname was Pocahontas. She was a member of the Powhatan group of tribes. She was the daughter of chief Powhatan who was the leader of the whole group of tribes. When the pilgrims came she helped them get along with the Indians and learn to grow food for the winter.

Chickens!

We got chickens!! Their names are Braid a Araucana , Sunny a Cornish, Gustavus a Polish, Digger a  Araucana, Little explorer a  Araucana, Drinker a  Araucana and Tintin a Cornish.

the one closest to us is Gustavus. The Orange one close to us is Tintin.  Braid it the darker one farther away

here they are sleeping. Sunny is the yellowish one farther away. Tintin is closer to us.  

My letter

Recent learning

History
The history I have recently learned goes through time.

Ancient
Egyptian kingdom. They had pyramids and they turned rich dead people into mummies. Egypt was around the Nile

Greek states. Two were the Spartans and the Athenians. The Spartans fought and the Athenians thought. The Greeks were good at math.

Roman empire. They took over most of the place called Europe. The wise and powerful were very rich. They were strong the Romans were. But the barbarians took them over.

Viking
The Vikings were people from a land called Scandinavia, The name given to these four countries Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland. The vikings were poor but when they made ships called long ships and raided Europe with axes and swords they got rich. The vikings actually did not wear horned helmets. The viking time ended when the kings of France and England made strong armies and big ships.

Medieval
The medieval era had many castles and knights. There were many wars in the Medieval era. They had a system called Feudalism. The king was the most powerful and the peasants and the poor were the weakest.The medieval time ended when cannons and guns were invented.

Renaissance
This is when many thinkers inventors and artists in the Renaissance. Italy a country shaped like a boot, had many great renaissance men in it. Leonardo da vinci and Galileo Galilei were two of them.

Industrial
This is when so many new inventions were being made. They used steam and coal. The car, telephone,train and the light-bulb ( which was invented by Joseph swan ) were some inventions.

Science
I learned about animals and making them in groups. I learned about the Domain and the kingdom. The Domain has three groups. Eukarya, Archea and bacteria. Then Kingdom has six groups. Animals, Plants, Fungi, Bacteria, Protists, Archea.

Geography
There are 7 continents they are: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and Antarctica.