Amphibians!!! :D

                                      






Hello :) What's an amphibian you ask? Well here it comes! I promise, this blog won't be as long as the last one..Unless I just get carried away:)  For you to get a quick pic or idea of what we're talking about.. An example of an amphibian, A really common amphibian, is a frog:D And what do you think of when you see them?? Oh yeah! EWWW! Slimey grossy tiny weirdos, right? Well, I'm not saying they're not.. Just saying your gonna learn about these slimey grossy tiny weirdos:) And what's coming up? Christmas of course! What else? New years.. Duh. What does this mean? Ahhh my last post of 2011! Enjoy the post! :D 


                             


Ahh! It's a pink frog! Heehee. Well we're going over two simple things today! And here they are:)


What your learning :D :D !!

• Amphibians' Characteristics! :D 
• The.. 3 groups of Amphibians! :D 

LET'S START! :)

 First up, let me point out that amphibians are vertebrate, or animals with backbones. Okay, first up is on the Amphibians' Characteristics. Yep, so frogs, salamanders, toads, newts,  are all Amphibians. Oh, and almost forgot, "Amphibians" means "Living a double life" in greek. Well first let's talk about metamorphosis. Well, most amphibians split their lives, between land, and water:) Like frogs for example, they start out in these tiny eggshells. 

                     

Ummm... Well aren't we lucky we aren't born like that? Eww! But do they look like this their whole life? Luckily not! Actually, they look extremely different from when they are first born, to when they go through metamorphosis. Wow long word.. 13 letters! 

                                      


Oh yeah! I forgot. What is it you ask? Well it's just a point in it's life where it basically.. Matures! By matures I mean develop. Grow. Evolve. Prosper. Thrive. However way you put it, it really doesn't matter! But all amphibians go through it! Everything grows. In the first part of their life, they live in the water. Why is that? Because they get hatched in the water in those little eggs that I showed you. Plus, they can't go on land, because they haven't developed a pair of lungs yet.  


                                     


Not exactly identical.. But believe it or not that's how they start out! So anyway, they begin in the water, then when they develop lungs, They can then get their bums out of the water, and be free on land! :) But later, when they are ready to have their little eggies.. They go back to the water to hatch em! And then the hole cycle starts again! Easy.. Right? Yep so first an Egg, Then tadpoles.. which is those tiny slithering things you see next to that frogs. After time of growing.. It's work is finally done! It's a frog already:) Let's move on though.. 


                                      




                   They're Cold-Blooded! :D 


Yep! You heard it. They're exothermic. Don't get confused, it's just a fancy science-y way of saying Cold-Blooded. This isn't new to you though! We learned about it on the last blog we did! It means that their body temperature is affected by the environment! So to cure that, if cold, they have to chillax in the sun to make them a little more, cozy :) And warm :) And when hot, it's simple.. They chillax in maybe a shady area. 
     
                                 S-K-I-N-! SKIN! :) 


Did I not mention? Amphibians are out a lot night. At night because I don't see a sunshine there.. So there's another place to chillax. They do this avoid getting their skin getting all dry and wrinkly! Like this! 


                                     


I suggest some.. lotion. But anyway, about their skin.. Amphibians, like a lot of animals, shed their skin. Yep! Perfectly fine, right? Wrong! They eat it! Yup!! They shed on it, and munch munch munch :) But amphibian's skin are very thin! Not thin.. Very very thin! Thin enough that they don't drink water, because it goes right through them! Yeah, they're skin absorbs water, so they don't have to drink it. Their skin is thin enough that things can go through it! Wow. 

                                     
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                       3 Groups Of Amphibians! :) 


3, only 3 groups of amphibians! The first one is Anurans! Which is basically a fancy word for saying Toads and Frogs! So Anurans have short bodies, strong legs, and lacks tails. :)


                             


The second one is called Urodelas. These are more like salamanders and newts. They have long bodies, short legs, and flattened tails for swimming.:)


                           


Last, but not least is Apoda. These are more worm-like things. The amphibians in this group are called "caecilians". They are worm-like, but kinda look like snakes. 


                                        


Well that's basically it! Hope you enjoyed my.. (tear, tear) last blog of 2011:D Come back in 2012 to still look at my awesome blogs:) Have a happy Christmas!/Break!/New years! :D 






                                              


                                                         

Uhh What's Bony Fish? :]

 

 Hey! Ever wonder what a.. bony fish is? Well, Ofcourse not! You probably don't know a thing  about it.. Sooo, That's why I'm here! to answer that question. Well, I'm going to pick 3 bony fish to show you how they look and stuff. See, there are three different types of fish. What are they? They're Cartilaginous Fish [Which I made a blog about..], Jawless Fish [Which I made a blog about..] And of course, Bony fish [Which I'm about to make a blog about] So let's dive in and learn about.... BONY FISH! Enjoy! :]


Well my first fish is a Puffer fish. Not any ordinary Puffer fish.. The STARS AND STIPES Puffer fish! And here it is! 


                     


                Now here's what were going over today!:)

• The Stars And Stripes Puffer :O 
• The Emperor Angel Fish :O
• The.... GOLD FISH! :O
• How Do Fish Float? :O
• Describing the Role Of Each Fin? :O
• What is the lateral line on a fish? :O
• How do fish breathe? :O
• What does cold-blooded fish mean? :O
• What do fish eat? :O

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Well let's start with the Stars and Stripes puffer fish! Well, do you guys watch spongebob? I sure do! But ya know that teacher Mrs. Puff? Well, take a guess what type of fish she is.. Yep, the puffer. And ya know how she kinda puffs up like a balloon? Well she does that when threatend or scared.. Like we have that :-O face when we are sometimes, well that's their weird recation! Puffing up! 


                            






Well unlike us, they can expand their bodies 2x their original size. These puffer fish mostly are found in warm waters. Rarely in cold. This puffer is light grey, with with pretty star-like spots. Hence the name, Stars and stripes! Most puffer fish are not really colorful. But hey, here's one:) This fish is usually really aggressive around other fish. Grr. You could find this puffer in most aquariums, being one of the most popular puffer fish out there! Like all other puffers, they blow like a balloon when it feels threatened or stressed. But this is how it looks when it's not inflated.. 


                      


Kinda still looks the same, right? Except it looks like a normal fish. It's so pretty! And it's kinda cute too! Remember when I said it's a little aggressive one? Well, what I meant is that it blows up easier, not only when it feels scared, but when it see's a regular fish. It tries to scare it away. I guess he's all about safety! If you ever wanna keep this fish, [Which I bet you won't..] They like to have a bit of freedom when they swim. Yep, like at least 100 gallons of water. And I wouldn't put it in a cage with a different fish. 


                 


This puffer feeds on food like algae, coral, sponges, starfish, muscles, urchins..etc. The Stars and Stripes Fish is not endangered though. Yay! Fun fact: Did ya know.. There's over 1030 endangered species of fish? :O Nooo! Why is that? Maybe because we gobble down fish daily! You don't see them munching on us..? That's why.. It's getting higher and higher everyday :( Well at least this fish isn't endangered.. Which is good.. because most fish are. Now let's move on to the next fish! 


Well the next fish is Emperor Angelfish. This is a really colorful fish:) Here it is.. 


                                  
                                                           Or this one!
                                 


Yep, when you look up "Emperor angelfish" on google, it'll give you two types. The cool swirly one, and the nice striped one. Which do you like most? Well there are over 70 species of of this fish, and like the other fish, The emperor angel fish likes swimming in the warm waters and oceans;) Like me! No one likes cold water.. So they live in coral reefs in tropical, shallow waters. These fish lay 100's of eggs at a time! Which is normal, because usually fish lay a lot of eggs at a time. 


                                            Awwwe!


This fish grows to about 12-15 inches long.. Yeah, usually a foot long. It's not a chubby fish either, it's a flattened, skinny one. It's also a carnivore, which means it eats meat. It eats coral heads, worms, sponges, crustaceans, shrimp, and shellfish. They CRUSH their prey with they're powerful jaws! Ouch.. But, most species of emperor angelfish are herbivores. Which means they eat plants. :)
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Now.... Last but NOT Least... The Scary, the frightening.. The terrifying.. THE GOLDFISH! 


                         


Not a common, dangerous sea animal, but it is a common house pet. In fact one of the most common in the world! Though they can live in both bowls at your house, and ponds, where they usually get them from. They live for about 10 years. Which isn't that long for us, But what's 10 to them, might be 100 to us. Well when you see a goldfish, you usually think of orange ones.. Which is the most common.. But they come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and colors! Yep over 125 varieties! Am I gonna say them all? No, I'm not.. But here's some! 


                           


Haha yep. Well you see a lot of people with a gold fish.. But most of them just buy it, put it in a tank, get some food for it.. And it sits there for all it's life. Wow, how fun is that? It seems kinda boring to me. Eat, Swim, and eat again. How joyful... But what they probably don't know is that they like swimming in larger aquariums. To swim freely, that's the least you can do for sitting in a bowl for it's whole life! And they usually swim in their own dirt, because they're tanks get dirty easily, and it doesn't get cleaned. Goldfish averagely grow to about 3-5 inches. Ya.. Pretty tiny. They eat plants, carp, and of course.. Goldfish food :] 
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Well let's answer the first question.. How do fish float? Well they have a little something called swim bladder. Which is basically a bag full of gas and oxygen. That's why they don't sink to the bottom of the ocean like we would do if we aren't floating.. Well that was a simple question! Let's move on though.


                              
Now we're gonna talk about about fish's features and what it does.. Hope that didn't sound too boring, but it's not! It's really interesting. Well here's a pic to get us started! 


                       


Let's start with the fish's eye. Well It's eye sight is okay. But it's other senses are better. Most fish are able to see left and right. Why is this? Because remember, a fish doesn't have a neck.. Does it? There for it can't really move its "head" because it really doesn't Have one. That's why they need there eyes to move for themselves. They also don't have eyelids! See fish's eyes are really different from ours. Here's an example. They're eyes are moist from the water, and don't need to worry about having sun in them, Why? because they live underwater of course! Well anyway, let's move on. 




                                            
                                                          I'm watching you :O


Now let's talk about it's dorsal fin. The dorsal fin is on the back of a fish's body and it's used to stable balance and turning:) Plus fish aren't the only sea animals that have this! There are a lot! Like whales,dolphins, porpoises, etc. Well let's move on. Next is the Caudal Fin! This is at the end of a fish's body. And it's also called a tailfin! Or a tail.. So what does a tail do for a fish? C'mon you know this. That's how they swim! They shake there tail left and right which makes it go forward! Not to tough, right? Well let's keep going. 


                             


Now, it's lateral line. I hope you remember.. we went over a lateral line before! Was it on a fish though? No, a shark. And they're pretty much the same! Remember how a lateral line senses movement, or vibration in the water? Same with fish. It senses motion or activity that's going on where they are. Now, to the anal fin. Well it's kind of like the dorsal fin! It stabilizes the fish and makes sure it doesn't roll over in the water. The pectoral fin helps the fish steer and brake. Like a car! The Pelvic fin kinda helps it stable, it keeps the fish level in the water. :] Almost done! 


                        
Let's go to the last three. The gill cover is also called an operculum. But let's just call it gill cover, because the name basically says it all. Because what it is, is basically a bony flap protecting the gills. Hence, "gill cover" . Get it? Last but not least.. the mouth! :] Just like humans, they're mouth is very important. Why? Well obviously because they need to eat and breathe with it.  But wait, how do they breathe? 


Well do you ever see a fish do that weird kissy face? Well water comes into the fish's mouth by this really effective pumping system.. It happens because of the opening and closing of a fish's mouth. And how does it eat? Well different fish from different species eat differently :) Like there are bottom feeders, which rasp off algea, plants, etc. from the bottem of the ocean. There's also filter feeders that basically eat things that are in small little parts so it's easier to eat. Other fish.. Just simply eat their meal.. in a whole!


                         
It's okay! Just one last question.. WHAT are cold-blooded fish? Well "cold-blooded" is when you can't regulate your body temperature. And are fish the only one's who can be cold-blooded or not? Course not! All animals can be or can't. So this means they have to rely on solar energy, which is captured by the environment. Different animals have a different way to react to their cold-bloodedness. 


Fish, since underwater.. has to change where they are in the water. As in depth. So the deeper the water is, the cooler it is! And the closer to the surface of the water, the warmer the water is. Makes sense? :) But cold-blooded fish doesn't look different from any other fish. It's just what type they are, and how they react to their environment. Some very common fish might be cold-blooded. Here are some! 


      




        


Well, that was long! Wasn't it? Thanks for reading :] (If you actually did). And come back later to check out some amazing facts about things I doubt you know! And I would put facts that we went over but I think it's long enough. Come to Zeina's amazing blog whenever your in the feeling to... LEARN! SCIENCE! STUFF! THINGS! Ugh just come and learn. BYE! 




                           

Seasons AND leaves changing? WHY?? :)

Heyy! Do you ever wonder how leaves actually change color? Well wonder no more! When fall comes, you look at a tree, and you say "Oh that's pretty" and walk away. But it's hard to believe, there's actually some science behind that. And that's what we're diving in to today. :) Oh, and by the way, Happy Fall! :)


     Leaf Cycle!                       


I'm not going to put exactly what we are going to go over. Just because I'm going to be explaining the whole process of it. So do you ever wonder why why in spring and summer.. Leaves are lush and pretty. Than when it comes to fall.... It turns yellow, red, and orange? Well I have the answer to that! It's a little something called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll, a substance that makes leaves... Green! 


                                                                  
                                                       See the difference????


Ya know how when fall starts, the days get shorter? Well I hope ya do know that, because when this happens, there are fewer hours of sunlight. Some people think that fall leaves change color because it simply get's colder. Are they right? No. And since there is less hours of sunlight, the sunlight that chlorophyll needs, so basically, it dies, and that's where the green goes. So this is where the leaves natural colors come in. Which is the colors you would see in fall. Red, Yellow, Orange... But still, some things still have to do with climate. Weather and climate affect how bright or how dark the leaves might be.


                    
                                            How pretty is that???? :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)


Since the climate effects the color of the leaves.. Than that means some places in the world that always have the same weather..might not even have fall..Nor seasons. Talking about seasons.. Do you ever wonder why we have them? It's like one of those questions.. Ya know? Like "Why is the sky blue?". Well it's simple why we have seasons.


 Ya see, the earth tilts. It tilts on it's axis. An axis is basically an invisible line that is tilted towards the earth. And if it tilts away from the sun, then it's winter:) If it tilts towards the sun, then it's summer. And the earth is split into two halves. And what splits it? The equator ofcourse! They're the southern, and northern hemisphere. And obviously, they're on oposite sides, right? So when it's winter in the northern hemisphere, it's summer in the southern hemisphere. Easy, Right? :)


Should we go over the seasons? 


WINTER TIME! :)




SPRING TIME! :)




SUMMER TIME! 




AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST... FALL TIME! :)




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Now, Check out this video!! Sing along! Haha :) 

I hope I taught you a bunch about seasons, AND leaves! Because no matter what... If you need to know the seasons... GIVE ME A CALL! You would know what I'm talking about if you watched the video. Thanks for reading :D Give some feedback, And tell me what you think. Thanks, Bye!!!! 




                                         


                                     




                             


           HAPPY FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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WE IS TALKIN ABOUT THE RAYS TODAYS :D

Hey! Guess what we're gonna be talking about today? Well, if you read the title, you would know we're going to be talking about rays! I picked a specific species. What is it called you ask? Well, it's called the smooth stingray. Get ready to learn big time! Thanks for reading:)


Well, first things first. You gotta SEE what we're talking about. Look Below! 







Well, It's called "Smooth" stingray for a reason. 

WHAT YOU'LL BE LEARNING TODAY! 

• How they look?
• RANDOM FUN FACT?
• What they eat?
• How they eat? 
• How they defend themselves?
• Difference between a "Skate" and a ray?
• Comparing And Contrasting?
• And.. Other Stuff! :]

                                      HOW THEY LOOK:
The smooth stingray is very popular, most popular in fact, of ALL stingrays! You would see them in most aquariums. This stingray is dark grey to black, and  usually has white spots all over it. Of course, like all other rays.. They have flat floppidy bodies :) If you think about it.. Kinda like a bird. When you see a picture of a ray, does really look like a fish, huh? Maybe a deformed bird or something. And if you looked at the picture, you could see that the eyes are at the top.. But did you see the mouth? No, you didn't. Because it's mouth is at the bottom of it's... body? They don't really have a head.. Just a flat, blunt floppy body.


  Awwwe. It's Smiling! :)

                               FUN FACTS:

• I know this is kinda weird.. But they make actual clothes and accessories out of this ray!
• You heard it! Coats, shoes, belts, ties, etc. Not suff I would wear.. But some people do! 

    
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                         WHAT THEY EAT, AND HOW THEY EAT:
Now, let's explore what can fit inside they're thin little bodies. They eat some types of plankon, small fish, shrimp, and different type of plants. :)
Well, they kinda suck they're mouths on whatever they wanna eat. They suck on like a vacuum, even though they have jaws.But in the picture your about to see, the stingray is eating something that must be.. In the sand. It's hard to tell, because you can only see the top of it's body. Remember? The mouth is on the bottom!  Shall we move on? I think we shall... 





                  HOW THEY DEFEND THEMSELVES?
Did you notice it has a tail? Did you notice it's called a stingray? Well that's just about it! Smooth stingrays, like basically all other stingrays use their tail to sting people, or predators that try to attack them.. Ouchie. And if you've ever felt a stingray you would feel... sliminess. That sliminess, is an overcoat of sliminess that protects them from they're enemies >:D 





        SKATES AND RAYS: COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
               First, I think we should just go over what a skate even .. IS! 

-A Skate is a cartilaginous fish that is kinda kite shaped. A skate also has a flat body. Aslo, 2 wings, and has a weak electrical organ in it's tail. This fish, is basically found anywhere.. From tropical to arctic. 

-A Ray, a fish you've been learning about in this whole blogpost. 

Now Let's Compare and Contrast Rays, And Skates

                     SIMILARITIES 

• They both are Cartilaginous Fishies. 
• They both flat bodies.
• They both kinda have flapidy wings. 
• They both have tails.  
• They both live in tropical areas. 
• They both stay at the bottom of the sea.

          

                        Skate                              Smooth Stingray

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                         DIFFERENCES! 

• A Skate is shaped as a diamond, And Stingray is sorda a blob. 
• The Smooth Stingray usually isn't in the Arctic waters.
• They defend themselves differently. The stingrays use they're tails, While Skates use they're thorn-like tails to defend them from predators! 
• Skates don't sting. 
•  Stingrays can grow bigger than skates. 

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Almost done:) Let's Go Over Some Facts We Learned!

• Smooth Stingrays are the most popular stingrays:) 
• They make accessories and clothes out of them:)
• They eat plankton, small fish, shrimp, and plants:)
• They suck they're mouths on what they eat:)
• They sting people with they're venomous tail:)
• A Skate is a cartilaginous fish, like the ray:)
• A Skate is diamond shaped:)
• A Ray is shaped kinda like a triangular blob:)
• Skates and rays both live in the tropics:)
• Skates use their thorn-like tails for defense:) 

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I hope you learned a lot! Thanks for coming and learning<3 Come back to my blog when your that mood, "Hey! I Feel like learning today!" So come back and learn whenever the times right. BYE! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)