Animal Habitat Project, Take 2

Last year, at the end of first grade, Amiya had to select an animal, conduct research, create a display and write a brief report about said animal. She chose the white tiger and did a great job. (She was more enthused than she seems in the photo.)

This year, same thing except a longer report. She chose an okapi and did a really nice job, again.

The report this year was much more elaborate, including the standard intro/information/ccl format and citations. She did an excellent job and we did not need to retreat to separate corners whilst in the midst of notetaking, etc. I helped her organize her information, she wrote the paper. She also made sure to "add bits of personality" throughout - her teacher said something to the kids about making their writing their own with "bits of personality." Amiya ran with that and I had to keep reminding her that it wasn't an editorial, but a factual report. I've highighted the bits of personality that she kept.

Here it is:

What do you think a giraffe plus a zebra would look like if you mixed them together? The animal that would be the sum of those would be the Okapia Johnstoni or simply, the okapi. The okapi is a mammal that lives in a special part of the world. Want to know more? Just keep reading!

The okapi is a rare and unique animal which looks like a mule with brown and white stripes on its’ legs and hind. The rest of its body is a dark brown. It has a long neck like a giraffe but it’s not quite as tall! They are only 5-6 feet tall at the shoulder. The okapi’s body gives it great camouflage and its’ good hearing and fantastic speed help it stay away from its’ main predator: the human. It can groom hard to reach spots, such as its' ears, with its’ tongue. It can even use it to pick its’ nose! Males weigh 440-660 pounds and females weigh 495-770 pounds. At birth okapis weigh around 80 lbs. Okapis are herbivores so they eat leaves, grass, buds, shoots, fungi, fruits, seeds, and ferns. Okapis are able to eat plants that are poisonous to humans because they’re ruminants. A ruminant has a stomach made up of different sections or chambers. An okapi chews something and then swallows it and then it passes through the first chamber. Next, it goes back up to the mouth. The okapi chews it again about forty to fifty times and then it passes through the other three chambers. In this way, it’s able to eat things that are poisonous to humans. They usually live by themselves. The only time they come together is when they’re mating. Okapis usually mate when they’re 2-4 years old. The male lowers and raises his front leg, then he taps the female with his leg. Then they mate. After mating, the female goes to the thickest part of the forest to have the calf. Scientists know so little about okapis because they were only discovered about one hundred years ago!

Okapis can be found in the Ituri rainforest in Africa, specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Okapis help the rainforest by fertilizing the ground. “How?” you ask. Because they eat fruits, there are seeds in their droppings and those seeds in the droppings grow into plants. (Mommy's note: she totally and fully made this part up. She read it nowhere. It is probably true and she heard about it with other animals, but still.)

Now, I’ll tell you about the rainforest. The climate in the rainforest is warm, wet, and humid with sun and rain daily. It’s always green and alive with trees, plants and animals. If you’re taking a walk in the rainforest, you’ll think it is quiet but if you listen closely you’ll hear the hooting of the howler monkeys and if you’re lucky, you might hear the screeching of a parrot! The plant life in the rainforest has trees, trees, trees! There are four levels in the rainforest: first the forest floor, then the understory, next the canopy and last, but not least, the emergent level. If you’re looking from an airplane, a rainforest might look like a big head of broccoli because the canopy is so dense. If you’re wondering “Then what is the emergent level?” Well, it’s the trees that stick up above the canopy. There are lots and lots of plants and they’re very diverse. In one acre you might find 100 different species of trees! Vines, called lianas, grow around trunks and branches of trees. Epiphytes, or air flowers, grow on all layers of the rain forest. Both vines and epiphytes are home to frogs, ants and many other creatures. The soil of the rainforest is very thin and poor in minerals. Dead plants and animals rot quickly because it’s so hot and humid that their nutrients recycle quickly into the soil. The roots of plants and trees grow near the surface to get the nutrients quickly. On the floor of the Ituri rainforest, giant hogs and lowland gorillas roam along with the okapi. In the canopy, monkeys, bats and birds live and make their homes.

The rainforest is important for the world. Rainforests make ¾ of the earth’s oxygen! It is also helpful because it gives us food like cocoa, bananas, pineapples, spices, nuts and fruits. The rainforest also gives us rubber. It can make the medicines to possibly cure illnesses such as eye diseases, malaria, and cancer. It can also make medicines to lower blood pressure. This is why it’s important to take care of the rainforest! You can help the rainforest by planting trees and reusing paper.

I really love the okapi and the rainforest. Now that you know more about the okapi and its’ habitat, what will you do? I’m going to try to help the rainforest and save the okapis. Even little hands can help!

Chicky also had to do a display - here's her okapi habitat display. She did a really great job, I think. As per usual, Vinay and I are the money, she's the creativity. Kev graciously shared a few of his animals with her.

All in all, this was a really great project for her. She had to learn to take notes and cite sources and she got to paint and create. She learned a bit more about okapis, too.

It would seem that third graders do another project just like this, but more elaborate, more in-depth. I am hopeful she will once again pick an animal that we can pull from Kev's toy chest. And, I'm hopeful that when Kev hits grade school, the moopsetherium craze will have passed and we will not have to argue about whether it is a viable choice for his projects.