Virtual Field Trip: Croc Farm

When taking kids on a field trip, it is always best to do a head count. But since I took the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders from Akany Avoko to a crocodile farm, I thought it best to be thorough and do hand, finger, foot and toe counts too. And when all was said and done, we were all accounted for down to the very last toe.

And what did the excited Malagasy students learn at the crocodile farm? Well, why don't you tag along for a virtual field trip and find out?

Right, welcome to the Croc Farm. Make sure to stick with your buddy and no sharing your sandwich with the man-eating reptiles. Last chance, anyone need to tinkle? Good, let's get started.

Crocodiles are pointy-toothed time machines. That doesn't mean you can crawl inside one and zap yourself to the future. In fact, I would advise you to never crawl inside a crocodile. (Except for perhaps you, William.) Crocodiles are like a time machine, because when you look at one you are looking backwards 200 million years!

Dinosaurs saw the same kind of crocodiles that you see. That is because crocodiles are nearly perfect reptiles. Unlike Sally's spelling, there really isn't much room for improvement. They pretty much stay the same.

Most animals and plants change over time as certain genetic mutations and features work out better than the ones their parents and grandparents had. The new slightly different animals or plants do well and have lots of babies. Do that for millions of years and things can really change. But crocodiles don't really change anymore. They made all the right adaptations a long time ago.

Yes, Timmy?

"What are some of those adaptations that make them so perfect?"

Excellent question, but please take your finger out of your nose while I answer it. Thanks.

Well, for one thing check out that long, strong tail. That puppy is chock full of muscles. It can use it to gently swim through the water or ambush a poor defenseless bird that was just trying to have a little drink. Poor bird.

Their fat webbed feet aren't used for paddling. They are used to steer and to support their body as they walk, run and even hop on land. No small feat considering a large crocodile can weigh as much as a car.

They don't hunt down their food. They use their excellent camouflage (and patience) to wait for food to come just a bit too close before they ambush it and bite down with their world famous jaws.

A crocodile can really bite. I know Ruby, your little sister can really bite too, but she is nothing compared to a crocodile. Their bite is 5,000 pounds per square inch. Yeah, what does that mean. I get it. Well, let's compare it to another toothsome foe, the great white shark. That seal-eating super fish can only chomp down with a measly 400 pounds per square inch.

But with all those big muscles used to bite down, there aren't many left over to open the mouth back up, so a crocodile is a bit of a weakling too. Even you could hold a crocodile's mouth shut, Pete (even though you don't seem to be able to keep your own shut for more than two seconds).

Now let's shuffle over to the next pond.

Crocodiles are cold-blooded; just like math teachers. Just kidding, Mr. Weedle. Thanks for coming today and please put down that rock. Right, you are able to eat delicious food (or the food they serve in the cafeteria) and turn that food into energy and heat. That means you are warm-blooded. You pretty much stay at 37.5 degrees Celsius. Cold-blooded animals can't really warm themselves up. They have to get some help from the sun. Their blood can get hot and cold and it doesn't really hurt them.

Crocodiles can't sweat to cool off like you. So when they get a bit past toasty, they open up their mouths to cool off like a dog. They can take a swim to cool off too. To warm up, they drag their big bellies up onto a nice beach to catch some rays and maybe eat a wildebeest.

In Madagascar, there are some special crocodiles that have learned--eyes on me, Lester--to love the cold. They are the only crocodiles in the world that live in caves. Caves are cold. That means the crocodiles are cold. And when a cold-blooded animal gets cold, they get slow. And in the Madagascar cave crocodiles' case--sorry, head up and eyes on me, Lester--they get so cold they can't even eat. They have to get out into the sun to warm up enough to have a meal. It's not too much of a hassle though. Some of them only eat once a year. And during certain times of the--right, that's it! Mr. Weedle, would you kindly pick up Lester and feed him to the crocodiles?

Thank you.

Yes, Becky?

"Why does Lester get to play with the crocodiles and the rest of us don't?"

Because I like him best. Now let's move on.

Take a close look at the crocodile skin. It may look old, rough and clunky, but it's really top-of-the-line high-tech stuff. It has special receptors that allow it to feel even the tiniest movement in the water. And the scales are so tough and protective that some tribes in Africa even used the skin as shields. A crocodile's armored outer shell even helps on chilly mornings. There are thousands and thousands of small capillaries running with blood just beneath the thick bits. The scales absorb the sun's heat and transfer it to the blood. Nifty, no?

Simon?

"This is getting boring?"

Simon, you're getting an F for today, but you don't see me complaining do you?

Fine, I'll shut my trap about the wonderful world of crocodiles and we'll see what else the Croc Farm has to offer.

"Mr. Lebo, the ostrich looks angry."

Oh, it's probably just upset, because it can't fly. Or that it's so far from home. Ostriches never lived in Madagascar. They did have elephant birds though and they were almost twice as tall.

Here, you can see two very special turtles who appear to be in love or involved in some sort of turtle car accident. The little one in the midst of being run over is a radiated tortoise. One of them lived to be 188 years old making it the oldest known living animal. And the big one doing the running over is a Seychelles giant tortoise and it is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Madagascar used to be crawling with similar giant tortoises, but they became extinct shortly after people arrived about 2,500 years ago.

"Mr. Lebo, why would people be so mean to big lovable turtles?"

I don't know. Maybe because they asked too many questions.

Alright, that's it for blabbing. It's time for some fun. Take off your shoes and you can each have eleven seconds to enjoy the bounce and wonder of the trampoline...................... ...................................Excellent, fun is over.

"But you said we could have ice cream?"

I also said you wouldn't have homework this weekend. Do you believe everything I say?

Oh, for goodness sakes, stop crying or you can all go help Lester wrestle the crocodile.

"I almost got her, Mr. Lebo! Ouch. I think she's getting tired. Ow! Pointy teeth. So many pointy teeth. Ow!"

Good work, Lester. Now, while the crocodile finishes her snack, we can all go have some ice cream...if it will keep you from whining.

"Thank you, Mr. Lebo!"

Yeah, yeah.

Ok, it's the real Mr. Lebo here. Not the mean one from the virtual field trip we just took. I just want to let you know that the real thanks don't go to me. They go to Mrs. Schwimmer in Princeton, NJ for being ever so kind and loving by donating her own birthday money to help send the kids from Akany Avoko on a wonderful, wonderful field trip to the quite real Croc Farm. And, yes, we did get ice cream on the way home. And, no, none of the kids spilled it all over their nice clean shirts. I was the only one to do that.

If you are interested in sending the kids of Akany Avoko children's home on another cool field trip, please email me at chad_lebo@monet.prs.k12.nj.us to find out how.

The Other Side

Life for most kids in America means clean clothes to put on in the morning, a free school they can go to, three good meals a day and plenty of safe water to drink. Life for most kids in Madagascar is very different.

They may only have one or two sets of clothing. There are not many schools to even go to. And even if there is a school the books and uniforms are not and that is money their family does not have. They work as farmers and animal herders. They do not have electricity. They eat rice or boiled roots two times a day, three if they are lucky. The water they drink and wash in does not come from a clean sink. It comes from dirty soiled rivers and wells. There are very few doctors to help them if they are sick. There are not many toys to play with besides stones, old tires, plastic grocery bags and beat-up homemade toys trucks. Even if they could get books, most cannot read. Or do math. Because they do not get enough calories, vitamins or minerals, they are shorter and skinnier than most of the kids their age in the world.

It is not a life you know. It is not a life I knew. But it is most certainly the life they know. And most bear it with dignity. They do not complain or whine. It is even possible to find smiles on the faces of the children near me who live behind dumpsters and spend their days picking through the trash to find scraps they can eat or empty bottles they can sell.

This is not an easy problem to solve, but it should most certainly not be ignored. Talk to your families and your teachers and ask about some ways that you or you class may be able to remember or help those that the world and fortune have forgotten.

[Students and Teachers: If you are interested in helping the children of Madagascar, please email me at chad_lebo@monet.prs.k12.nj.us about the opportunities to help kids at the children's home where I work, Akany Avoko.]

All of the photos on this post were taken by last weekend in the small town of Ibity, Madagascar. When looking at these photos, keep this in mind: compared to most of the country, this village is not a poor one. It has a primary school, a local cement factory and good farmland.

Got No Snow? Just Fake It

It might be cold, white and windy in your neck of the woods, but down in here in the southern hemisphere it's summertime. The sun is bright, the air is hot and there sure is no snow around, not even for Christmas. In fact, the kids here have never caught a snowflake on their tongues, made big-winged snow angels or rolled up three big balls of white to make the perfect snowman.

Even in the winter (your summer), it doesn't get cold enough for snow. That's why we had to fake it. To celebrate the holidays at the children's home, we mixed up some fake snow and had some lessons in good ol' snowman makin'.

And what is fake snow made of?

Diapers.

Ok, not quite. But diapers and fake snow are made out of the same stuff--sodium poylacrylate. The little bits of polymer have the crazy ability to soak up 200 to 300 times their own mass in water. Or in the case of diapers...pee.

If you want to play along with the kids at the home, just crack open a diaper and have a ball. Just make sure it's a new diaper.

Enjoy.

Just add water. Then watch the dazzling little specks slurp up almost all the water you can give them.

Dive in with your hands and give it all a good mixing and voila...faux snow. And since water is so good at stealing heat from your hands and everything else too, it even feels cold. Sadly, it doesn't mush or roll up into a very good snowball though.

But that doesn't mean you have to give up on Frosty. Just lay Frosty down and you're back in the snowman making business. (Also, notice how green the garden is in the background. Remember, it's summer here.)

Most of the kids in Madagascar haven't even seen pictures of what a snowman should look like. Some did a darn fine job of looking like the real thing.

And some had their own Malagasy flare.

Next time the flakes start falling, use the real stuff to make some snowmen of your own. And imagine how strange and wonderful it would be to see and feel snow for the first time.

Science You Can Really Sink Your Siege Engine Into

So you've got a large-scale model medieval siege engine in your garage and you're just not sure what to do with it? Maybe it's a trebuchet that was used to fling large large rocks into castle walls or dead cows over them. Well, castles are pretty hard to find nowadays and don't even get me started on dead cows. So what is to be done?

Well, you know who loves to throw things? Kids. So take your thingamajig tosser and do some science.

That is exactly what we did last week. Some of the children at Akany Avoko rolled up their sleeves and helped build a couple of meter tall trebuchets. A few adjustments here and there and they were ready for some good hands-on science teaching.

We had a warm-up lesson exploring the basics of levers, but on Friday we were ready for the real thing.

The two teams of 4th and 5th graders loaded up their trebuchets with tennis balls and prepared for battle. Each team was at one end of a basketball court and had to try and hurl the ball at a target on the other end. Hit the target three times and win.

Three, two, one...jump back and fire! After each shot the machine was adjusted and fired again. The lever arm of the trebuchet had three different settings to choose from.

The losing team had to face a firing squad! It was a water balloon firing squad, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds. The winning team got to fling one balloon at the losing team.

But then we made it fair. We moved the trebuchets closer and both teams switched from tennis balls to water balloons! Sounds a lot better than a science book doesn't it?

The trick was firing at the enemy without getting sloshing wet from an incoming balloon yourself.

Sometimes there was just nothing to do but take one for the team.

But really, on a toasty hot afternoon, who doesn't want to be drenched with a water balloon.

[Click here to see and learn more about trebuchets from PBS's Nova.]

[Click here to attack at castle with a virtual trebuchet game.]