Camouflage Game

To play the camouflage game you will need very sharp eyes. First, you need to know what the word means.

Camouflage - hide by blending in with the natural surroundings. (Click on the word to hear how it's pronounced.)

Many animals are very good at camouflaging themselves in order to hide from their predators. Why? They don't want to get eaten!

Here in New Zealand, I've seen many animals that use color to camouflage themselves. They really blend in with their habitats so they're sometimes hard to find. Below are some photos of animals. Can you find the animal in each photo? (Hint: If you can't see the animal, try clicking on the picture to enlarge it and look again carefully.)

Can you find the animal in this photo? He blends in well on land and in the sea. His main predators are whales and sharks. He is really well camouflaged!

Here's a close-up picture. Can you see the New Zealand Fur Seal? When I visited the seaside town of Kaikoura I saw many seals sunbathing on the rocks. Some of them I didn't see at first because their grey color blended in with their surroundings. When I walked out on the rocks, I almost stepped on a sleeping seal!

Here's a little fella that also lives on land and sea. He's found in New Zealand and in Australia. His predators are also the whales and the sharks.

He's a Little Blue Penguin. Isn't he cute?! He doesn't need the freezing cold temperatures that other penguins need. His stomach is white, so when he's swimming on the surface of the water, a deep swimming shark looking up will see only the white of the sky above him. He won't even notice that part of the white is a little penguin!

Can you find the blue heron in this photo? He blends in so well with the water and branches that I didn't see him until he moved.

I saw what looked like a rock, or a clump of dirt on the path in my garden. Can you tell what it is?

On closer inspection, I realized it was a hedgehog. Can you see its nose and paw in this picture? To hide from its predators, it usually curls up in a little ball and blends in with the dirt and plants. It can also use its sharp spines to keep animals from trying to eat it.

The gecko in this picture is very hard to find when he stands still. He blends in well on the forest floor because he's the same color as the rocks, leaves, dirt, and tree bark. Camouflaging himself keeps him safe from being eaten by birds.

Another type of lizard that also lives in New Zealand is the tuatara. Look how he camouflages himself in the dirt. He is trying to hide from hungry rats or weasels.

This kea, is pretty easy to see standing on a fence, but imagine him amongst tree branches. His colors would help him camouflage himself.

The kea is a tricky bird that makes trouble. He is always looking for food. If a backpacker leaves her pack on the ground, a kea may come along and unzip it to help himself to food inside. In New Zealand, if you leave your car parked in an area where there are lots of keas, they will eat the rubber around your car windows to try to get in to find food.

I've also heard a story about a man who was being bothered repeatedly by a kea who kept coming back and trying to steal his lunch. The man threw his car keys at the bird to scare him away once and for all. The kea dodged the flying keys. Then picked them up in his beak and flew away with them!

Aren't animals amazing!?! Want to learn more about animals that camouflage themselves for protection? Click on Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, for some more good examples.

Here's a fun game my science students used to enjoy. You will need a partner. You both need paper, and crayons or markers. Title your papers "Camouflaged!" Without letting each other see your work, each of you draws a picture of an animal (real or pretend) that uses camouflage to hide from its predators. Now quickly draw its habitat all around him.

When you're both finished, take turns showing each other your pictures. Can you find the animal in ten seconds?!

If you find the animal, you get one point. If you can't, your partner gets one point.

For the next round, try drawing a different habitat with a new animal. The winner is the one with the most points when you have run out of time.

Tell me who won (first name only) by clicking comments below, and then typing the name in the box.

Bungy Jumping

New Zealand is the home of many adventure sports. When I say "adventure sports" I mean wild and crazy activities that people in other countries wouldn't even THINK of doing!

Bungy jumping is one example. When you bungy jump, you jump off a bridge, face first, with a whole bunch of very long rubber bands tied to your legs. Just before crashing at the bottom, the rubber bands pull you back up so you bounce several times before you're left dangling upside down. Does this sound crazy to you? Would you pay $100 to do it?? Some people do!

Recently, I visited the famous Kawarau Bridge to watch the bungy jumpers. This is where bungy jumping all began. "Go to the edge of the world. Then jump off," is the saying for the A.J. Hackett Bungy Jumping Company.

8Imagine this....

You walk out onto a bridge that is high above a gorge, with a river flowing swiftly at the bottom. They tie a harness around your legs and your ankles, and then you take baby steps onto a platform on the outside of the bridge.

Looking down, you can see the rushing water far below. On both sides of you are the rocky walls of the cliffs that stretch down to the water's edge. Standing on both sides of the bridge are people watching to see if you're going to chicken out.

The person in charge tells you to dive head first off the platform. Everyone holds their breath waiting to see if you'll do it, or if you'll inch your way back to the safety of the bridge. Your heart is beating so hard and so quickly it feels as though it will break through your chest. It's impossible for you to get a deep breath. The instructor counts loudly, "One...two....three...JUMP!"

You dive head first over the edge! As you plummet toward the bottom of the canyon, everything becomes a blur as you wonder if your life is about to end. The wind pulls on your face. Your hair is a mass of frenzied dancers as the strands twist and twirl around each other. The sounds of the people above are drowned out by the roar of the river below as you get closer and closer. It seems like you've been dropping a long time, but it's really been just seconds.

At long last, the rubber bands feel the tension of your weight and pull you back up. You're saved! You feel yourself make a few large bounces before coming to rest, upside down, your head a few meters away from the river.

You're relieved to see the pick-up boat come and get you.

Click Here for Bungy Dive Video

Did I bungy jump you're asking?

Not I. Instead I went black water rafting, another adventure sport, but that's a story for another blog posting....

Would YOU go bungy jumping?!? Do you think your teacher would bungy jump???

What's a Fiord?

In New Zealand, I've seen many advertisements for their fiords (spelled fjords in other countries). Click on the word fiord to hear how it's pronounced. This made me curious. I wondered what a fiord would be like. The dictionary says that a fiord is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between steep slopes. What would a fiord look like? How do you get inside a fiord? What would it feel like? I had to find out!

We packed the car and headed toward the southwest part of New Zealand. On the map we could see the fiords. They looked as though a giant had spread his fingers wide and then pushed in the land along the coast. Once the fingers were removed, the ocean then filled in the remaining holes. That got me wondering how the fiords were really made. Researching, I discovered that these fiords were made when large sheets of ice, called glaciers, slid slowly toward the ocean over millions of years and carved out the land. The valleys they created near the coast were filled in by the ocean so they are now called fiords. These fiords have been here for over 13,000 years!

The driving time to the fiords was about eight hours, but we stopped in towns along the way to spend the night and to explore. We came across this sign and phone booth on the way. Click on the photo to read the words on the sign. Do you see the distances? They're in kilometers. Did you notice the New Zealand flag?

We visited two fiords, Doubtful and Milford. The first one was named Doubtful because the English explorer who discovered it was doubtful that his sailing ship could sail up it from the ocean. He didn't think there would be enough wind to fill the sails and keep the boat moving, so he just named it and continued to explore the coast of New Zealand. He never knew the beautiful sights he missed!

To get to Doubtful from the land side, we had to take a boat across the large lake you see in this photo, and then board a bus to take us down a private road to the water's edge. While on the bus, we could see the fiord in the distance.

Here is a picture of Doubtful. Doesn't it look exciting and mysterious?! Just looking at the picture makes me want to go back there again! You can tell we're near the top of the mountain when I took the photo. If you look closely, you can see the road far down near the fiord. We still had to get all the way down there! Remember that the dictionary said that a fiord is between steep slopes? It's right!

At long last, we boarded the ship and found our cabin. A few minutes later, the ship began its journey up the fiord, out toward the Pacific Ocean. Everyone ran out on deck to see the sights! As you can see from the photo, it was a grey day, with a drizzling rain off and on, making the area seem almost magical. This is often the weather in these fiords. That's what makes the hillsides green, so thickly covered with plants that you can't even see the ground!

After a several hours, we reached the ocean and the boat began heaving back and forth in the rough waves. If we had kept going, we would have reached Australia. However, since this was to be just a two-day trip, the captain turned the boat around and sailed far enough back into the fiord that the water was again calm and we could anchor for the night.

As you can see, some of us went kayaking before dinner. It was an awesome feeling to be in such a little boat at the base of those tall mountains. It was so quiet and peaceful in the fiord. The only sounds I heard came from the birds, and the people in our group. There were no other boats, no automobile noises, none of the regular sounds one hears in a city. They were replaced by singing birds, splashing paddles, and friendly laughter. I knew I would remember this trip for a long time to come.

After a delicious dinner prepared by the chef on the ship, we were entertained with a slide show by one of the ship's crew. She showed us pictures of the plants and animals in the fiords, and imitated the sounds of the birds so we would know what to listen for that night and the next morning.

She was right. On our nighttime stroll around the deck of the ship, we could here the squeaky sounds of the kiwi birds foraging for food on the mountainsides. In the morning, the first sound, loud and clear, was the bell bird, sounding very much like the chimes of a bell.

After a hearty breakfast for all, the captain set sail, reaching the dock around 10:00 am. Then it was back on the bus to travel up and over the mountain, and then on the boat to cross the lake back to town. It had been a beautiful trip, filled with interesting information, new sights and new sounds. The best part was knowing that we would get to see another fiord, Milford, in a couple of days.

Here are some photos from the Milford fiord. This was also a beautiful trip, with the mountains even higher, and more magnificent than at Doubtful. We learned that every fiord is different, and that if you ever have an opportunity to travel inside a fiord, go for it! You will be amazed by what you see and hear!

Chirpy in New Zealand

Look who's flown all the way from New York to New Zealand (with the help of Qantas Airlines) - Chirpy!

Chirpy was given to me by one of my 4th grade students last June. My problem is that I now can't remember who gave me this cute little bird! Can you help? Please click Comments at the end of this posting and tell me if you know who gave it to me. On the last day of school, the class submitted possible names. "Chirpy" won.

So, what has this little robin from New York been doing while in a foreign country you might ask?

He loves to sit in the garden at his new home and listen to the birds. Many of the birds here are different from the ones back home. He is also happy to know that there are NO snakes in New Zealand, so he feels very safe.

Chirpy loves being out in the countryside. There are so many beautiful places to see in New Zealand! This area is one of his favorite because it's by the ocean, and in the hills where the sheep run free and the birds sing all day.

He also likes being up in the Southern Alps. They are very tall mountains. When we were there the lupine flowers were in bloom covering the mountainsides. The mountains are so high that there's snow on them even in the summertime.

But Chirpy can't just play every day. Sometimes he has to go to school. The Kiwi kids love Chirpy! They think he is very cute.

Here he is being read to by a 7-year-old boy. Chirpy LOVES reading books, ever since he visited Mrs. Acito's room at Cottage Lane and discovered all of her beautiful books. If you haven't seen them ask her about them! Many of the children in this class read to Chirpy and everyone enjoyed the afternoon.

Some of the older kids found a book for Chirpy they KNEW he would love. Can you tell why?! (Hint: Enlarge the picture by clicking on it. Then click the back button.)

They also wanted to show Chirpy a globe so he could see his route from New York to California, and then California to New Zealand's South Island. Click here to go to Google Earth and see if you can find the same route.

When Chirpy isn't reading, or thinking about traveling, his favorite school activity is RECESS! He loves playing with the kids and the kids love playing with him. He especially liked this game with the geometry building set. Not only did the kids build neat things with them, but they could also tell whether they had built a pentagon, hexagon, or octagon.

One of the kids even made Chirpy a special nest during his free time. Wasn't that kind of him?

If you have any questions or comments for Chirpy, just click Comment at the bottom of THIS POSTING (Don't scroll all the way to the bottom of the page). He's flying up to the town of Kaikoura for a few days, but when he returns he'd be happy to answer your questions.

Maoris

The Maori people were the first people to occupy New Zealand, just as the Native American Indians were the first people to occupy what is now called the United States of America. The first Maoris came here by canoe, in the 1200's, from the Polynesian Islands north of New Zealand, so they look Polynesian. This photo shows an archway welcoming people to a Maori area. It is made of wood and shells, and is designed to keep evil away.

Captain Cook, a British sailor, explored this area in the mid-1700's . He discovered New Zealand and told people about it back in England. Over the years, more explorers came. Then people from England who wanted adventure and a new life began moving here. By the beginning of the 1800's, there were several towns filled with English people around New Zealand. As word spread about the good life out here, more and more people came. Some of the land was bought from the Maoris. Some of it was stolen.

Today, the Maoris work and live in all parts of life. Those who stay in school and get lots of education get the better jobs, earn more money, and have an easier life. Sometimes people discriminate against them, just as the Native American Indian often faces discrimination. That means that people judge them, not because of who they are, but because of their race. This makes life more difficult for them.

To help people understand their culture better, they have set up cultural shows to teach people about the Maori traditions. They want people to respect them and appreciate their culture, not make fun of it or think it's weird. This photo shows a Maori meeting house. The Maoris performed songs and dances to greet us when we arrived. We removed our shoes before going in, out of a sign of respect.

CLICK HERE to see and hear a Maori Dance.

Inside they told us about their culture and they performed more songs and dances. Some of their songs were very beautiful. The war songs and dances, like the "haka," were very fierce. This photo shows some men performing the haka. During the haka, they open their eyes very wide, yell very loudly, and slap their chests, legs, and arms in rhythmn. This looks very scary. They also stick out their tongues with the mouths wide open. This means, "I'm going to eat you up!" In the olden days, if you were in a tribe thinking about attacking this tribe, you might give up and run away after seeing them do this fierce haka.

These days, since the Maori tribes no longer attack each other, the haka dance is performed by the New Zealand rugby team, called the "All Blacks". Rugby is a very popular sport here in New Zealand. It's kind of like our football, but much rougher. The All Blacks dance the haka before each game to scare the other team. I guess it works because the All Blacks win almost all of their games. They are considered the best rugby team in the world!

Mr. Freeley, at Cottage Lane, knows the haka. I'm sure he'd perform it for you if you asked him nicely :).

The Maoris perform their shows in their native outfits, but after the show they get changed into their blue jeans and t-shirts to go home.

We see many Maori words each day, as many towns have Maori names, like Whakatane (pronounced fu-ku-tah-nee) and Hokatika (pronounced hoe-ku-ti-ku). The Maori name for New Zealand is Aoteoroa, which means Land of the Great White Cloud. Isn't that a nice name?

The government has declared that all children must learn some Maori words, so all teachers are required to take classes in the Maori language and pass a test in Maori in order to get a teaching credential, which allows them to teach school. All of the classrooms have some posters up to remind the children how to say some of the words, and each day they speak a few words in Maori. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see the English words next to the Maori words.

Some of the children in the schools I've visited are Maori. Here is a picture of Simon. He's a very sweet 5-year-old boy. He loves life and is full of energy. In his classroom there are other Maori children, but also many Pakeha (people with white skin from England or other European countries, as well as from North American countries). There are also children whose parents have moved here from the nearby islands of Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji; and children from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Somalia, China, Korea, Thailand, and Japan. They are all now Kiwis because they've made New Zealand their home.