May 9, 2007: Mammal Moms

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Cut out newspaper words and pictures of items your mom, grandmother or special female caretaker uses to take care of you. Write a sentence about the special lady in your life.

2. Cut out comic strips from the newspaper that show moms, grandmothers or aunts helping children. Paste them on a piece of paper. Then make a list of the different ways the women are helping children.

3. Make a timeline that shows the different amounts of time animal moms take care of their young before their babies can take care of themselves. Begin with "no time" and then list the animals according to the time the mothers stay with their young.

4. Which of the animal moms (a) build some kind of mound to take care of their young, (b) nurse their young, (c) bring food to their young, and (d) care for their young longer than one year?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about one of the animal moms in today's Mini Page. Use these questions to guide your research:

• Which animal will you research?
• How are the young born (live or from an egg)?
• How does the mother provide food? How long does the mother stay with the young?
• What does the mother do to make sure the young animal can survive on his/her own?

Write a paragraph that describes how the young animal goes from birth to independence.

This week's standards:

• Students understand the characteristics and life cycles of organisms. (Science: Life Science)
• Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments. (Science: Life Science)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)