This isn’t the first time that we learnt about snails, actually it is a topic that we have pursued several times. I guess when your a kid, you can’t get bored about anything that is slimy and as interesting as a snail.

So here are a few facts about snails that you may find interesting and at the very least, you will know the answer to it.

• Snails are not insects but are in fact mollusks and belong to the same family as clams.
• Snails are gastropods, which means “stomach foot.”
• Snails have both female and male reproductive organs.
• The largest snail in the world weighed in at 2lbs and 15 inches long

Now that we have a few interesting facts. Let’s look at the external anatomy of the snail.

1. The Shell: this is the most obvious part of the snail and the one that will be easy for your child to find. It protects the snail and provides a home on its back. Of course, there is a difference between a home and a habitat.
2. The Foot: this makes up most of the body of the snail and is what the snail moves on.
3. Respiratory Pore: there is a small hole on the side of the snails body just below the shell where the snail breaths from.
4. The Head: A pretty obvious part of the body, it is identified by the four tentacles protruding from it.
5. The Tentacles: there are four on the head. Two small ones and two long ones.
6. The Eye Spots: found at the end of the long tentacles, these are the eyes so when you poke a tentacle to get it to go in, you are actually poking the snail in the eye.
7. The Mouth: also found on the head, it contains tongue with file-like teeth, which is called the radula.

For an excellent printout on snail anatomy, I would recommend this site.

Before I close off on this topic, I would like to mention a few things about keeping snails. If your kids are like mine, chances are they have already asked to keep a snail or two. It is very easy to set up a terrarium for a snail and all you need to be sure of having are a few plants, and a cuttle bone so the shells stay hard. In the wild, snails will eat limestone and other rocks to maintain the right amount of minerals to keep the shell hard. In captivity, snails do not have the alternative food so it is important to provide it.

If you are keeping a snail, you can feed it any type of fruit or vegetables (I found they love apples) and you will need to keep the terrarium moist. Spray the snails with a water bottle every day. If you forget, don’t worry too much. Snails will often close up their shell with a plug of mucus and then hibernate during times of drought or lack of food. If your snail does this, simply spray with water and watch as it slowly wakes up.

I hope this fills you in a bit on snails.

Sirena Van Schaik

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When it comes to Volcanoes, it can be pretty simple to explain them. They are, after all, mountains that spew lava, right?

In many ways that answer is yes, but not all volcanoes are mountains, in the exact sense of the word, and not all mountains are volcanoes.

Volcanoes are usually formed at the spots where platelets either collide or pull apart. Generally, there is a gap where the plates border each other and a lake of molten rock is trapped in the space between the platelets. This is called a magma chamber if you were to look at a volcano. Once the magma collects in the chamber, a series of eruptions will occur. Each time it erupts, the lava and ash that comes out of the eruption cools and begins to form a pile of igneous rock. With each passing eruption, more height is added to the pile and eventually it begins to form a mountain. This process can take thousands of years and some volcanoes can become extinct before they even gain significant height.

Volcanoes can also form at hot spots, such as those found in Hawaii, which are found above a feeder channel, or magma plume, that feeds magma from the Earth’s core up into a chamber in the Earth’s crust. The last place a volcano can form is over thin spots in the Earth’s crust.

Since the platelets of the Earth are constantly moving, volcanoes can and do become extinct. An extinct volcano occurs when the platelets have moved far enough from the magma plume that it is no longer attached to it. In the case of the Pacific Ring of Fire, you will find many volcanoes that are now dormant, no longer attached to the magma plume that created it. However, when it shifted, a new volcano began to form over the magma plume and the cycle was begun again.

There are several types of Volcanoes and I’m not going to get into the definition for each one since this is after all a cheat sheet. I don’t want to load you down with too much information but I have added a link that will explain each one to you in more depth.

The types of Volcanoes are:

• Mid-ocean
• Shield
• Strato
• Flood Basalts
• Monogenetic Fields
• Rhyolite Caldera Complexes

When a volcano erupts, there are two types of flow. These are the Dome Collapse where there is a thick crust of lava that blocks the top of the volcano shaft. When the lava reaches the blockage, it begins to flow sideways out of the top of the volcano. The second is the Collapsing Vertical Eruption where the eruption forces volcanic ash and other objects up into a cloud before it collapses and begins to flow down the sides of the volcano.

Lastly, there are several types of eruptions and these are:

• Hawaiian
• Peleean
• Vulcanian
• Strombolian
• Plinian

And that is all I am going to go into about volcanoes, although I could go into much more. If you would like more information on Volcanoes, I suggest using the wikipedia site on Volcanoes or going to the site, Volcano World. This is a great site that has a section for teaching and a section for Kids. One of the books that I used for a lot of my research on volcanoes was a Visual Dictionary that I bought for my class and then brought home. If you have a chance to find a good visual dictionary for kids, don’t hesitate to pick it up.

Sirena Van Schaik

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In actuality, there are several things that you can say about toads and I have compiled a little cheat sheet for that.

The difference between Toads and Frogs:

There are only a few different things that will help you differentiate a toad from a frog and these are:

1. Location: A frog spends most of its life in or very near to water. Toads, on the other hand, will travel away from water and many people will find them in their garden, which I have been doing over the last few weeks as I get my garden together. Usually, I find at least one every other day.
2. The Skin: Frogs tend to have smoother skin that feels wet to the touch while Toads have bumpy skin, more warts and they feel slightly dry to the touch.
3. The Legs: Frogs usually have long strong legs while a toad has a shorter body and shorter, muscular legs.
4. The Attitude: Frogs tend to be shy and will quickly slip away when fingers are trying to grasp them. Toads are usually not as timid and can be very easy to catch. They are also more likely to just sit and relax in your hand if you are not being cruel to them.
5. The Movement: Frogs jump and although toads will jump, they are more likely to crawl along on all four legs than jump.
6. The Eggs: If you have spotted some eggs it is pretty easy to determine what will come out of the eggs. If they are in a cluster, almost like grapes, then they are frogs. If they resemble a string of black beads coated in a clear jelly, then they are toads.

A few more facts:

• Toads are amphibians
• Toads do not have teeth
• Toads have poison sacks behind their eyes to deter predators. When a predator bites down on a toad, its mouth is filled with a horrible taste and they will usually remain sick for a few hours since many toad species do not have enough poison to severely injure an animal.
• Toads belong to a family called bufonidae.

Life cycle of a toad:

• Egg: an adult toad lays eggs in water
• Tadpole: the eggs hatch and tadpoles live in the water with external gills similar to a fish. They live off of plant and animal matter.
• Mature Tadpole: the tadpole matures and will develop hind legs first at about 6 to 8 weeks.
• Young Toad: the lungs develop into internal lungs and the front legs grow. The tail shortens until there is no tail left and the young toad can live on land fully.
• Adult: the toad becomes an adult

Some resources:

This site will actually take you to many great sites related to frogs and toads and you won’t have to go too far to find what you are looking for. 42explore

Hope you enjoyed my cheat sheet for Toads today.

Sirena Van Schaik

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As a mother, I have said that sentence a million times and every time I feel a sharp pain behind my eyes, a reminder that maybe I’m letting my kid’s down because I do not know the surface gravity of Mars and how many Earths will fit into the Sun.  When I do admit defeat and end up saying those dreaded words, I end up explaining for 15 minutes how I couldn’t possibly know everything there is to know in the world.  My kids are always surprised by this and argue with me that I probably know it but I just can’t remember. 

At times like that, I wish that I had a little cheat sheet handy with all the little tidbits of knowledge that my children are trying to glean from me.  “Surface gravity of Mars, no problem, it’s 0.4 times the Earth’s surface gravity.  How many Earth’s fit in the sun? No problem there either, a million earths would.”  These answers would be accompanied by me shuffling through my cheat sheets but I would feel great answering the questions.  Of course, knowing my luck, my kid’s would then ask a question that no one else has ever thought to ask and I would be stuck answering it the same way as I always do, with a sigh and a “I don’t know.”

So I thought I would provide you with some cheat sheets for a new feature on That Parent Place and since spring is here, I thought it would be great to start with Butterflies. 

To start, I am going to tell you ways to determine the difference between moths and butterflies.  I’m sure that you will have to spend your days identifying every butterfly and moth your child is fortunate to catch so why not have a cheat sheet to determine what it is you are looking at.

Surprisingly, there are only four things you need to know to determine if you are looking at a butterfly or a moth and those are:

• The Antenna:  Butterflies have long thin antennas that have a club at the end of them.  Moths usually have antennas that look like feathers or their antennas are long and thin but do not have the club
• The Thorax: Moths have a larger, plumper body that is usually fuzzy where butterflies generally have a thinner body that is smooth.
• Wings at Rest: If you have ever watched a butterfly rest on the petal of a flower, you may have noticed that it rests with its wings together.  This is a common trait of all butterflies.  Moths on the other hand, rest with their wings open.
• Time of Day:  The general rule of thumb is that butterflies are out during the day and moths are out at night.  There are some periods in the day, usually early evening, when you can find moths and butterflies and there are some of both species that can be seen both day and night.

And that is it for differences between butterflies and moths but what now.  What if your child suddenly wants to know the life cycle of a butterfly?  Although I have always been a big fan of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, it isn’t the most accurate book on the life cycle of a butterfly.  Let’s face it, very few caterpillars have the opportunity to eat chocolate cake. 

For the cheat sheet you should know that Butterflies have a 4 stage life cycle:

• Egg
• Caterpillar where it will loose several layers of skin until it eventually prepares for the next stage
• Pupa or Chrysalis
• Butterfly

It is very simple and kids love to learn about the life-cycle.  If you are looking for some great sites about butterflies, I would suggest visiting Enchanted Learning where they have many activities that are centered around learning about Butterflies.  They even have an anatomy coloring page that is wonderful. 

I would also recommend the Butterfly Website for information and pictures of butterflies. It is not geared towards kids but with a little browsing, you can make it. 

If you have any other cheat sheet facts about Butterflies, please feel free to share them or let me know what other cheat sheets you would like.

So enjoy the season and happy butterfly hunting.

Sirena Van Schaik

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