IN MAY WE PROMISED YOU AN UPDATE ON FIONA - THE HIPPO WHO WAS BORN PREMATURELY AT THE CINCINNATI ZOO. WELL, SHE’S OUT IN THE PUBLIC VIEWING POOL AT THE ZOO AND IS ALREADY BEING A PAIN IN MOM’S BUTT - LITERALLY TRYING TO TAKE A CHOP OF HER TAIL!
AND NOW THERE ARE PLANS TO MAKE HER SUCCESS STORY INTO A BOOK TITLED “SAVING FIONA: SCIENCE, SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE STORY OF A BABY HIPPO.” PROFITS FROM SELLING THE BOOK WILL GO TO THE ZOO.
I’M GOING TO HAVE TO ADD THAT TO MY READING LIST!
ALL SUMMER LONG, THE FLOWERS WERE BLOOMING, BUT THREE IN PARTICULAR WERE A SPECIAL CASE ….AND ONE OF THEM - I’D STAY FAR AWAY FROM.
THREE GIANT CORPSE FLOWERS BLOOMED AT THE SAME TIME IN THE U.S. BOTANICAL GARDEN IN WASHINGTON D.C. BOTANICAL MEANS RELATING TO PLANTS, SO A BOTANICAL GARDEN IS BASICALLY A PLANT MUSEUM.
WHEN THESE CORPSE FLOWERS BLOOM THEY SMELL LIKE ROTTING MEAT - YUCK! WE REPORTED ON ONE AT OHIO STATE FOUR YEARS AGO – BUT ACCORDING TO THE GARDEN, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN NORTH AMERICA THAT THREE CORPSE FLOWERS HAVE BLOOMED AT THE SAME TIME IN THE SAME PLACE - TRIPLE YUCK!
THE STINK ATTRACTS FLIES TO VISIT THE FLOWER AND HELP POLLINATE IT. BUT I’M STAYING FAR AWAY - LIKE HEADING TO COLORADO, WHERE A CONSTRUCTION CREW DUG UP A TRICERATOPS FOSSIL.
THE DENVER FOSSIL HAS BEEN BURIED FOR 66 MILLION YEARS! A SKULL AND BONES FROM THE TRICERATOPS WERE FOUND DURING GROUND BREAKING AT THE SITE OF A NEW PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING. SCIENTISTS CONFIRMED THE FIND.
SCIENTIST: AS SOON AS I GOT ON SITE ... IN THE DENVER AREA.
RICK: TRICERATOPS, LIKE THIS ONE SEEN IN THE SMITHSONIAN ... WERE THREE HORNED, PLANT-EATING DINOSAURS. OFFICIALS SAY ONCE IT'S OUT OF THE GROUND AND CLEANED UP,
THEY HOPE TO GIVE IT A NEW HOME AT THE DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
WHILE SCIENTISTS IN COLORADO ARE HAVING A FIELD DAY, THIS SUMMER SCIENTISTS WORKING IN THE ANTARCTIC WERE CONCERNED WHEN A HUGE ICEBERG BROKE OFF INTO THE OCEAN. AN ICEBERG IS A LARGE FLOATING CHUNK OF ICE THAT HAS DETACHED FROM A GLACIER.
THIS ICEBERG WAS THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AND WAS CAUSED BY A 2014 CRACK THAT NASA HAD BEEN TRACKING. SINCE THE ICEBERG WAS ALREADY FLOATING IN THE WATER BEFORE IT BROKE OFF, SCIENTISTS SAY IT WON’T RAISE THE SEA LEVEL - JUST LIKE AN ICE CUBE MELTING IN YOUR GLASS OF WATER WON’T RAISE THE LEVEL OF WATER IN THE GLASS. WHAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT IS HOW THE REST OF THE GLACIER WILL RESPOND TO THE BREAK. WILL IT BREAK UP TOO? SCIENTISTS ARE WATCHING TO SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN, AND SO ARE WE.
Instructional Links
Fiona
Website: Facebook, Cincinnati Zoo, The Fiona Show | Video updates
Website Article: Wonderopolis, How Hungry Are Hippos?
Website Article: Sandiego Zoo, Animals & Plants, Threatened, Hippos
Corpse Flowers
Website Article: Newsela, A triplet of corpse flowers has released their stench in D.C. | May need to sign in. Leveled article with vocabulary & writing prompt
Website Article: National Geographic, What Makes the Corpse Flower Stink So Bad?
Graphic: Chicago Botanic Garden, Life Cycle of the Titan Arum
Triceratops Fossil
Website Article: Smithsonian Junior Tween Tribune, Colorado Construction Crew Unearths 66-million-year-old Triceratops Fossil | May need to sign in. Leveled article Includes quiz.
Website Article: National Geographic Kids, Animals, Triceratops | Includes info about lots of different dinosaurs.
Website: The Fossil Guy, What is a Fossil | Lots of info & pictures plus places to look for fossils
Iceberg
Website Article: Weather.com, One of the Largest Icebergs Ever Recorded Breaks Off From Antarctica | Includes info, video and maps.
Website Article: National Snow & Ice Data Center, Quick Facts on Icebergs