We selected books about animals that interested us and discovered many new and surprising facts. We learned how to take notes, and consider more than one source for our information. Our research was organized into paragraphs and written from the animal's point of view. We made sure to use plenty of adjectives to make our writing clear and interesting, using a thesaurus to help us pick some. We learned many new things and used technology skills we've practiced all year.

This page was last updated on: June 6, 2002

Larissa                                                                                                      April 17, 2002 My Life About Being a Leopard           I am Larissa and I am a precious leopard! I like to eat many different things like impala, gazelles, wildebeests, dotted frogs, lizards, birds, monkeys, big pigs, baboons, and slimy fish. I also like to eat diet foods, which are very green grass, white eggs, and very delicious fruit. There are two different types of leopards! Leopards like me have tawny yellow fur with rosette spots. The other kind of leopard would have a blackish-brown tinge. We think that leopard families are very beauteous! You could find me at many different locations. You could find me in Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia, tropical forests, and grasslands!           My Leopard family has a lot of fantastic different facts. The other kind of leopard that is spotless does have spots! The reason why the other spotless leopard doesn't look like it has spots is because you could only see the spots in the nighttime. Another interesting fact about us is that we must be dark to have dark cubs. We are the smallest member of the cat family, but very strong! My whole cat family (leopards) always had a white tail on the bottom and still do. We have soft pads at the bottom of our feet to help us walk quietly to catch our food. People say we look cute and cuddly but we are very ferocious. The reason why we are ferocious is because we look at things and we think that something is very yummy in our tummies. If you are just standing there all by yourself, I will think that you are food. I guarantee you I will eat you. I am not trying to scare you at all either. I am just telling you if you ever see a fierce leopard, don't run and don't walk, just stand there. If you want to pet us, please don't. We will eat you. Leopards will not hurt you if you don't mess around with them. If you don't hurt us, we will not hurt you. Stay safe leopards are your friends if you don't do anything to them!           When I was looking for some food one day I overheard a voice reading someone something about us! The human said that the exciting book  is called Leopards and if you want to read about any other animal in the library or somewhere else you could look for the series which is called Nature's Children. The author's name that wrote about me is Sheila Dalton. Instead of hunting for some food I decided to listen to what Sheila Dalton had to say about us! I listened to the story. It wasn't thoughtful and it was kind of unusual. I have to admit though she wrote an excellent book about us because she told true things about me! I liked that because people can learn about me in a true form and they also can enjoy us so we don't have to feel like nobody likes us as an animal. Also so they can think that we are a great animal and can be their friend (if we don't think that they're yummy).  After I heard the story I decided to tell my very nice leopard friends all about the story and all of the very nice leopards liked the story, very, very much. Even the baby cubs liked the story about us wonderful cubs too!

Alex                                                                                                          April 17, 2002 King Cobras       Hi, my name's Alex. I am a king cobra. I like to eat lizards like salamanders and other lizards like that. I also eat frogs and and other snakes. I live in hot, sticky bamboo thickets, and mangrove swamps in the southeast of Asia, China, and India. The skin on my hood looks brown or olive-green and yellowish.           I can camouflage in the woods and rainforests very well. I can also camouflage in deserts too. My venom is dangerous. If I am threatened I will raise the front part of my body and spread my narrow hood. If that doesn't work I will strike and bite you.       My bite is very poisonous. It will kill a human like you. My venom is made in the venom glands. The glands are on both sides of my head and they lie outside the main jaw muscles toward the back of my head. When I bite, the venom travels from each gland through my ducts and my hollow fangs, and goes into my prey. I don't like to kill but I will to protect myself.       The author of the book about me is James E. Herholtn. He did a good job. But he probably could have more details about me. He did an awesome job with the pictures! Mr. Herholtn kept the camera still and approached the animals well too. In my opinion the author did a great job and I liked the book.

Lauren                                                                                          April 16, 2002 All About Gorillas!!       I am a large Mountain Gorilla. I live in Central Africa in the breezy Misty Mountains. I like to eat yummy leaves, twigs, bark, and grass. There are a lot of kinds of furry gorillas. The young silverback only have silver on their stomachs. If a gorilla is nervous they bite their lip so be CARFUL!!!!!           All gorillas thump their chests. Even tiny babies do. Gorilla babies weighs 4 to 5 pounds. My gorilla troops have 20 or more animals. I have longer hair than Lowland gorillas. All baby gorillas are 2 kilograms. A mother gorilla has to take care of the babies just like your parents do.       The book Gorillas by Merebeth Switzer was a good book about me but the title could have been a more catchy title. But besides that it was a good book. I like the way she tells about me. I would like to say thank you Merebeth Switzer for making this book!!! THE END!!!!!!!

Kristin                                                                                            April 16, 2002 Chipmunks Around the World           My name is Kristin. I'm a fascinating chipmunk. I live in cool forests, woods, edges of arid deserts, high mountains, across North America, abandoned barns, and abandoned houses, cozy burrows, and nests. Chipmunks like me eat tasty plants, strawberries, blueberries, chokecherries, juicy raspberries, tasty wild grass, prickly pine seeds, and wild mushrooms. I also eat roots of certain plants, yummy bird eggs, crunchy grasshoppers, beetles, and delicious caterpillars. These foods taste great! You should try some of them.       I'm a very petite animal. I'm a rodent. I have light brown fur, and a light underbelly. If you look at me very closely you will see that I have stripes on my back. I have five beautiful dark brown stripes, which are separated by white or beige stripes. Chipmunks like me have stripes on our cute little cheeks and around our beady little eyes.           On a nippy day in spring or fall you might see me sunbathing myself. If you ask me, it's most relaxing. When I eat, I use my front paws like hands. Chipmunks like me never walk, but we scamper. Chipmunks like myself have many enemies such as coyotes, hawks, weasels, snakes, bobcats, and raccoons. Now if you ask me, some of these animals should pick on somebody their own size! My bedtime is at sunset. But, I think that I should be able to go to bed when I want to. When I'm ten weeks old, I have tried many different foods and no longer need milk from my lovely and sweet mother. When I was a baby chipmunk, I huddled with my brothers and sisters my nest.       Merebeth Switzer wrote Nature's Children Chipmunks. Even though I can't read, I think that this book tell lots of interesting facts about me. If you ask me, I think Merebeth Switzer could've put a lot more in about other chipmunks and me. But, otherwise it's a fantastic book. Oh, by the way you should read this book! I mean it! Bye! I might see you later but I just spotted some juicy strawberries and I want to eat them before any other chipmunks eat them. If you're thinking I'm greedy, well, I'M NOT!

Dalton                                                                                          April 16, 2002 What Is A Polar Bear?           I am a fuzzy Polar Bear. My friends and I live at the freezing North Pole. Our tasty foods are seals, feathery Snow Geese, huge Beluga Wales, and tiny leamings. We all look like large black bears covered in white fur.           I feel happy because I can swim far. Also we are strong which makes us good hunters. But our children get on our back when another polar bear comes.           Once I heard a nice Eskimo person read a wonderful story about me so I laid by his door. A thing called a man, named Timothy Levi Biel, wrote the story. Mr. Biel did a good job on my story because my facts were true about me.

Allyson                                                                                          April 17, 2002 I Am The Cute And Fluffy Polar Bear           I am a fluffy Polar Bear. I eat seals. I have itty-bitty ears, wide feet, and I have nice white fur. I live in a frozen place like the North Pole. I have special feet so I don't slip on the ice. My babies are very bantam. I have to teach them how to hunt and swim and if they don't go in to swim I have to go in and get them to come. Brrrr, that's cold. I keep cool by digging a hole under the ground. I have keen sight and good hearing.           I am a sow. A father is a boar. I have two layers of fur. I can live to 20-30 years. So can my babies. I have babies during the winter. I don't hunt when I have my babies. They are very tiny when they are born.           The author that wrote about me is Caroline Greenland. The name of my book is Nature's Children Polar Bears. This book was a good book about me because Ms. Greenland explained all the details about me. I think this is a good book about me and I think everyone would like to read about me. I wish she write could write more about me, like how I swim and how I play. Oh, she didn't mention if I like going to the zoo. Well it's OK! I hope you liked learning about me.

Animal Research