A Little Bit More
Humans are so programmed to use arms and legs that it’s difficult for us to imagine not having them available. Snakes, on the other hand, have turned what seems to us to be an enormous handicap into an asset. In fact, snakes are the most “successful” of all living reptiles. Although there are more lizard species than snakes in the world, snakes have a much wider distribution than their four-legged relatives. There are about 2,700 species of snakes in the world, found on all continents except Antarctica. There are 115 species of snakes in North America north of Mexico.
All snakes are exclusively carnivorous and must swallow their food whole; snakes do not chew their food. Without limbs to grab and hold onto prey, snakes have evolved several very efficient techniques that allow them to catch lively food. Once a prey item is captured, most snakes simply swallow their food alive. But whether the prey is alive or dead, swallowing it is still a formidable task. Snakes use their extremely mobile jaws and sharp backwardly-curved teeth to hold onto their food while it is drawn into their mouths. The upper and lower jaws are loosely attached, allowing a great deal of expansion as food is being swallowed. The separate bones of the lower jaw are joined only in front, by elastic tissue that permits the jaw to spread open and move a great deal sideways. As a result, food that may appear much too large for a snake to swallow can be slowly ingested.
As a snake feeds, holding onto its prey with its teeth, the upper and lower jaws of one side grip while the opposite jaws are released and moved farther forward onto the prey. In effect, the snake “walks” its mouth over the prey, pulling one side and then another farther and farther into its throat where other muscles take over the task of moving the food past the neck and into the stomach. This may sound rather gruesome to us, but it is an effective adaptation that has worked well for an animal that has neither arms nor legs!
Activities
Theme Calendar
Objectives: Multi-task Activity and Possible Fund Raiser
Materials: Art materials and access to library/internet
This is an excellent interdisciplinary activity to engage your students in and you may even be able to use it to raise money for a project at your school as well. Be sure to involve the students in as much of the decisions on this activity as you can - this will make the project all the more enjoyable for them.
Look at step 1 before you involve your students.
1. Since you won’t want to disappoint your students, I suggest you obtain a local printer BEFORE you involve the students unless expenses are not an issue (printing costs could be rather high). Explain to a potential printer that this is a school project; would they be willing to print your calendars as a service project for your class? You’re likely to have the printing done free or at a greatly reduced price.
2. Your class needs to decide what the theme of their calendar will be. (you can use a variety of themes to direct your project – eg. America’s National Parks, Animals through the year, endangered animals or plants, animals people fear, local or regional environmental issues, local birds, local wildflowers, etc).
3. Break down the class into 12 groups, each working on “their” month.
4. The class needs to decide what each month will include for the finished product (this needs to be coordinated so no two months are alike).
5. Once each month’s material has been decided, students from that month need to research their topic for both appropriate text and illustrations. (You can have students work on all aspects of the final product or members of each month can specialize on various components of the final product).
6. Have the students bring in their research (text and illustrations) in for your approval and once approved, they can begin preparing the layout of their “month”. The overleaf for each month can be used for their succinct text and illustrations and they can add some illustrations around the actual calendar page in keeping with their month’s theme. (you may want to see a mockup of the final product first)
7. Once completed, you can sell your calendars to the students’ parents and relatives, sell them at school functions and to other local people in your area. You may even want to try selling them from your local grocery store on a Saturday morning – you’d be amazed how many people will buy these if they understand who created them and what your cause is.
This is a great exercise for the students to learn how many different components are necessary to complete a given project. This activity has become such a popular one with the school my own children attended that it has become a “necessary” yearly activity!
Key Concepts
Adaptations and Diversity, Predator/Prey Relationships, Structures and Functions
Questions
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