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Judith Jango-Cohen

Nonfiction Author and Photographer

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plants

Science Snippet: Carnivore Counts


Science Word in the News: CARNIVORE

Harbor Seal Yawning, Phoca vitulina
Harbor Seal Yawning, Phoca vitulina

Not all carnivores
Have jaws or claws.
Can you believe
Some have leaves?

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes
Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Definition: A CARNIVORE is an organism that feeds on animal flesh.

Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus

Derivation: CARNIVORE comes from two Latin words.
Carn means meat and vorare means to devour.

Other words with these roots:
Carnage, large-scale killing
Voracious, having a great appetite
Locavore, a person who eats locally grown foods

Alligator Eating Nutria, Alligator mississippiensis1
Alligator , Alligator mississippiensis

Examples:
Lion
Crocodile
Wolf
Walrus

Did You Know?
Some plants are carnivorous because they trap and digest insects. One carnivorous plant, the venus fly trap, “counts” from one to five to trap and digest its prey. 

Purple Pitcher Plant with Insects Inside, Purple Pitcherplant, S
Purple Pitcher Plant with Insects Inside, Sarracenia purpurea

In the news:
Learn more about the “counting” carnivorous plant:
New Scientist

Find out more!
Read an amazing article about insects’ “fatal attraction” to carnivorous plants:
National Geographic

See more clever carnivores at my husband’s and my photography website: http://www.agpix.com/cohen

View my program/author visit video at: SCHOOL PROGRAM / AUTHOR VISIT VIDEO

Author_visit_program_school_Mass_nonfiction_100

Read or download my school program/author visit brochure at:

Hiker in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, BoAUTHOR PROGRAMS/VISITS BROCHURE

Science Snippet: Elephantheads & Horsetails


Author_visit_program_school_Mass_nonfiction_123
A red and gold firecracker “pops” amidst its green foliage.

As blue hydrangea blooms are making way for golden oak leaves, I wanted to share another “look-alike” plant post with you. Previous Post.

As before, six “look-alike” plants are pictured below. After studying their shapes and colors, try to guess their names. Then click on the photos for the answers–and for information about these intriguing plants.

NAMES

Trumpet Creeper   Elephanthead

Horsetails   Pitcher Plant

Fairy Duster   Monkshood

White pitcher plant, Crimson Pitcher Plant, Crimson Pitcherplant, Sarracenia leucophylla, Sarracenia drummondii,

Elephanthead Lousewort, Elephant's Head, Pedicularis groenlandic

Baja Fairy Duster, Red Fairy Duster, Calliandra californica

Horsetails, Equisetum sp.

Columbian Monkshood, Aconitum columbianum

Trumpet Vine, Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans

Here are two other fun activities:

  1. Write a fairy tale that explains one interesting fact about a “look-alike” plant.
    For Example:
    Perhaps the trumpet creeper was once a small girl who annoyed a wicked witch. Every morning she would wake the witch up by blowing her horn, so the witch turned her into a trumpet creeper flower. The spell can be reversed if a hummingbird comes and drinks from her blossom. (Hummingbirds are attracted to trumpet creepers because of their red color.)
  2. Make up your own “look-alike” flower.
    Name it after one of the following:
    favorite dessert, favorite pet, or favorite sport
    Draw a picture.
    Label the different plant parts: roots, stems, leaves, flowers.

To see more exquisite flowers you can visit  my husband’s and my photography website at: http://www.agpix.com/cohen

View my program/author visit video at:

SCHOOL PROGRAM / AUTHOR VISIT VIDEO

Author_visit_program_school_Mass_nonfiction_100

Read or download my school program/author visit brochure at:

Hiker in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, BoAUTHOR PROGRAMS/VISITS BROCHURE

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