African elephants are amazing mammals, but they are threatened by humans. They live in dense forests and open plains. They weigh 5,000 to 14,000 lbs and their height at the shoulder is 8.2-13 ft. They are herbivores that eat grass, roots, bark, and fruit. An adult can consume 300 pounds of food in a day. A group of elephants is called a herd, but it’s only made out of females (cows). They are also the largest mammals discovered. Their ears are shaped like the continent of Africa, and the ears also radiate heat to keep them cool. They are slightly larger than Asian elephants. They are fond of water and spray it on themselves. They also like spraying dust on themselves so they don’t get burned by the sun (natural sunscreen). African elephants’ trunks are used for drinking, breathing, smelling, trumpeting, and grabbing things. African elephants have 100,000 different muscles in their trunks. They also have two small finger-like features to grab small items. The tusk, on the other hand, are used to dig for food and water, and strip bark from trees. The tusk is made out of ivory. The males use tusks to battle each other, but the ivory tusks attract poachers to kill them for ivory to make into trinkets and other objects. The trade is illegal now but has not been completely eliminated. There used to be a few million African elephants, but now there are 450,000 to 700,000 left. African elephants are endangered.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
The Amazing African Elephant -by Grace Yang
The African elephant is the largest land animal on earth. They are known for their long trunks and their ears that are shaped similar to the continent of Africa.
Firstly, the trunk is a very important part of the elephant. The trunk contains 100,000 different muscles total! Its jobs are smelling, breathing, trumpeting, and drinking. It is somewhat similar to a human nose. The African elephant likes to be in water and is fond of showering. They spray water on themselves with their trunk. One special fact is that they spray a layer of dust or dirt to protect their skin.
The African elephant ranges from nine to thirteen feet high, and weigh 8,800 to 15,400 lbs! Their main predators are humans. Poachers hunt for their ivory tusks, and to get to it, the elephants must be killed. Usually, the elephant is left there and will bleed to death. People carve the tusks to make mini sculptures or trinkets to sell.
You might be wondering, why does the elephant weigh so much? Well, that is because they eat up to 400 pounds of food each day. Some foods they eat are roots, grass, fruits, and bark. Obviously, they are herbivores. Sometimes, females are pregnant with young calves. Elephants have a longer pregnancy that any other animal : 22 months! Usually, one female will give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh around 200 pounds. Imagine that! Eating 400 pounds a day, and being 200 extra pounds heavy is really heavy! That is probably heavier that a school bus.
African elephants all live in the dense forests and plains. However, males tend to roam on their own while females stay in herds. African elephants have unique characteristics and adapt to the warmest places in the world. African elephants are amazing animals, and they definitely deserve to be treated with care and kindness.
Works Cited:
"African Elephants." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015."Basic Facts About Elephants." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
Making a "B" Sandwich -by Alyssa Chen
Do you like Subway sandwiches? Well if the answer is yes, you might like making a yummy “b” sandwich. You might wonder what a “b” sandwich is. Well it is a bread, bacon, banana, and honey (which comes from bees) sandwich. Making a yummy “b” sandwich is quite simple. First, you will need to gather the ingredients and prepare the tools. You will need one loaf of Dutch crunch bread (you can get it at Safeway), some honey, bacon, banana, and a butter knife. Next, you take your Dutch crunch bread and slice it in half. Then take one slice and drizzle honey on it. Cut the banana into slices and cover up the honey with however many banana slices you will need. Then get the bacon pieces and put them on top of the banana slices. But make sure the bacon pieces all go the same way so they won’t fall out. The final step is to eat! You can quickly munch down your sandwich and find some more time to make this sandwich again.
African Elephant Report -by Jeremiah Lai
African elephants are the largest land mammal on earth. They are herbivores, and they live in dense forests to open plains. They weigh about 5,00 to 14,000 lbs. They are a threatened species and their predator is human.
African elephants are endangered for their tusks. People find these tusks valuable from elephants, but they do not know how amazing these animals are. Now, we will first explain what these animals look on the outside.
African elephants have ears that look like the continent Africa. Their ears radiate heat to keep cool. They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins. These species are the largest land mammals on earth. Their tusks have more than 100,000 muscles. The males use the trunks to fight. When the elephants are born they weigh at least 200 to 300 pounds.
The African elephants enjoy showering water by using their trunks to suck up water and spraying it on their back. The males leave the herd at the ages of 13 to 15. African elephants are not as domesticated as their Asian cousins. They need large amounts of food. Elephants eat grass, leaves, bark, and roots. Elephants use their trunks to grab small items. They have a longer time of pregnancy than any other animal, 22 months. They can communicate faster than a human’s voice can go.
People use the ivory from elephants to make things and sell. The population used to be over a million, but now there are only 400,000 to 700,000 African elephants left. These amazing animals are endangered and we need to help and protect them.
Works Cited:
"African Elephants." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
"Basic Facts About Elephants." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
How to Make a CABB Sandwich -by Faith Liao
First, grab two pieces of bread and put them on a plate. Secondly, spread avocado, guacamole will work, on one of the pieces of bread. Get a butter knife to spread the avocado. On the other piece of bread, with the butter knife, scoop up some basil pesto and spread it over the other slice of bread. Lastly, put bacon on the slice of bread. Put both slices of bread together. Finally, you have made your delicious, mouth-watering CABB sandwich. Enjoy!
The African Elephant- by Allison Hsu
Although these wonderful animals may look big and carnivorous, they are not like that at all; in fact they’re actually herbivores! Sleeping only 3 to 4 hours a day, elephants spend much, if not all, of their time foraging for the much needed food to sustain their huge bodies. Adult African elephants can eat up to 300 pounds of root, grasses, fruit, and bark in a single day.
African elephants live in dense forests and open plains. Female elephants and their young live in herds often led by the largest, oldest female elephant known as the matriarch. When a new calf is born, it is raised and cared for by the whole matriarchal herd consisting of up to 100 elephants. By the time male elephants hit their teenage years, they leave the matriarchal herd and either lead solitary lives or join up with other males and live in temporary herds.
African elephants have really good memories. This memory serves the females elephants well because every year they’ll remember where all the good water holes are. Recent studies have shown that African elephants can communicate through long distances by making subsonic rubbing noises that can travel through the ground faster than sound through air!
Out of all the animals on earth, the African elephant has one of the longest pregnancy periods- up to twenty-two months! Female elephants usually only give birth to one calf every 2 to 4 years (twins are rare). At birth, each calf weighs about 200 pounds and stand up to one meter tall (three feet).
Even though it is illegal to hunt African elephants, people still poach the elephants for their precious ivory tusks. If you want to help keep these beautiful, intelligent creatures front going extinct, you can help by spreading the word and donating money to various animal support groups. The next time you see an ivory sculpture or a piece of ivory jewelry, remember that in order to make that piece, a elephant had to die for it, so you should simply put it down and walk away.
Works Cited:
"African Elephants." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
"Basic Facts About Elephants." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
Book Review- by Royce Li
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka is a twist based on similar stories with a wolf and three pigs. It is a fiction story where the wolf went to borrow sugar from his neighbor pigs to bake a cake for his granny. But the pigs were unfriendly. The wolf had a cold and “accidentally” blew the houses down.
I think that The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is exciting because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Well, I know what happened in similar stories, but not in this one since it is from the wolf’s point of view. I really like the illustrations because they are very detailed and different from other books. It captured my mind almost completely. I think that kids of all ages would enjoy this humorous story.
