Horniman Museum Aquarium

When our Auntie and Uncle came over from Scotland we decided we wanted to go to the Horniman Museum again.  They had a fantastic aquarium which we didn't get to see the last time we went there so I was really excited.

The first thing we saw in the aquarium was a huge starfish clinging on with it's suckers to it's glass tank.

My brother really wanted to see the starfish too but he was just a bit short!

 Here's a picture of the seahorse that we saw using it's tail as a hook to cling on to the seagrass.  We learnt some fun facts about seahorses...

• Seahorses eat small microscopic krill floating through the water.  They suck them in through their long, straw-like snout.
• With seahorses it's the male who becomes pregnant and gives birth to the babies.  They are usually pregnant for between 10 days and 6 weeks.
• Their name comes from the Greek words for horse (hippos) and sea monster (campus).

This is a really cool kind of ray called a blue spotted sting ray.  

 This is pacific sea nettle.  They had about 2 of them at the aquarium.  I thought they were really cool just drifting along in big circle shapes and never changing pace or suddenly changing direction.  They hunt by dragging their long stinging tentacles behind them, catching small krill and sea dwelling creatures.  They stun them with their painful sting.  If they were to sting a human though it might be irritating but the poison is very rarely deadly.

Amazon Rainforest Frogs

These are amazon milk frogs.  They aren't poisonous like some of the rainforest dwelling frogs that live there but I still though these guys were pretty cool.  If they're attacked they secrete a milky liquid out of bumps on their bodies. 

This is a blue poison frog hiding in a burrow.  Though the one we saw was only as poisonous as the milk frog (not poisonous at all) because it's not the blue poison frogs own body that makes it poisonous but it's the ants it eats in it's natural habitat.  So, when they are bred in captivity like the frog in this aquarium they aren't poisonous at all! 

 We were also lucky enough to see these amazing fish eggs.  Look how they are cleverly attached to the coral.

Afghan Dance Moves Flash Mob at the Museum of Childhood

We went to the Museum of Childhood.  As well as getting to see some awesome old-fashioned toys and do a lot of craft I got to join a Flash Mob.

We've seen lots of Flash Mobs before on Youtube and they always looked like a lot of fun.  When we turned up at the museum I was really happy to hear that we could go and do one if we wanted.

First we went into a big room where we practised the Afghan Dance moves.  The parents had to join in too.  The moves were based on kite-flying.

Then when we got home Dad told me that kids in Afghanistan would have kite wars with kites they had made themselves, but instead of just flying the kites into the other kites, the kids would make the kites with thin blades on the edges which they would use to cut the string of the opponents kite.

Here's a video of us doing the flash mob in the main hall of the Museum.  Can you spot any moves that look like a kite flying - or like someone flying a kite?

BUG ICE CREAM!

We were going to Hampstead Heath one Sunday when we suddenly spotted THIS sign!  It was on a bike cart and they seemed to be giving away free ice-cream.

Of course we quickly hurried over but as we got there my face turned as green as a frog - the ice-cream was made out of bugs and insects!!!

Even though it was full of bits of bugs I decided to be brave and give it a try.  I decided to try the one that looked the least buggy - which was the vanilla, chocolate, strawberry.  It had worms, grasshopers and other mixed critters.

Isaac and I bravely took our first bite!  It was absolutely....... ...... ..... DELICIOUS!!!

In fact we even went back for seconds... and thirds!

The idea behind the bug ice-cream is that eating bugs is better than eating meat because bugs are a sustainable source of food, easily farmed without much damage to the environment.  Also, they are much healthier than meat because they have about the same amount of protein but with much less fat.

Spot the Bird

                                

 One day when we went to Kensington park I caught sight of a tree that was rustling and some leaves were falling.  I thought there was a squirrel because that's how squirrels usually behave dropping nuts and making leaves fall when they jump.

But when I looked up into the trees there weren't any squirrels.  In fact I couldn't see anything.  So I had to walk around and listen carefully under the tree for a while.  Then when I squinted really hard something caught my eye.  It was a tiny red triangle.  Then when I focused on that one part of the tree I could just make out the outline of a awesome bird.  It camouflaged so well that I could barely see it.

When we got home my Mum said she thought it might be a green parakeet, so I looked up a green parakeet, and some of them looked a bit similar but the wings of the bird I had seen were darker and the bird I saw didn't have nearly as many colours.  Then I decided to look up if any parakeets lived in London and I found a Wikipedia page on the Kingston Parakeet and when I looked at the picture that they had it looked exactly the same.

I learned:

• there are only about 50,000 Kingston Parakeets living in the wild today
• they are most common in southeastBritain
• They are also called the Twickenham Parakeet.
• They get their name because they live around the suburbs of Twickenham and Kingston.

Chelsea Young Writers Workshop

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a Young Writers Workshop taught by Patricia Elliott who has written many books for children and young people.  It was called:  "Frozen! Trapped on the Polar Ice!" We had to imagine that we were in an old fashioned whaling ship and we were trying to sail across the Antarctic but we got trapped in the ice.  Then we had to make it to the nearest whaling station which was over 2000 miles away.

I'm trying to use every opportunity I can to become a better writer.  Yesterday I worked out that I need to put a bit more dialogue and a bit more action and less chunky description.  I also want to use more smooth description and try and find ways to fit it in whilst the action is happening.  So that's what I'm going to work on from now on.

Here is my writing from yesterday:  (There are a few gaps as I haven't written the whole story)

The Icy Voyage of Doom

CCCCRACK!  The pearl white ice cascaded towards us like a speeding bullet determined to find its mark!  Then the tormenting wind pushed our glistening ship plummeting into the frozen abyss below. 

(gap)

Suddenly a blood curdling scream erupted from an enormous pit below us engulfing masses of immense darkness by the second.  The endless chasm seemed to be the mouth of a ginormous  ice monster swallowing poor souls full of nothing but horrifying terror which must feels as if being cut through with a million swords dripping with deadly poison.

(gap - where one of my crew has to be left behind because there's not enough food for everyone)

As he left a dark feeling started spreading throughout my heart.  I felt as if I was full of evil magic and disease.  He would surely perish but I knew what had been done had to be done.

(gap - My crew and I are seeing strange visions in the ice)

Suddenly I was flooded with a vision that made me want to run or cower.  For what I saw made my heart beat faster than a cheetah can run.  I saw Michael struggling to survive full of destiny and hope but then I saw his body melting away until all that was left of him was a mere corpse drifting swiftly through the misty wasteland like an unwanted spirit.

(gap - we finally reach the whaling station)

Mountain Range

As I saw the lights up ahead hope and gratitude washed over me in great waves.  My arm shot out like a rocket and I gingerly wrapped my muscular hand around the shimmering golden door knob.

One of my characters

This is my map of Antartica

Singapore Zoo - Part One

When we first arrived there was a huge tree looming above us filled with tiny chirping Cotton-toppedTamarins.  We were really surprised about how unenclosed all the fantastic animals were.

This is a False Gharial.  It is part of the same family as crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials.  They look very similar to gharials but their snout broadens more towards the base.  They live in fresh water.  They eat fish and freshwater turtles.

LEMURS

Lemurs are kindof like monkeys except they are a different type of primate. They eat mostly fruit and insects.  The smallest Lemur can weigh only 10 grams.    There are nearly 100 species of Lemur.  Most Lemurs are nocturnal meaning they have a great sense of night-vision which they use to catch their prey.  They are also very stealthy hunters and mostly use the trees to get around.

As you can see from these photos, the ones we saw at the zoo had TERRIBLE table manners!

I wonder if I can fit this whole banana in my mouth?

Maybe if I keep trying....

Hey why are you staring at me like that?

I said WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!?

Heh!  I'm just gonna eat this in private then.

Don't you know what PRIVATE means?!?!

From this photo you can see how lucky we were to get so close to the Lemurs.  So close in fact that he threw his banana skin at my baby brother Patch.

PROBOSCIS MONKEY

This is all the monkeys in our family about to go into the Proboscis monkey enclosure. 

Once we were inside the Proboscis monkey enclosure we noticed how similar the Proboscis monkey looks to someone in our family... can you guess who?

If you want to find out more about the Proboscis Monkey you can check out Isaac's Interesting Information Bites about them on his blog.

WHITE TIGER

Can you spot the tiger in this photo?

Here are some clearer photos of what the tigers look like.  White tigers are a sub-species of Bengal tigers. 

THE FROZEN TUNDRA

One of the areas I was really looking forward to was the FROZEN TUNDRA!!!

First we go to see an awesome polar bear dancing through the glistening green water.  He was covered with thick soggy fur and swam swiftly and gracefully towards a face ice-berg, using his muscular arms to claw his way onto the immense structure.

Here's Isaac next to a polar bear picture.  The picture is life-sized so you can see how big the polar bear really is.

One of my favourite animal is this amazing minibeast called the Wolverine.  It's very brave, fearless and fierce.  It will even fight bears or wolves over a kill.  The Wolverine is the biggest and strongest member of the weasel family and will eat nearly anything meaty.

When you look at the size of this cool creature it's quite surprising that it's actually been filmed killing one of those ginormous polar bears by wrapping it's arms around it's neck and then with constrictor strength suffocating the bear and biting it in the head with it's bone-crushing jaws.

I was so happy to finally get to see a real life wolverine because I wrote so many reports at school on it.  It was amazing to get so up close to one of these fearless animals.

Reticulated Python Report

At school we have been learning how to write reports.  After visiting Singapore Zoo I decided to write a report on the python reticules - otherwise know as the Reticulated Python.  Unfortunately Mum's phone died so we couldn't get a picture of it at the zoo, but I hope this gives enough information to make up for the picture.

Mum has typed up my report for me, but this is what my original report looked like.

Reticulated Python

Introduction:  In this report you will read about the reticulated python, their diet and living like a python.  The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world and the largest snake in all of Asia.  

Their Diet:  Reticulated Pythons eat large mammals such as deer, primates, pigs - and occasionally birds. Scientists once even found a python that had eaten a half starved sun bear!  This specific species of snake seems to be able to swallow prey a quarter of it's length.  Reticulated pythons usually ambush their prey by hiding in the undergrowth or trees until a victim wanders by.  Then it lunges at the animal wrapping it's immense body round it, then uses it's muscular coils to suffocate its victim.  A few seconds after its killed its prey the python will stretch its mouth impossibly wide and swallow the entire animal whole.  After a meal Reticulated Pythons don't eat for weeks... sometimes even months!!!

Living Like a Python:  Reticulated Pythons are cold-blooded, scaly reptiles that live in woodlands, rainforests and grasslands throughout Southeast Asia.  They can grow up to nearly 23 feet (7 meters) long and way up to 75kg (165.3lb).  Oviparous (egg-laying) female pythons can lay between 15 and 80 eggs per clutch.  The eggs take about 88 days to hatch.  An average hatchling will be at least 2 feet (61cm) in length and live to be the age of 30 years.  Reticulated Pythons are part of the pythonidae family.  They are the most common snake in Singapore.

Conclusion: Did you know that adult pythons only predators are tigers and crocodiles?!  They are also very good swimmers and love getting involved with water.