Like many of you, part of my new shelter at home routine involves homeschooling ... my 3.5yo preschooler. Her teachers have been amazing at uploading links of all types including videos of their circle time so that we can replicate a little of her usual routine. Yesterday we got to sing along with her music teacher and today is Science Friday (a personal favorite of mine - see our IG for my dental version: https://www.instagram.com/shadelands4kids/).
We headed to the California Academy of Sciences site and Little A chose to learn about caecilians: https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/the-caecilian-cotillions-song. It was mind-blowing that I was learning along with her about these legless amphibians that are neither snakes nor worms. Little A loved the music and the dance which she not only directed but also kept telling me that I was doing wrong (there is no video proof of this) and I loved learning about their teeth and diet! Turns out they are carnivorous and have dozens of needle-sharp teeth and baby caecilians eat their mamas! Well, kind of, they use special teeth like scrapers and hooks to rip off their mother's skin. Oh my!
Can't wait to see what Monday's lesson plan brings. I'll keep you posted!
In the meantime check out these sites to learn more odd facts about these interesting creatures & to learn what their babies eat:
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/caecilian
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/caecilians-other-amphibian
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/group/caecilians/