Who Am I?

I am a Primary Science Teacher Fellow. The Teacher Fellowships are funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand. The Fellowships are designed to support the effective teaching of science in primary and intermediate schools.
Teacher Fellows are placed in a science organisation for two terms to gain an appreciation of the Nature of Science - doing science work in a 'real life' setting. I am lucky enough to be hosted by Wellington Zoo.
To find out more about the Teacher Fellowships or see what other teachers are doing click the links in the side bar.

Saturday 17 August 2013

Chameleons

One of my favourite animals I have met at Wellington Zoo is the Chameleon. The are so fantastically strange and other-worldly. From the way they look to the way they walk.
Their eyes are just amazing.
They can shoot their tongues out longer than their bodies to catch their prey. Check out this video.
Chameleon Tongue

My questions are about Chameleon tails.
What does this shape remind you of?
They have long tails - what are they used for?
Why do you think they keep them curled like this? How could it be helpful for the Chameleon?

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4 comments:

  1. Sue M19 August 2013 at 09:23

    Hi Mr Haste
    We have had lots of discussions this morning about Chameleons and their tails. We like your blog and will keep looking at it to see what else you are doing. Have a nice day.
    Room 4 Normandale School

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  2. Unknown19 August 2013 at 18:59

    Good work Room 4. I saw that green chameleon sitting in the late afternoon sun today and she had turned herself almost black. I wonder why that was?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue M21 August 2013 at 09:28

      We think that she was camouflaging in a shadow and changed colour
      Room 4

      Delete
    2. Unknown31 August 2013 at 16:22

      That's really good thinking Room 4.
      Here is a little more information about chameleons. Chameleons, like all lizards, don't turn food into energy very well. We eat food and we can turn it into energy, and one of the things we do with the energy is keep ourselves warm. Lizards have to lie in the sun to get warm (it's called basking). So the chameleon I saw wasn't hiding in shadows, it was basking.
      So why did it turn itself black?
      (Mrs S - perhaps you could try an experiment with dark and light coloured paper in the sun)

      Delete

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