Getting Nonfictional

The publishing phase of writing workshop and social studies join forces as we create zines (miniature magazines) to share our skills and what we're discovering. How-to zines are on display in the 3rd grade hall alongside informational ones about Native American tribes throughout North America.

Organism Menu

While researching the red fox, Z'yon discovers a website with loads of information about flora and fauna native to the Southeastern United States. Click here to explore a wide range of organisms on Virginia's Fairfax County Public Schools website.

Informational Writing

This quarter is all about informational writing.  We begin with how-to pieces that share a wide variety of talents.  After that, science and writer's workshop join forces as the class researches animals and plants native to Georgia (like the fall muscadine vine above).

Readwritethink.org offers free resources for young writers.  Click the image above to create your own essay map designed to organize a research project.  For an interactive outline to help you get started, click the image below.

Falcons, by Briana

All About Falcons

By Briana

Falcons’ chicks are not very cute.  Falcons babies  are white little,and furry. Falcons have long pointed wings to help them fly. Their wings help them turn really fast.

Falcons have interesting behavior.To pass their family on. They look for food and dive for it to feed their babies. The falcons fly 300 m, and 320 km Falcons can live about 18 to 20 years old.

They mostly eat birds. Falcons eat doves, ducks, pigeons,

hummingbirds, birds, and bats. Falcons also eat frogs, and fish.

Falcons mostly live near trees.They live in grassland, woodland, wetland, forest, and desert. They can also live in cities. They are found in Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, Australia. Falcons are found all the world.sometimes they sleep in nests.

Other animals eat falcons they eat. Great horned owls, and eagles. Predators of babies are ravens, herons, gulls, foxes, wolverines, and  wolves are the most dangerous predators.

Scientists have different names for falcons. The males are called tercle the females are called falcons. The babies are called chicks the groups cast.

     

Rainbow Snakes, by Seonni

Rainbow Snakes

By Seonni

        

     Rainbow Snakes have interesting body parts. A rainbow snake’s colors are black, red, pink, yellow and gold.  You can tell if it is a boy or girl because males are smaller than females.  A rainbow snake can grow up to be 36/44 inches long.  Last of all about features, a rainbow snake has shiny smooth skin, and they have bluish/black back scales, with  three red stripes. They also grow up to a total length of 36/48 inches.

They are found in southeastern states.  A rainbow snake lives in the coastal plain in slow streams. Did you know the name rainbow snake comes from greek erythes?  

Some females lay over 50 egg at a time. People don’t see rainbow snakes because they hide. All  About Behavior. Rainbow snakes are not seen because they are sneaky. They usually spend their time in plants in the water. They are sneaky so they can catch  their prey.  They are good swimmers and now how to slither into mud and sand.

Rainbow snakes eat many things.  A rainbow snakes usually  eat eels, frogs, salamanders, and tadpoles.  

A rainbow snake’s predators are humans. Humans kill rainbow snakes when they are turning soil around to plant crops.

Lizards, by Cherokee

All About Lizards

by Cherokee

         Lizards have many features.  They have a very long sticky tongue to catch their food.   don’t have any teeth in their mouths.  They are cold blooded.  They skin color is  camouflage. Sometimes they hid with their body so nobody won’t see them.

Lizards live in many different places.  Lizards live in deserts, mountains, forests, and Georgia too.  

Lizards eat a variety of things. Lizards eat meat, plants, spiders, snails, mice,  baby snakes,bird eggs, deer, pig,and goats too.

Lizards predators are people.  They puff  up their  body  to scare away predators.also they bleed out blood from their eyes to scare away predators.  They predators are people.

Sharks, by Isaiah

All About Sharks

By: Isaiah

         There are many cool features on the sharks body. Sharks are marine animal that have cartilaginous skeletons with gill slits on head-side. The smallest shark in the shark family is 17 cm[6.7inches] long. The largest shark in the species is 12 meters[39 feet]. sharks have a great sense of smell. the shark’s teeth are affixed into the gums instead of connected to the jaws.

         Sharks can swim deep into the water. Sharks can dive 2,000 meters [6,600 feet] into the water. The shortfin mako shark is the fastest swimmer, up to 50 k\mh. Most  female sharks’ eggs hatch in the female’s body before the baby sharks come out.

         Sharks eat a lot of crustaceans. Sharks and eat small things like : squid,plankton,and other small fish. Tiger shark can chomp anything that comes at it. Sharks have pointed lower teeth because when the shark wants to eat small fish,squids,or plankton they crush it up and eat it.

         Sharks don’t live in freshwater that often. River sharks and Bull sharks can be found in freshwater. Sharks can dive up to 3,000 meters [10,000 feet]. Some sharks can go more than that up to 3,700 meters [12,100feet].

         People kill sharks for some reason. People cut sharks’ fins off. They leave the shark there suffering. People make their into soup.

  

Falcons, by Caylon

All About Falcons

By: Caylon

         Falcons are the fastest creatures on the planet. Falcons recorded diving speed 200 mph.Falcons start  to breed when they’re about a year old.Female falcons lay a normal amount of three eggs per clutch, and look after their chicks until they are big enough to protect themselves.

The Falcon has acute eyesight. Falcons are different colors,like black, grey,brown and,blue.Falcons’ body shape mean that the falcon glides through the air more easily,and  

sharp pointed beaks help them eat.

Falcons eat all kinds of food,like mice, frogs,and,fish.Falcons will even eat small birds too.

The Falcon does not have a  lot of predators,even ones that are actually flying. Humans wolves are the main predators of the  falcon on the ground,and eagles  even large owls have been known to hunt the smaller species of the falcon.

Falcons are in the safest place possible.Falcons are in high places like  cliffs,and tall trees.They live in the northern hemisphere.

Alligator Snapping Turtles, by Tobias

Alligator Snapping Turtles

by Tobias

Alligator snapping  turtles are big and strong.  Alligator snapping turtles weigh from 155 pounds to 175 pounds.  They have very strong jaws and big heads.

Alligator snapping turtles live in many different places.  They live in river, canals, lakes,  and swamps.  They spend some time on land.  They live in the southeast part of Georgia.

Alligator snapping turtles eat almost everything.   they  eat frogs, snakes, snails, clams, crayfish, aquatic plants, and baby alligators.  The zoo feeds them mice, worms, and fish.  

Alligator snapping turtles have a few predators.  When they first hatch they already have predators like large fish, raccoons, and birds.

Dolphins, by Atticus

All About Dolphins
By Atticus

     

     Dolphins have some pretty cool features. Baby dolphins grow to about 1.3 m., female dolphins are called cows, some dolphins have a black band around their eyes, all dolphins have a blowhole, some dolphins colors are yellow, white, gray or black, and some dolphins have whiskers.

                                                                                                                                      

     Dolphins only have one main predator, humans. they can defend themselves by jumping out of the water. they can also be hurt by ghost nets, pollution, and people catching them.        

     Dolphins don’t eat a wide variety of fish. They are carnivores so they eat fish and squid. They can eat schools of fish at one time.

     Nobody knows how many dolphins because there are so many. Dolphins use echolocation to move and catch fish. Dolphins are known for their agility and playful behaviour. They use echolocation to hunt schools of fish by surrounding them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish.(Echolocation is an invisible beam they use to bounce off surfaces and tell them where they are.)

     Dolphins have some weird behavior like, many types jump out of the water (spy hop) and follow ships often synchronising their movements with one another. Scientists think that dolphins  save energy  by swimming alongside ships known as bow riding. dolphins from five to several hundred.

River Otters, by Sasha

All About River Otters

by Sasha

         River Otters have cool features.The color of a River Otter’s fur is grey, white, black, and, brown.  Their soft smooth fur is also waterproof.  Did you know a River Otter can be under water for at least eight minutes?  They can also close their ears and nostrils to keep the water out!Isn’t that cool!?  River Otters have webbed feet to help them swim well.  They can weigh up to eight to nine pounds!  They can also dive to about sixty feet!  They are also in the weasel family.

         River Otters eat fish like shellfish, crawfish,and fish heads but, they eat lots of other stuff too.  They also eat crustaceans, mollusks ,insects, birds, oysters, crabs, frogs, rodents, turtles, and aquatic invertebrates.  They hunt at night and during the day.  They additionally like to put food on their bellies and crush it up.

         River Otters live in many different places.  They can live in streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, the marine coasts, the United States, Canada, and the Rocky Mountains.

         River Otters love to play.  They love to slide on their bellies and play lots of fun games they made up with other River Otters.  They’re usually active at night.   That means they’re nocturnal.   They are also very sneaky.

River Otters have many different predators.  One of them is people because hunters hunt for their smooth and soft fur. They want their fur for coats, boots, pants, shoes, and mittens etc.  The other predator is bobcats. Bobcats want them because they want to eat them.  River Otters are endangered because of these predators.  Hunters have been hunting them since the seventeen hundreds to the eighteen hundreds!   That’s why there aren’t  many left in certain places.

         Scientist don’t know what the  population is because there are so many!  River Otters are so cool!

River Otters, by Penny

A River Otter’s Life

By Penny M.

River otters have some very helpful features. Otters are mammals,so that means they’re warm blooded. Otters fur is brown , gray , and black with lighter undersides , and thick blubbery skin. They have long skinny whiskers. Baby otters have fluffy fur. They can close their ears and nostrils to keep water out. An adult otter has thirty two sharp teeth , and sometimes their teeth are purple from eating purple sea urchins. Otters can look like that.

River otters sometimes behave strangely. They can have 1-6 babies but 3 or 4 are most common. When male otters want to mate they leave a musky scent to tell females they will mate with them , when they meet up they swim in circles and play. Groups are made up of females and their pups(baby otters). Otters can live up to 9 years! Otters do most things at night. They are mostly not friendly to humans. They can stay underwater for a whole 8 minutes , and can dive a depth of 60 feet underwater! Otters chuckle or chirp when alone , and cough loudly when danger is near to warn other otters. They like to play “hide and pounce” and sliding on slopes. Otters can act in very different ways!

          A river otter has a carnivorous diet. Otters mostly eat fish. They also eat the most convenient food sources, such as turtles, rodents, frogs, crayfish, crabs, shellfish, oysters, birds, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, and animals that live in the water. Otters will hunt day or night. Otters float on their backs and use their bellies as tables, and use rocks to crack or open their food.

Otters have many interesting habitats. They are found near rivers north of Mexico. Otters will only live in places with something over their heads such as plants. They need places with high water quality. Otters live where food is easy to find. River otters can live in streams, lakes, and wetlands. They can live in North, Central, and South America, they also live in Europe, Arika [which is in Peur], and Asia. People are starting to put river otters back in the Rocky Mountain region.  They are hard to count but people think there’s about 100,000. Otters can be seen in those places.

     River otters have a small number of predators. Bobcats are known to kill otters. Humans are also enemies to the otters. Humans hunt otters for their smooth skin. When predators are near, otters scream and show teeth to scare them away. Those are the otters predators.

So in conclusion river otters are awesome!

Cardinals, by Jaden

Cardinal Features

By Jaden Ramsey

Cardinals have fascinating features.  The grown up cardinals have a bright red body, while the female happens to have a greyish brown, with hints of red on their chest, and tail, and wing tips.  The males have a black face all the way down to their chest. Females don’t have it, but they have black spots all over their body.  All cardinals have cone beaks that are a bright orange, a very long tail, and feathery wings.  Baby cardinals are the color of females  when they’re born, and they have black beaks instead.  When they grow up they turn white before orange.

The northern cardinal has unique habitats and behavior.  Cardinals live in forests or in bushes surrounding where people live.  They make their nests of sticks, grass, and shrubs.  They build their homes in the middle of bushes.  When other birds get too close to their nest they shriek to scare them away.  Every year female cardinals lay 3 eggs usually, but they can’t have 5. For two weeks the female cardinal protects the eggs while the male gets the food.  Cardinals talk with songs and calls.  Males sing and flap their  wings to attract females.  Mating couples sing the same song together.

Where do you find this outstanding bird?  Cardinals are usually around Southern Canada and their range goes down to Eastern U.S and moved to hotter places and near more people- a trustable food source from bird feeders.

What is a another name for this interesting bird?  Cardinalis is a scientific name for cardinals.  What else do they have?  They have a weight of 42 to 48 grams, their wings go to about 25 to 31 cm.  They live 28.5 years (in the wild).  We all hope you enjoyed this information!

Extra Info!  Male cardinals fight their reflection when they see it to scare off the “other bird.”  Again we all hope you enjoyed! :D  Thank you for spending some time to learn something I hope I do more things you like.  :)

Bobcats, by Aidan

All About Bobcats

By Aidan

                  Bobcats live in really  cool  places.  They live in North America ,  from northern Mexico to southern Canada.They make more than one den. Their population is 725,000 to 1,020,000 to remain in the wild.        

Bobcats eat a lots of food . They eat hares and rabbits.They also  eat birds,  bats,

rodents,  and adult deer too! In winter months they eat lambs, poultry,  and young pigs.

Bobcats have different predators.  Bobcats are kill  by farmers.  Farmers will  get pitchforks and kill them . Asol bears and wolves are predators too!  That’s why   their population is going down, and so there’s not many left.

Bobcats have  cool behavior.  They will spot out there prey  and they will pounce onto their  prey . Then they will bring it back to their dens.          

Bobcats have  cool features.They have sharp claw  to rip their prey.   They are medium sized cats. They have  black spot and white spots too!

Deer Mice, by Jack

All About Deer Mice

by Jack

         Deer mice have some cool features. They are 3-4 inches long, and their tail is 5-15 centimeters long. They weigh 18-35 grams. Deer mice are grayish to reddish brown  with a white belly that makes it look like deer fur.

         Deer mice eat some interesting things. Some examples are nuts, seeds, and berries in the wintertime they also eat some insects.

         Deer mice live in lots of places. They live in forests, deserts, prairies, and even homes.

         Deer mice have some interesting behaviors. If a group of deer mice get into your home they will eat your stored food and damage your furniture.They also sometimes carry a deadly disease called hantavirus in their droppings. During the wintertime they sometimes huddle up in a cozy group to stay warm.

         Deer mice have lots of predators. some of them are foxes, weasels, hawks, owls,and snakes.

         Deer mice are very interesting creatures.

Peregrine Falcons, by Lena

All About Peregrine Falcons

By Lena

         Peregrine falcons have some very interesting behavior.At around six weeks old, they take flight for the first time. Adult falcons “bait” them by taking meat and flying with it so the younger falcons will follow. A juvenile falcon is called an eyas, or a nestling. Eyas eat a lot of food, and they double their weight in a week. Both the male and the female help take care of the babies. Their nest is basically a small hole in the ground. To catch prey, they go really high up and dive, knocking their prey out of the air.                 

                                   

         Peregrine falcons’ main threats are humans.

In the 1960’s, a pesticide called DDT was making their egg shells so thin,  the females crushed the eggs when they sat on them.

 Peregrine falcons have very cool markings and features. They have pointed beaks with pointed wings for diving, and dark blue feathers around the eyes. They are covered in white fluff when they get incubated, but it turns to feathers in three to five weeks.They are pretty much the same size and weight of crows.

         They eat ducks, pigeons, pheasants, and many other things.

         Here are some extra facts about them: When falcons are 21 days old, biologists see if they’re male or female and they put a metal band on them to track the falcon. The nest usually holds three to four eggs, which are incubated in around 33 days. They can live up to 15 years. They begin breeding when they are just two years old. Peregrine falcons have about a 200 mile per hour dive and approximately 62 mile per hour level flight. (at the most)

Falco Peregrinus is the scientific name of the Peregrine falcon, which means “falcon wanderer.”

 F.p. peale, which is found from the coastal islands off Alaska, F.p. tundrius, which nests in the trees in the Arctic, and F.p. anatum which ranged from coast to coast are all subspecies recognized in the same continent.