Mysteries.

After watching a number of children in Room 4 getting very motivated by 1) Researching and 2) Mysterious Things, I decided to put 1 and 2 together!

For reading this term (which will also tie in with our space unit), we are going to be researching mysterious creatures. This can either mean animals that may or may not be extinct, or mysterious creatures that have not been proven to exist.

 
Here are some websites that you may like to use to find information about some of these creatures. Any new kid friendly websites we find will be added to this list:

http://nzcryptozoologist0.tripod.com/

http://news.discovery.com/animals/tags/cryptozoology.htm

http://www.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Cryptozoology

http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/

http://www.hectorsdolphins.com/

http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/bigfoot-facts-for-kids.html

Maui's Dolphin.

Maui’s dolphin is a critically endangered species of dolphin that is so rare that they are extremely hard to find. There are some estimates that there are only about 45 Maui’s dolphin left alive.

Maui’s dolphin have grey, black and white markings on them. They are quite a small dolphin and they have a short nose. They are unusual because they also have a very round dorsal fin on their back. Maui’s dolphin like to swim in shallow water. They are mostly found in water that is no more than 20 metres deep.

There are records showing that a long time ago there used to be Maui’s dolphins living on the East Coast of the North Island. And in 1873 there was even evidence of a Maui’s dolphin found in Wellington harbour. But these days, you will only find a Maui’s dolphin on the West Coast of the North Island between Taranaki and north of Auckland.

Maui’s dolphins are very, very hard to find. There was one spotted around the Poverty Bay coast on the East Coast of the North Island but this was not for sure. Sometimes people think they have seen a Maui’s dolphin but then it turns out to actually be a Hector’s dolphin which can look a bit like one.

There have been 5 public sightings of Maui’s dolphin near New Plymouth since 2006 but that is all. And some of these sightings may have been incorrect.

Between 2012-2014, 5 aircraft and 6 boats all went out looking for Maui’s dolphin around the Taranaki coastline. They looked all over the place but there were no Maui’s dolphin ever spotted. The boats even went more than 7km out to see but still there were no dolphins seen anywhere.

There are threats to Maui’s dolphin which could make it become extinct. Sometimes they have been found caught in fishing nets and they have drowned. There are now bans on using fishing nets in some places to try to protect the Maui’s dolphin. Sometimes diseases can make them sick and this could be very bad if lots of them were to get sick. Especially with such a small population of them. And because they like to swim in shallow waters, it is possible for them to crash into a boat or a jet ski too.

The Maui’s dolphin are becoming so rare that it may be possible that there are none of them left. There are estimates that there could be 45 dolphins still alive but these are only estimates. And since they are almost never spotted anymore, who knows? Maybe there really are none of them left? But these clear photos show that they must still be around. Maybe there really are Maui’s dolphin left and we just need to try harder to protect them.

The Yeti.

The yeti is believed to be a creature that lives in the mountains of the Himalayas. It is thought to be an ape like creature. It began as a legend where many Himalayan people believed in an ‘Ice Bear’ that would guard them while they were hunting.

Sightings.
Many Himalayan people and mountain climbers have reported sighting a Yeti over the last 150 years. Among the Himalayan people, these sightings are often passed down in the family.
In 1925, a photographer thought he saw a Yeti. He said he saw a man like creature walking along that was stopping to pull at some bushes now and again. He said it’s footprints were like a human’s but they were smaller.
There was a lot of interest in the Yeti during the 1950s as this was the decade in which many people went to the Himalayas to try to be the first to climb Mount Everest.
In 1954 a Yeti scalp was believed to have been found. Scientists studied this but it was found to have belonged to hooved animal like a goat.
People have reported sightings of creatures that are ape like or even bear like. Sometimes hair samples have been found up in the snow and these have been taken in to scientists and biologists. But every time these have turned out to actually belong to other animals.

Are there really Yeti in the Himalayas?
There are other animals that live around the Himalayan mountains that are often mistaken for Yeti. The Langur monkey, the Tibetan blue bear and the Himalayan brown bear are often thought to be Yeti from a distance. There have been serious expeditions in to these mountains with scientists looking to find evidence of the Yeti, but there has still not been any true evidence ever found to prove that they are real.
But the Himalayan mountains are very large and there would be lots of places for a Yeti to hide without ever being discovered by humans. Maybe people have just been looking in the wrong places?

The Moa.

The moa is a large flightless bird native to NZ that is thought to be extinct. People think that it had already become extinct about 200 years ago.

Sightings.
Even though, there still have been many moa sightings by people in the NZ bush.
Lots of people thought they saw moa in the bush during the early 1800s. These people were often in the bush clearing land to use for farms. Or they were searching for gold down by streams.
One time a man even thought he saw a moa when his sheep dog tried to chase it. The dog was barking at a large bird and the bird bobbed it’s head at the dog like it was trying to scare it away.
Between 1931 and 1990 there were several sightings of moa in NZ bush and sometimes even tracks were found.
In 1993, 3 trampers saw a moa by a stream. It got a fright and ran away. One of the men called Paddy Freaney chased after the moa and even got a photo of it running away. He also found tracks in the mud. He showed this photo to scientists and they thought it really did look like an actual moa and it was no joke. But some other people did not believe it looked like a moa.

Then in 1994 another tramper found tracks that looked like moa tracks in the exact same place.

Could they still exist?
Most people believe that the most is now extinct. That is was hunted by the maori and when Europeans arrived the bird numbers would have dropped even more. There are lots of other NZ birds who are also considered extinct and they have never been found again. No one has managed to capture a bird or get a really good close up photo to prove that it really is a moa.

However, the takahe was thought to be extinct for a long time until some were found in a South Island swamp. So birds can stay hidden for a long time.There is a huge area of rugged native bush in the South Island were humans never ever go into. This would be a perfect place for moa to still be hiding and to never be found. Even to this day.

To find out more about the Moa, try this website:

http://nzcryptozoologist0.tripod.com/id14.html

Bigfoot.

Bigfoot is a creature that is thought to live in the bush in North America. Bigfoot is said to look a bit like a gorilla but it walks everywhere on two legs.
In the 1950s a lot of people were getting excited about news stories about a Yeti living in the Himalayan mountains. About that time, people started seeing Yeti like monsters in America.

Sightings of Bigfoot.
In 1958 Ray Wallace thought he had found bigfoot footprints in the bush and he told a lot of stories about having seen this monster.
In 1964, there were lots of people who thought they saw a 9 foot tall bigfoot in a place called Cass County. One lady said that she was chased into her house by a bigfoot. Her dog barked at it and this saved her. Two other men said they also saw a bigfoot. They said ‘that thing was no bear!’ And 3 girls were chased by a bigfoot. They were all very scared and one of the girls even fainted. What was strange is that all of the people who were chased did not want to talk about it. They just wanted to forget about it and to be left alone.

In 1967 the most famous film was taken of bigfoot. The film was taken by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlim. In the film, bigfoot is seen clearly walking along near some bush. He turns to look at the camera and then keeps on walking. Some people thought that the film was a hoax and that it was just a man in a gorilla suit. But other people thought that it looked too real to be a suit. And even some film crews thought that they would not be able to make a bigfoot costume look that real.
In 2007 there was a photo taken of a strange animal that some people thought was a young bigfoot.

But is bigfoot really real?
People who think bigfoot is not real say that there has been no proper evidence to prove a bigfoot is really there. There would need to be lots of bigfoots living in the bush for the species to be able to survive. Yet not even one has ever actually been found. Most of the bigfoot sightings happen in the bush near where bears live. It would be easy to see a bear and think that it was a bigfoot.
The film and photos of bigfoot are often thought to be a hoax. The photos are often quite shaky and blurry and it is tough to tell if it is real or not. Sometimes people like to pretend they have seen a bigfoot just to try and get famous or be on tv. So it can be hard to tell if people are telling the truth.

But there is a lot of bush and wild places in America where a bigfoot could still be hiding.

Have a look at more about Bigfoot information by visiting:

http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/bigfoot-facts-for-kids.html

http://www.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Bigfoot

Canterbury Big Cat

Some people think there are big cats in Canterbury.
This could be true as there is lots of food for cats there. There are rabbits, sheep and cows that a cat could eat.

Who has seen a cat?
Lots of people have seen a big cat in Canterbury. A truck driver saw a big cat on a farm. He was scared of it and he told his children to stay in the house that day.
A farmer saw a big cat on his farm. He said it gave him the ‘heebie jeebies!’
A lady thought she saw a big cat when she was riding her bike in the country.

What could it be?
People think that the cat could be a panther or a mountain lion.

Are there really cats there?
No one has taken a good photo of a cat yet so we do not know for sure. No one has caught a cat in a trap or found a live cat. Most people who have seen a big cat see it from a long way away. It may have just been a wild cat they saw. And why would there be big cats just walking around in NZ?
But cats are sneaky so they would be hard to find. And sometimes there are dead farm animals that could have been killed by a big cat.

Do these cats exist? Have they gone to hide in the bush? Or were they never there at all? Who knows?

For more about big cats in New Zealand, try this website:

http://nzcryptozoologist0.tripod.com/id14.html

Look for "Kaiwaka Cat" or "New Zealand Panther"

Swamp Monster

There are people in America who think they have seen a swamp monster. This creature is said to live in swamps or streams. It can even look a bit like an ape but with webbed toes and sometimes it has a tail.

Sightings.
There are two quite famous swamp monsters that are said to live in America. The Honey Island swamp monster and the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp.


The Honey Island swamp monster is an ape like creature that lives in the swamp. A man called Billy Mills found some strange footprints and he found a wild boar that had been killed by an unknown animal. He spent a lot of time looking for the swamp monster. There is a story that in 1910 a circus train crashed and some chimps escaped. Then they went to live with some alligators in the swamp and this is where the swamp monsters started.

The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp is an ape like monster but it has toes like a lizard on it’s hands and feet. It is very strong and can even rip into cars.
In 1988, Chris Davis saw this swamp monster. He had to stop his car one night to change a tyre. When he finished, the swamp monster came running after him. Chris jumped in his car and drove away fast. The monster jumped on the roof of the car and tried to get inside. Chris Davis started turning from side to side to shake it off the roof. His car had lots of scratch marks on it. A local policeman said that it even looked like the metal had been chewed by something.
There were lots of other sightings of this monster near the swamp. Bertha Blythers said she was driving with her family when the monster tried to attack her car. She said it looked like an ape monster but it had arms like a human. She says it was not a bear that she saw.
Lots of people said that they had been attacked in their cars. Lots of these cars had bite marks on them where something had chewed the metal. One time there were even long brown hairs found on the car.

But is a swamp monster really real?
One man called Kenneth Orr told the police that he had seen the Scamp Ore swamp monster. He said that he had shot it and he showed the police some scales that he found. But he really made this story up. He said he did it so that people would keep wanting to believe in the lizard man.
No one has ever caught a swamp monster. There are bears that live near the Scape Ore Swamp and people might have actually just seen a bear and thought that it was a monster.
Sometimes people like to make up stories to make a boring place sound a bit more interesting. Having a monster living near you sounds exciting and can make people want to come and visit more.

Who knows, maybe the swamp monsters are real, but they know just where to hide!

Birthday Shared Morning Tea

Today it was Maggie's 7th birthday and her Mum Colleen surprised everyone with a shared morning tea. It was very unexpected, but very appreciated by the children!

Paper Dart Experiment

Yesterday we went to the hall to test out the 3 different sized paper darts we had built (small, medium and large). The children threw each dart 3 times and measured how far they each flew to try to work out which sized dart is the best size to build.

Class Reward

On Thursday, room 4 filled the marble jar up to the top which means that it must be reward time! They chose to play a new game called survival. Everyone was either nature, humans, dogs / wolves, cats or mice / rats in a food chain type survival challenge. This explains all the different coloured sashes! And the little ice block sticks you might be able to see are their remaining lives. They enjoyed chasing each other around while some of the more sneaky ones tried to increase their chance of survival by hiding from the others in the trees!