Turtle Unit Study

Turtles are likely the most defensive group of reptiles alive. With a shell which holds their entire existence together.

Today we know of 356 different types of turtles that exist. But the question still persists, are there more?

I have always been fascinated by turtles. I even had a pet turtle growing up which my husband (then boyfriend) bought me as a baby turtle.

Did you know that for most of the species, the temperature actually determines the sex of the embryo? The warmer the egg during incubation (above 31 C), the higher the chance that the hatching will be female. The colder the egg during incubation (below 28 C) the higher the chance the hatching will be male.

Turtles do not wait until their eggs hatch. Instead they lay their eggs and leave.

 

 

Turtle Anatomy

A turtle is unique because it has both an external skeleton and an internal skeleton.

The turtles shell is probably the most fascinating feature of a turtle.

Now, if you don’t want to dissect a turtle but you want to learn the anatomy of a turtle: bake a cake, cover it with fondant, and use edible markers to draw in plastron that is covered with plastral scutes (shell).

This is a tasty option to learning about the anatomy of a turtle.

Dissecting a Turtle

We usually enjoy dissecting but I’d be the first to admit that dissecting a turtle was a little sad. Maybe because turtles are so cute. Nevertheless, it was an amazing learning experience. We ordered two turtles from Carolina.

 

Navigate Like a Sea Turtle

Did you know that earth is like a giant magnet? The motion from its liquid outer core makes a magnetic field and turtles can sense this field. They use it as a compass to tell them where to go. At first turtles use the direction of the waves to guide them but then magnetoreception takes over and they know where to go even in strong waves and darkness turtles can detect magnetic fields.

South is attracted to North. We are able to use a compass because earth is a magnet. A compass can tell you where North is. The world has discovered its first magnetic field sensor in a worm. Which is used by worms to navigate while underground. There is a thing called a cryptochromes. This protein helps our body perform daily routines. But it is also a magnetic sensor. This was discovered when scientists created a false magnetic field to lead flies to food. They removed this gene from some of the flies and they didn’t develop a routine to get to the food source, so they died. They then removed it from flies only to give them the same gene from humans and they survived. Meaning that it can act as a magnetic sensor.

Turtles use magnetic sensors to stay in the warm currents so that they don’t die.

Flatworms are great at regeneration. Scientists sliced flatworms, put some in less powerful magnetic fields and put some in the ordinary magnetic field. The ones in the weaker magnetic field hardly regenerated while the ones in the ordinary magnetic field made full recoveries.

Types of Turtles: Bingo

For this activity you need to name and look up twenty four different turtles. This was one fun experience because the entire time we looked up a new turtle we were so intrigued by how different and unique each of the turtles looked. While my children looked up and drew each of the different turtles, I read to them.

It has been believed by many that seniors love to play bingo. Online bingo has grown and the younger generations are getting fascinated by this game. We get it. We too became addicted to the game of bingo and found ourselves pulling out our bingo turtle game days after we created the bingo board.

Cloacal Gill Respiration

Have you ever wondered how a turtle is able to breath when it hibernates in the winter? Well, a turtle slows down its metabolism and does not use too much oxygen, but the small amount of oxygen that it does use comes through a process known as cloacal gill respiration. Yes, it breathes in water not from its head but the opposite end: tail.

The oxygen water is pulled into the cloacal and then it is expelled.

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