Thank you for being here.
This post about my family has 6 parts.
- The Same Different Turtles
- Small Hands Project: Turtle and Salt Painting
- Origami Turtle
- Turtle Inspired Photos and Books
- I Care Turtles
- Suggested Reading for Big Hands – Bycatch and Threats
Meet my family. Do we look alike? Can you spot our differences?
Sea Turtle Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Terrapin Image by Günter Rohe from Pixabay
Sea turtles or marine turtles live in the ocean. They have flippers instead of feet which they paddle to swim in the water and drag to make them move on sand. Their shells are smooth and low. They cannot retract their heads in their shells like tortoises or terrapins do. “Crush” from the movie Nemo is a sea turtle.
Tortoises or terrestrial turtles live on land. They use their bent legs with clawed toes to walk. Having high and heavy shells, they do not swim. Have you heard of Jonathan the oldest tortoise? He is almost 200 years old.
Terrapins or aquatic and semiaquatic turtles swim and walk with their webbed feet. They live on land, and in water like rivers and lakes. They love basking in the sun. You can see more of them below on the Turtle Inspired Photos.
Sea Turtle by Андрей Корман from Pixabay
Terrapin by Brittany Cole from Pixabay
Our turtles have these:
Carapace image by Nadie Nemo, CC BY 3.0
Plastron image by Torsten Blanck, CC BY-SA 3.0
Scutes image by Whpq, CC BY-SA 4.0
Geometric shapes image by Amada44, Public domain,
The shell or top part of the turtle is a carapace.
The bottom part or underside of the turtle is the plastron.
The scales on turtles’ shell are called scutes.
You can design your art turtle with squares, triangles, or any geometric shapes.
II TURTLE AND SALT PAINTING
Would you like to make a Turtle and Salt Painting?
A real tortoise Image by Redkite from Pixabay
Here you can watch how to draw a tortoise:
You can proceed to the step by step instruction or watch this video first:
Fun in the Sun music by Chris Haugen
Steps:
The salt on your painted turtle will soak up the water color giving it a nice look. Remember to sprinkle the salt while the water color paint is still wet.
III ORIGAMI: SIMPLE TURTLE
How about some paper turtles? (you can use any square sheet of paper)
Turtle Conference
Fast version direction:
“Try to Catch Me” music by Reed Matthis
Slow with voice over:
IV I SEE TURTLES TODAY
Turtle inspired photos:
Hi Turtles!
These are my turtle friends. Whenever I take a walk in the morning, I see them basking in the sun.
Why do turtles bask or sunbathe? Just like people, they need sunlight to warm up after a cold swim. This is also how they can get vitamin D that keep bones and shells healthy and strong. Under the sun, turtles can get rid of the parasites and algae sticking on their carapace. Aren’t they so cute sticking their necks out?
Turtle Inspired Finds from our Bookshelf: (You can click on the title to read a synopsis):
V WE CARE TURTLES
“Pag” was once a real Green Plush sea turtle but his kind is now extinct, which means they had already disappeared from the world. We can only find them now as stuffed toys.
There used to be a lot of them but many people intentionally and unintentionally harmed them until no more Green Plush was left.
Intentionally is when people take adult turtles and their eggs for food, or their carapace to make accessories. Unintentionally can happen in many ways like when people throw plastic that could end up in the ocean. Sea turtles mistaking them for jelly fish would eat them and can cause their death.
Trawling is when nets are used while fishing boats or ships drag them to catch more fish. This method of fishing causes other marine animals like turtles to get caught too and being trapped underwater for a long time, they drown. If people will not care about sea turtles, which are all endangered now or almost going to be extinct, then soon, there will be no more sea turtles left in the ocean. If you see them when you go snorkeling or diving in the sea, they are so calm, peaceful, beautiful, and gentle they will never hurt you unless you try to hurt them first, they can bite.
feeding turtle Image by kracmar from Pixabay
Can you imagine the world without sea turtles? The marine ecosystem or life under the sea will collapse. Green sea turtles for example eat sea grass. Sea grass grow on seabeds which is where young fish live after they hatch. If there are no green sea turtles to maintain these seabeds which provide food and home to baby fish, they will starve to death. If baby fish do not grow to be adult fish, many sea creatures will become hungry too and will not be able to survive and soon, the ocean itself will die. If we don’t live near the ocean, can we still do something for the sea turtles and save our ocean?
How about the other Chelonians, must we worry about them too? Many tortoises and terrapins are also in danger of disappearing forever. Like the two pictured below. They are taken from their natural habitats to be sold as pets or to be eaten. The places where they live are being converted into farm lands or residential areas for people. Where can they go to live safely and free?
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Indian Star Tortoise image by N. A. Naseer, CC BY-SA 2.5 IN via Wikimedia Commons
Diamond Terrapin image by Ryan Hagerty, Public domain, via Wikimedia Common
Suggested Reading for Big Hands:
More about Turtles: The following are links to issues that concern among others; Sea Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins:
1. By-catch
2. Threats