Children's Ecology Pond

We have 4 chicks!

2011-05-07T09:28:00.001-07:00

Come down to the library and check out our newly hatched chicks. We have 4! Make sure you come in and say hello!

THE CHICKS ARE HATCHING!

2011-05-05T06:14:00.001-07:00

That's right the chicks are beginning to hatch!! Make sure you make a trip in to see the chicks live or you can watch them on the webcam. Just go to this link http://goo.gl/A1u5g
Enjoy!

The eggs are getting ready!

2011-05-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

The eggs have been prepared to hatch! Any day now the eggs should be making their appearance. Make sure you come to the library to check them out or watch all this exciting stuff on the webcam!

B-B-B-BUTTERFLIES!

2011-04-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

That's right boys and girls we have butterflies now in the Children's Ecology Pond! The butterflies we have are actually in their third stage of development, but let's recap the first two stages since we have missed them.

The first stage of a butterfly's development is the Egg stage. A butterfly starts as a very small, round egg. A very cool note about butterfly eggs is that if you look very closely you can sometimes see the baby caterpillar growing inside the egg. Cool right? Did you know that butterfly eggs are usually laid on the leaves of plants? This may take some time to find them if you go searching for them. Below is a picture of butterfly eggs on a plant leaf.

The second stage of development that the butterfly's went through, but we missed is the Larva or Caterpillar stage. When the egg is finally ready to hatch a butterfly doesn't emerge, but rather a caterpillar. When the caterpillar hatches from it's egg it will eat the leaf it was born on. This is important because the mother butterfly needs to lay her eggs on a leaf that the caterpillar will eat. Each different kind of butterfly eats a different kind of leaf, so every type of butterfly lays their eggs on different kinds of leaves.

The caterpillar does not stay in this stage for very long and mostly what they do is eat. In spring or early summer time you can sometimes hear the caterpillars crunching on leaves. Caterpillars need to eat and eat and eat so they can grow quickly. When the caterpillar is first born they are very small, but the more they eat the more they grow and expand. A caterpillar's skin or exoskeleton does not stretch or grow, so the caterpillars get bigger and grow by molting or shedding their outgrown skin. Below is a close up picture of a caterpillar.

After the caterpillars are done growing and expanding they move onto the third stage of development called the Pupa or Chrysalis stage. This is the stage our butterflies are in now. From the outside it may look like the caterpillar (what a butterfly starts it's life off as) is just taking a nice snooze or a nap, but on the contrary, there is so much action going on inside the cocoon (what the caterpillar is inside of).

You probably are picturing a caterpillar right now. They're normally short, stubby and wingless creatures. Which is very true until this stage of their life cycle. Remember all the action going on inside the cocoon that was mentioned previously? Well inside the caterpillar's body is undergoing a remarkable transformation called a metamorphosis that will turn that short, stubby caterpillar body into a beautiful butterfly. By the end of this stage the whole caterpillar's body will have changed. It will have wings too! When this metamorphosis is complete that is when the butterfly will emerge from the cocoon. This is a sight to see so make sure you come on into the library to catch a glimpse of this remarkable transformation!!

The fourth and final stage of the butterfly's life cycle is that of an Adult Butterfly. At this stage the caterpillar has gone through it's transformation and is ready to bust out of it's chrysalis. The butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis and it's wings will be soft and folded gently against it's body. This is because the butterfly had to squeeze into such a small cocoon. After some much needed rest, the butterfly will pump blood into it's wings in order to get them working and flapping. After this they get to fly. Usually after about four hours the butterfly is a master at flying. When this occurs the butterflies are ready to go out and explore the world! Below is a picture of the butterfly emerging from it's chrysalis.

Below is a picture or diagram of the whole life cycle of the butterfly. Make sure you come in and take a look at our butterflies yourself!

Not too much longer!

2011-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Make sure you keep an eye on the webcam or come in and visit the eggs in person as these chicks will be hatching in just a short period of time!

But please do come in and check out all the Discovery Center has to offer like the frogs, plants and flowers!

You've got questions. We've got answers!

2011-04-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what is actually going on inside that incubator? Or what is the inside of those chick eggs looks like? We all have had these questions. You're not alone. Below are some pictures with labels that show all the parts of the egg and help answer these questions.

To describe each part of the egg we need to start at the top left label.

Albumin: What is Albumin? Albumin or egg whites is the runny, clear part of your scrambled eggs. What this stuff actually is protein that is water-soluble.

Inner Membrane: What is this? This is a protective layer. This will help the baby chick stay safe during development.

Air Cell: What is the air cell? This is an empty space located at the large end of the egg and is located between the inner membrane and the shell.

Outer Membrane: What's that? The outer membrane is another protective layer. With the inner membrane layer, the outer membrane help keep the egg safe while it grows.

Yolk: What is the yolk? The yolk is the yellow, inner part of the egg where the baby chick will form from. The yolk also contains the food source for the baby chick while it develops.

Shell: This is a hard, protective coating of the egg. It is semi-permeable. This means that it allows for air to enter and exit the egg, but keeps other things from entering the egg.

This picture shows you what the chick looks like each day of its development. Look how small it is at Day 1 of it's development. At Day 21 the chick is ready to make its entrance into the world!

Hope that this helped answer some of those questions everyone has been wondering.

The question we've all been asking ourselves...

2011-04-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

What kind of chicken are actually in the Children's Ecology Pond?? All your questions are about to be answered. First, we have 3 kinds of eggs in the incubator; green, brown and white. These 3 different colored eggs mean there are 3 different types of chicken that are going to hatch.

The white eggs are the kind of eggs laid by White Leghorn chicks. When this type of chick or breed of chickens are baby's they look like what most people think of for a baby chick... The yellow fluffy chicks.

When the White Leghorn is fully matured or all grown up some of the chicks will look like this:

The next type of chicken or breed of chicken that will be hatching here at the library are called Araucanas. These chicken lay the green colored eggs and the chicks that hatch have a similar coloring like a chipmunk.

When these chicks are full grown they will look similar to this picture:

Lastly, the brown eggs are a mixed breed chicken. This egg has chicks that are a mix between a male Rhode Island Red Crossed rooster and a Barred Rock hen. These chicks have been genetically modified or have special cells that will help when identifying them as a boy or a girl. These chicks are black in color when they are born. If the baby chick has a yellow spot on it this means that the chick is a boy or a rooster. A chick that does not have the spot is a girl or a hen.

When these chicks are full grown they will look similar to this adult chicken.

The anticipation of knowing all the breeds or types of chickens that will be hatching at the library is just so thrilling! We can't wait for these chicks to hatch!

We have eggs!

2011-04-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

That's right everyone! The eggs are back in town! We will be hatching a new batch of little chickies in about 21 days. Now isn't that exciting? We all know how much everyone loves the chicks so the webcam has been set up so you can watch all the action from the comfort of your couch or home! Although right now the chick eggs are not very exciting as they are just stagnant and kind of boring, but if you just patiently wait those brief 21 days the eggs will begin to shake, rattle and roll and when this happens the chicks will emerge! Make sure you stay tuned to the blog and webcam for all your chick updates.

The frogs have been named!

2011-04-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

The frogs have been named! Their names are..... Drum roll please...

Rupert, Giles, Froggy and Mr. Green Beanz!

Make sure you come in and say hello! You can now watch the frogs from home on the webcam! Watch them all day long at this link: http://goo.gl/A1u5g Enjoy!!

Frog Facts

2011-04-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

In honor of our frogs that have newly found their home in The Children's Ecology Center, let's test your frog knowledge...

Question: Do you know what the largest frog in the world is?

Answer: The largest frog in the world is the Goliath Frog of Cameroon, Africa. This frog is found near swiftly flowing rivers and in dense rain forests. These frogs look like giant bullfrogs. Its body can be more than a a foot long and its entire length with their legs extended can be more than 2 and a half feet long...

Now that's one big frog!!

Question: Do you what the smallest frog in the world is?

Answer: The smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere is the Gold Frog. The Gold Frog measure to be about 9.8 millimeters in length. That's about 1 centimeter or 3/8's of an inch!

What a tiny frog!

Make sure you come in and check out our aquatic frogs and stay tuned for more fun facts!

April 15 is the new date...

2011-04-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

So many of you have been asking "When are the chicks coming back?" Well, the chicks have returned to the farm as of April 8, 2011. We had to return them because they were just getting too big for us to properly take care of them. They were sad to go but just know they had such a great time here at the library and were so happy to meet all of you. Don't be too upset about the chicks leaving; we will be having more chicks arriving to the library April 15! We will be doing the whole hatching process all over again. How exciting! Just remember if you can't make it to the library, the webcam is running live and could be watched from any time from your home computer! Just visit this link http://goo.gl/A1u5g to see the chicks on the webcam. You will also be able to follow the hatching process on the webcam! Even though watching the eggs and the chicks from home is super cool, make sure you come in and visit The Children's Ecology Center in person! We hope to see you soon!!

Farewell Chickies!

2011-04-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

Our first batch of chicks have returned to the farm but don't fret there will be a new batch of egg arriving April 15. Even though are main attraction (the chicks) are no longer in the Discovery Center we still have many more things to discover! Make sure to come and check all that The Children's Ecology Center has to offer!!

The chicks are in the building!!

2011-03-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

The chicks have made their long awaited appearance here in the Children's & Parents' Services Department. Have you seen them yet? Make sure you come and say hello to our new friends.

If you can't make it to the library, you can always check out the chicks on the webcam at http://goo.gl/A1u5g.

We look forward to seeing you and our chicks are looking forward to meeting you.

It's just days away...

2011-03-28T09:42:00.001-07:00

The chicks should be hatching in just a few days! The chicks should be making their appearance sometime around March 31. Are you excited? If you can't make it to the library to catch a glimpse of their first appearance into the world, fear not! You can watch their hatching on our webcam! This will allow for you to have optimal viewing of the eggs while they make their way into this world. It's just going to be so exciting! Also, there are so a few new additions to our Discovery Center. We have frogs! Yes, frogs! The Discovery Center is now the home of 4 aquatic frogs. We have 2 albino frogs (that means they have no pigment or color in their skin) and 2 regular aquatic frogs. These frogs are nameless, so make sure you come in and help us name our frogs by filling out a frog form at the Children's & Parents' Services Department reference desk. We also still have the ladybugs, but they are in their larva form. This means that the ladybugs will soon make a cocoon and turn into a ladybug (similar to how a butterfly transforms from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly). We also have lots of plants growing in our Ecology center root vue planter as well as our very own garden. Make sure you come and check out everything that is going on in the Discovery Center!! You can learn and discover new things!

Spring has sprung! Well at least in the Discovery Center.

2011-03-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Spring has definitely made its appearance in the Children's and Parents' Department here at the library.

If you haven't already visited the chicks, the ladybugs, our garden, our vegetable root vue, frogs and everything else the Discovery Center has to offer, there is only one question to ask... What are you waiting for?!? The Discovery Center is just full of lots to see and do. So make sure you tear yourself away from the beautiful weather outside to check out our wonderful Children's Ecology Pond Discovery Center located in the Children's Department of the library!

Also, make sure you stay connected through our blog and twitter account!

The Discovery Center is just overflowing with interesting stuff!

2011-03-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Make sure you check out all that the Discovery Center has to offer! Not only do we have chicken eggs and ladybugs, but the Discovery Center is bursting with signs of spring!

Come check out our garden where hyacinths are growing! Just follow your nose and their beautiful fragrance and it will lead you to the garden.

Also, make sure to take a peek at our Root Vue planter. Here you can see the carrots, onions and radishes roots as the seeds grow into full grown vegetables.

Lastly, don't forget to look at the chick eggs. They are to be hatching in just a few short weeks. The webcam is set up so that you can watch the eggs from home and also get the best possible view while you visiting the library.

And we can't forget to mention the ladybugs. They are still hanging out in their habitat. Make sure you take a look at all the ladybugs!

The Discovery Center is continuing to grow, just like spring! So stay tuned for what's new and what's happening in the CPSD Discovery Center.

With waited breath the chick eggs have arrived!! Oh, and so have the ladybugs!

2011-03-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again... It's Chick Season!

That means that the chick eggs are now in the incubator located in the CPSD Discovery Center. These eggs must incubate for about 21 days and will be due to hatch some time around March 31.

Be sure to check out the eggs in person or on the webcam that will be set up within a few short days. The webcam will allow you to be able to watch the eggs from the comfort of your own home. Also, while you're here in the library the webcam will be playing on the television located right above the incubator so you get the best possible view of the eggs and inside the incubator.

Although we are happy that everyone is so excited about the chick eggs we do ask for you not to touch the incubator as the eggs are in a very delicate development stage.

Also in the discovery center are ladybugs. Yes. Real, live ladybugs! Don't you worry, you will definitely be able to see a ladybug as there are many located in their habitat. But we do ask that you not touch the ladybug habitat as they are very small, delicate creatures.

Make sure you take advantage of all that the CPSD Discovery Center has to offer. We hope to see you at the library soon and be sure you stay tuned to the blog and twitter account for all your discovery center updates!

Come One! Come ALL!!

2011-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

In March make sure to make a special visit to the Children's & Parents' Services Department as the Discovery Center will be transformed into the Children's Ecology Pond.

In this new Discovery Center you can discover, learn and see all the flora and fauna that will be featured. What is flora and fauna you ask? Well, you'll have to stay tuned to learn more.

Also, make sure to check us out online at www.communitylibrary.org/Kids/DiscoveryCenter/ to watch the chicks hatch and much, much more!!

This spring is sure to bring lots of discovering so make sure you check it out! We look forward to seeing you!