Issue 11 -- LAND, SEA, & AIR MAIL

July 2001

How do you cool off during the hottest days of summer? Birds, reptiles and mammals have a variety of ways to keep their cool. July's issue of LAND, SEA, & AIR MAIL looks at how animals flap, twitch, and dunk the extra heat away.

This month’s newsletters offers activities for K-3 and 4-8.

Younger students sing a song to role play a penguin, sea turtle, sea lion, and elephant keeping cool, and see the differences between how water and sand heat up and cool off. Middle schoolers experiment how air, fat, and body size affect thermoregulation.

Featured Teacher

We've received many comments from students nominating teachers they admire. Check out our list so far.

Teaching about the environment is not always easy. Do you know a teacher who's figured out a unique way to inspire students, communicate concepts, or encourage exploration? What about a school that has dedicated itself to a project? We want to hear about them. Use our easy entry form to nominate your favorite school or teacher.

Julie's Journal
Julie Scardina, SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Ambassador, explores some of the cool adaptations animals have to cope with extreme weather.

Have You Seen This?

Searching for simple animal drawings to color? Or easy activities for the classroom? Check out Enchanted Learning web site. They have pages and pages of animal printouts to color with simple text to read.

The web has several sites on specific animals and how they keep cool. Here are a few for birds, dogs, and bees.

Go Environ-mental!

It's hot! If you're hot, then chances are so is your pet. This year many pets will suffer needlessly because of improper care; make sure your pet isn't one of them. Animals release heat from their body in many ways. They sweat, pant, or wallow in mud and water. Here are some very important tips you need to follow to make sure your pet is safe and healthy this summer:

1.	Never leave your pet outside or in the car unattended.
2.	Always have plenty of fresh, cool water for them to drink.
3.	If they are outside, provide them with a shady place, or a watering hole to bathe or wallow in.
4.	Brush them regularly to loosen or remove old hair.
5.	Bathe them.

COMING NEXT MONTH

Sharks! Do you know shark fact from myth? August's LAND, SEA, & AIR MAIL explores the lives of these fascinating fish.

SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database
http://www.seaworld.org/ / http://www.buschgardens.org/