Nature Study Tuesday – Turtle

Tornado Dad had an unexpected surprise last night when he was mowing the lawn – he found this turtle in the grass. Thankfully he was unharmed, but he was closed up tight in his shell when he brought him up on the deck for us to take a look at. He didn’t know what type of turtle he was, but he figured that Tornado Boy would enjoy observing him for a bit.

We sat and watched the turtle as he started to emerge from his shell. He was watching us as much as we were watching him. He made no effort to move – his legs were wrapped up in his shell the whole time, though he did stick his head out and look around quite a bit as Tornado Boy told him a story and then shared some addition facts with him. He then started asking him yes or no questions, interpreting the turtle’s eyes blinking as answers to his questions. It was quite interesting to watch Tornado Boy try to interact with the creature.

We spent about 15 minutes “chatting” with the turtle before Tornado Dad came to retrieve him and put him back out into the yard. As soon as he reached for him, he closed up tight in his shell again. He was clearly very docile – hiding was his defense mechanism. We looked him up online and learned that he is an Eastern Box Turtle – one of the few turtles that lives on land. He appears to be a full grown male based on his coloring and the shape of the underside of his shell. We taught TB the word carapace – the name for the turtle’s upper shell. We also found out that his defense mechanism of withdrawing into his shell can hurt the turtle as they often are hit by lawnmowers or cars. We really enjoyed this unexpected science lesson.

Find out what other Science lessons kids are learning about at Peace Creek on the Prairie.