Reptile or Amphibian

Boris the Tortoise visited with the Montessori Owls this morning.  Meeting a reptile "up close and personal" was very interesting! 

                              Boris is seven and he's s ticklish!  He's friendly, too!

The Owls learned lots of interesting facts about reptiles and amphibians by visiting the four stations our Audubon Naturalist, Mr. James, set up in the flex room.

Reptiles have rough scaly skin.  Alessandra said, "It feels like a football!"  Amphibians have smooth, slimy skin. Both use camouflage to escape predators.

                 Reptiles lay eggs with leathery shells.  Amphibians lay jelly-like eggs.  They felt sticky!

One black rat snake skin was longer than Sean and one was longer than Mrs. Mustard-Scott! The snake skins felt dry and bumpy and were paper thin.

                        Snakes shed their skin like we take off our socks--inside out.

          Reptiles and amphibians are vertebrates.  That means they have a backbone like ours.

Mr. James helped us learn how to tell the differences between reptiles and amphibians.  It can be tricky sometimes. The Hellbender and spotted salamander are amphibians and so are toads!