Today, driving home from Mass, my husband cried out, "Look! A turtle. Did you see that?"
"No. Turn around! Turn around!" I replied all excited. So he turned around and we all got out (it wasn't a busy road) to observe the tortoise. We decided to put it in a box we had in the car and put it in the woods behind our house. Bear and J-jo were quite impressed.
And to all who say tortoises are slow, this one was not. Within 5 minutes it was across our yard and in the woods.
We kept calling it a turtle, but really it was a tortoise. You can go here to read more about the differences between turtles and tortoises, but basically, turtles have flatter shells, tortoises have thicker, domed shells. Turtles have webbed feet with long claws. Tortoises have bent legs with short claws. Turtles live in water; tortoises live on land.
I'm linking up to Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.
Huh, I didn't know turtles live in water and tortoises in land. Now I know something new.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the best things to learn about is when you find it and the kids are interested.
Great find. I know they had a blast learning about this. That is one huge tortoise, very interesting!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool find! I think I would have been afraid to pick it up :), but it was awfully nice of your husband to turn the car around, so the kids could see it, too.
ReplyDeleteWe love turtles here too! Interesting info. Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteHow neat! Now, the distinction #3 is rather important :)
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