Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and any other observations you have about Britannica School Edition.
1. Using Britannica Elementary, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.
In the search box I typed in the word echidna. The results were “marvelous!” I had 5 results and all were relevant to the subject. I clicked on the first result for echidna which provided me with a cool image and information regarding its habitat.
If you click on the highlighted word article it brings up a page full of information. Mousing over the image of the echidna magnifies it allowing the user a better view of the image. Other options for researching the echidna under More Information are magazines and journals resulting in The Animal Backhoe and Koalas, Kangaroos,and More. Websites such as: San Diego Zoo and Enchanted Learning are provided as well for those that need more information.
The short-nosed echidna is a common mammal in Australia.
Echidnas are unusual mammals. Along with their relative the platypus, echidnas are the only living mammals that lay eggs. Echidnas are also called spiny anteaters.
There are three species, or kinds, of echidna. The short-nosed echidna is common in Australia and on the island of Tasmania. Two species of long-nosed echidna live only on the island of New Guinea.
Echidnas are stocky animals with a short tail. They have brownish fur with spines sticking through. Their feet have strong claws that are good for digging. They have a very small mouth and a long, sticky tongue. The short-nosed echidna is about 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 centimeters) long. It has a straight snout that points forward. The long-nosed echidnas are usually 18–31 inches (45–78 centimeters) long. They have a longer, downward-pointing snout.
The short-nosed echidna eats ants and termites that it catches with its long, sticky tongue. Long-nosed echidnas eat mostly earthworms.
A female echidna usually lays a single leathery egg. The mother holds the egg in a pouch on her body. It hatches about 10 days later. The newborn lives in the pouch for about two months. The baby sucks milk through special hairs on the mother’s body. The young echidna goes off on its own after it has grown spines and fur and can find its own food.
2. Using Britannica Middle School, search for information on the same mammal you searched in Britannica Elementary and compare the amount of information.
Very interesting! Not surprised that Britannica Middle School provided more in-depth results than Britannica Elementary. I executed the same search and was just in love with the fact that the knowledge level was appropriately increased for middle schoolers. The image was the same. The information as I mentioned was lengthy, language is more sophisticated and with more detail to specifics. Only 1 magazine/journal resulted. Britannia Concise Encyclopedia resulted and it did not in the Elementary version. The websites had few similarities.
Echidna
The only living mammals that lay eggs are the platypus and the echidnas. Together, these animals make up the scientific order Monotremata. Echidnas are native to Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands. They look somewhat like hedgehogs or porcupines but are not at all closely related to either. Also called spiny anteaters, echidnas have dome-shaped bodies that are covered with spines as well as fur. The spines protect these animals from predators. Echidnas can also wedge themselves into cracks and between tree roots and can dig themselves quickly into the ground when disturbed. They have short legs and claws that are good for digging.
Echidnas have small eyes and mere slits for ears. They eat and breathe through a bald, tubular beak. At the end of the beak are two small nostrils and a tiny mouth. An echidna uses its long sticky tongue to catch ants, termites, worms, and other invertebrates. Receptors in the skin of the beak may sense electrical signals produced by the muscles of invertebrate prey.
Echidnas can be active during the day or evening, but they shelter themselves from extreme midday heat in burrows or caves. They appear to congregate only during the breeding season. After a gestation period of about 23 days, the female usually lays a single leathery egg into a temporary abdominal pouch. After about 10 days, the egg hatches. The mother nourishes the tiny newborn, called a puggle, with milk. The puggle remains in the pouch for several weeks before it begins growing spines. The mother then moves it to a special nursery burrow in the ground. When the young echidna is fully covered with spines and fur and is capable of feeding on its own, it leaves the burrow for a solitary life. Echidnas are very long-lived. One echidna was reliably recorded at 45 years of age in the wild, and one individual in captivity was well over 50 years old at the time of its death.
There are three species of echidna. The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is the best known. It is widely distributed in many habitats in Australia, including Tasmania, and is also native to New Guinea. It has a straight, forward-pointing beak and a heavy coat of spines. The length of this echidna, from its head to its rudimentary tail, is usually about 12–18 inches (30–45 centimeters).
The two species of long-beaked echidna are found in New Guinea and nearby islands. The species Zaglossus bruijnii has a downward-pointing beak. Its spines are smaller and less numerous than those of the short-beaked echidna and are dispersed through its brown fur. It is much larger that the short-beaked echidna, usually measuring about 24 inches (60 centimeters) in length. The second species of long-beaked echidna, Z. attenboroughi, was first described scientifically in 1999. Little is known about this rare species. It is about the size of a short-beaked echidna and has a fairly straight beak, though in other respects it resembles Z. bruijnii. People hunt the long-beaked echidnas for food. For this reason, along with habit loss, both species are considered critically endangered.
3. Using Britannica High School, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the right side bar of the results screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?
I researched Lithuania. The types of information that would be most valuable to elementary students (my patrons) are: The Web’s Best Sites, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia and multi-media.
4. Using either the Middle or School level, click on Help (top right). In the index which is on the left side, click “Working with Articles” and then on “Workspace”. How useful will this feature be for your students and teachers?
Students can collect their information and place it in workspace and come back it to at a later time. Now that’s awesome! Basically you create a workspace; save your information in it; helps organize your work.Working in groups? Sharing is made easy because it is all saved and all you have choices to share by e-mailing, printing or exporting. Ain’t that sweet!
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