Dayna Turns 11

Dayna's Friend Sophia Randall came over for a sleepover. They played Barbies till 2:00a.m. and rode bikes the next day. Happy 11th Birthday Dayna!

Zoo School Busch Gardens Tampa

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A Day at the Zoo, Busch Gardens Tampa. We started out with a large home school group of about 200 students with Chaperons. Off to the Theater for an interactive live animal show.
We were introduced to Harry the Sloth and told about the life of a sloth, very SLOW..... Harry was a two toed sloth. He ate vegetables and hung on to the trainer Kim. In the rain forest Harry would hang by his claws and tail. His fur is parted, not on the back but on his stomach because he hangs upside down so the rain will run off. If Harry was in the rain forest algae would start to grow on his rough course fur. The next animal was a Rocky, The Asian Python. He was sensing us with his thermal glands around his nose. Lily, Burmese Python that was over 100lbs. and it took 5 students to hold her. A red neck Lemur from Madagascar. The grand finale was Floyd, the Caribbean RED Flamingo, and Pink, regular pink flamingo. Caribbean Flamingos have bright feathers and strongly hooked bills, flamingos are among the most easily recognized waterbirds. Their pink or reddish color comes from the rich sources of carotene in the algae and small shrimp that the birds eat. After the show we walked to the tiger exhibit. Tigers can also be black with tan stripes, all white albino, or white and tan. The “white tigers” found in some zoos are not albino but rather the white-and-tan color variation with blue eyes. Next the Gorillas, we saw the male silver-back with a young male juvenile. The juvenile showed playfulness by throwing hay at the adult and he seem to get angry at it. Gorillas are in Troop families and have forward facing eyes they can understand depth perception. They also make a new bed, either in a tree or on a ground bed. Hippopotamus” comes from a Greek word meaning “water or river horse.” Our next stop was the Spotted Hyenas. They have the strongest jaw of any mammal that crunch up horse bones like chips. Baby Hyenas are born with high levels of testosterone that give them aggressive action towards there siblings. Last stop the animal encounter short eared owl. They can swivel there head 270 degrees to compensate for the inability to move there eyes. The last animal was a Cus Cus, the nocturnal ground dweller from islands around Australia.

Toho Water Authority Conservation Contest

Great Job! Dayna
Great Idea! Jillian

Seaworld-a Creationist Perspective

God created great whales Genesis 1:21 While at Sea world we learned of examples of Design (God's Plan) and Symmetry Shape in Nature. We found in plants and animals clearly point to the Most High God of Creator who purposefully made them to work together. Symbiosis (harmony) work together to benefit one another. Ferns created spores underneath there leaves to seed themselves. Many different color leaves are really dominate color of chlorophyll that is more prevalent than just green. Most flowers are either red or yellow so birds and insects can find them. The Caribbean Flamingo gets its color from the beta carotene in it food and also sleeps on one leg.
The NeNe goose is only found in Hawaii and is the State bird, also found at Seaworld.
The two stingrays we touched were the cow nose and southern stingray, very slimy and like to splash you. The Sea Turtle can lay up to 125 soft shell eggs at one time. WOW! Why does a dolphin tale move up and down and a fish side to side. The movement helps lift the blowhole to the surface to aid in breathing.


The Grate plant that is found in the sand dunes and catches salt mist was used by the Spanish for your first disposable plate and postcard! Only Penguins live south of the Equator except for the ones at Seaworld. The manatee has large air sacks like balloons to keep its heavy body buoyant. A Shark has five slits for gills while a fish has only one.
The Inuit people are the only people allowed to kill walrus and they use every part even the whiskers for toothpicks! We learned that God has a business card in everything he has made. It proclaims HE IS THE DESIGNER OF ALL THINGS!

Art Day with Mrs. Werner

Dayna was able to spend a few hours with Mrs. Werner a retired Art Teacher. She showed her art portfolio and was able to see how different medium can be used for different art effects such as plaster paris. Mrs. Werner also shared he art that she has throughout her home. A great day for Art!

Haiti Relief

Sending God's Love to others in need.

Naples, Everglade City and The Everglades National Park

We traveled down to South Western Florida to Naples. We enjoyed the pool at the Spring Hill Marriott. Our stop for the evening was Marco Island where we ran out to the windy beach on a cold winter night. We saw a lot of cockal shells scattered throughout the hard packed white sandy beach. Psalms 139:17-18 says God thinks of us as many sands on the seashore, that is a lot of times. Our next day we stopped into Collier-Seminole park for a short canoe trip down the Blackwater iver, learning about the Tamiami Trail and how they dredged out the swamp to put the road in.
Barron Gift Collier owned the land and funded much of the project if his name would be used in the county, hence Collier county, Collier, Road, Collier State park. Making our way south stopping at the Big Cypress Bend Preserve where Jillian saw an authentic bow and arrow set. Next door is the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve for a boardwalk experience of tropical ferns, bald cypress and royal palm tress. Many epiphytes, air plants grow on the cypress. Mangroves and salt marshes make up the preserve a estuary ecosystem. The Seminole trading post had saw- grass dolls, real bow and arrows, rattles for dancing and Seminole patch-wear clothing. The parking area swamp had an American alligator sunning himself. Dayna said, "I saw a wild alligator"! Driving to Everglade City we saw the saw-grass, known as the River of Grass, the Everglades.
The Museum of the Everglades had info on hermits of the Ten Thousands islands that had lived on the small islands out in the gulf. History of the town of Everglade City that Mr. Collier founded and established out of the swamp by building up the muck from the swamp and making the town. Our final travels to the National park for a hour and half boat tour of the Everglade National park experiencing cormorants, pelicans, ospreys and three playful dolphins. Great Family Trip and Home school Day.