Ms. Moore's Grade Three Blog

SOCIAL STUDIES

It's time for us to gear up and take off to Peru! Get ready to learn all about this incredible country!

So where is Peru? Peru is in South America and on the Pacific Ocean side! In this map below you can see how you might get there from here!

We learned that in India their national bird is the peacock. Peru's national bird is the Andean Cock of the Rocks. It lives in the amazing cloud forests in the Andes Mountains. It loves to eat fruit! I'm in awe of how vibrant and colorful it is!

You can learn how to draw the national flag of Peru here:

At the centre of the flag of Peru there is a coat of arms or shield with three pictures. There is a vicuña (a llama-like animal that lives in Peru), a cinchona tree (the national tree of Peru), and a yellow cornucopia (or woven basket) full of gold coins. Around the shield is a green laurel wreath with red berries and ribbons.

They mine a lot of gold in Peru, and it is an important business to their country, which is why gold is featured on their flag!

Fishing, clothing and textiles, and coffee and cocoa are some of the other important industries in Peru.

Do you think it's fair that these families and villagers who work in this industry make only $1000/year? Why or Why not?

Have your families ever tried Peruvian coffee??

Here is a close up picture of some vicuñas and a cinchona tree!

The bark of the cinchona tree contains a substance called quinine, which was one of the first treatments for an infectious disease called malaria. Malaria is spread through mosquito bites in very hot climates. Malaria can cause a very high fever and is a very dangerous disease. The only way to help prevent malaria to to control mosquito populations in these very hot places, and to take the medicine after you've been bitten and shown symptoms!

Did you know there are over 3000 kinds of Orchids in Peru? An Orchid is a type of flower. Orchids can look very different from one another which makes them very interesting and beautiful! At one of the hotels near Machu Picchu there is the largest collection of orchids in the world! Their garden has the largest orchid in the world and some of the tiniest of orchids, some you even need a magnifying glass to see!

In Peru, most people speak Spanish, or Quechua or Aymara (which are two of Peru's Indigenous languages). Would you like to hear a song in Quechua for Kids?

The Capital City of Peru is Lima! Look at how beautiful it is! Ooooo! Ahhhhh!

Just outside of Lima is something AMAZING. Have you heard of the Nazca lines? They are very mysterious and were made a long time ago, between 500 BC and 500 AD. They are huge pictures drawn into the sand, and can only be seen from the air! No one knows why they were made or what they were used for!! Check out this YouTuber's flight over some of them!

Would you like to make a Nazca Lines Art Project?

Check out this idea here! I love how they are using real sand!! If you aren't able to use the supplies suggested, maybe you could use sidewalk chalk or just use your paper and pencil! Be CREATIVE! If you decide to play along, I'd love to see your pictures! Send me some pictures of your work to admire!

In Peru, they love potatoes! In Lima, there is a International Potato Centre with over 4600 kinds of potatoes! Literally, eat your heart out!!! People in Peru also like to eat sweet potato, yucca (a type of root vegetable) and corn. One famous potato dish is Papas a la Huancaina which are sliced, boiled potatoes served with a cheesy sauce.

Did you know that Peru has an active Volcano? It's called Ubinas. It last erupted on July 22, 2019! Wowsas!

Peru has lots of interesting places to visit. Like India, it has a variety of interesting land features! There are three main regions: the jungle, the coast and the mountains. Each region has it's own climate, and there are differences in the types of food, music, dance styles and language!

The coastal region in Peru includes the desert and beaches. In Peru, there are
many cities next to the coast. The climate here is hot and dry. There are many small rivers that flow down from the Andes and into the coastal region, which allows farmers to grow crops. Fishing is also a popular way of life in this region.

The Andes Mountains make up most of the mountain region. High up in Andes, people raise alpacas and llamas, and make clothing and other items from wool. Lower on the mountains, the climate is warmer and land is more suitable for planting crops. They often plant their crops in pots on terraces to make it easier to water them.

The rainforest region takes up more than half of Peru! Peru’s rainforest is also one of the least-disturbed rainforests in the whole world, although it does face some deforestation. The climate is very hot and wet. There are many rivers, including the Amazon River, and many species of plants and animals. Many Indigenous people live in the rainforest, and use the forest’s resources for everything they need! Here they gather fruits, seeds, and vegetables, fish, and hunt. They also build their homes in the rainforest. The Peruvian rainforest is also home to Manu National Park - one of the most important wildlife areas in the world because of the diverse species that live there.

Now it's time to visit Peru!!! Get ready to take off!

I love this first video because it lists the names for the places you are seeing, so you can look them up with your families afterwards to learn more about different areas or features of Peru if you are interested!

Manu National Park

Did you recognize any animals in this video?

I've listed many of them further below!!!

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the World! It is an ancient city built by the Inca Peoples. The city was hidden for hundreds of years until an explorer found it in the early 1900s! Today Machu Picchu is a protected place and is visited by people from all over the world! There are many other incredible Inca ruins all over Peru!

Do you want to try and draw this amazing ancient city? Give it a go!

Rainbow Mountain (Vinicuna)

These mountains were only discovered back in 2015 after the snow melted! Some people consider this place a holy place. You have to take a long hike to get there, or maybe take a ride on an alpaca or motorbike! So beautiful!

Lake Titicaca

Can you imagine living on a floating island made of straw?? Well that's what life is like for the Uros people who live on Lake Titicaca. In Spanish they call these floating islands the “islas flotantes”. The boats, homes, and islands themselves are all made of straw and float on the water!!! They have to repair the straw and reeds often so people don't fall through into the water!

Did you know that you can go ATVing, sand boarding, and sand skiing in the desert? Make sure you have all the proper equipment to keep you safe! Check out this video about Huacachina, Peru

Peruvian Celebrations

We loved learning about India's celebrations! Peru has many wonderful religious and seasonal festivals and celebrations too!

Inti Raymi

“Inti Raymi” is Quechua for “Festival of the Sun”. This festival takes place on June 24. It is a celebration of the Incan Sun God, “Inti”. People would plead for the Sun God’s return. People would fast (choose not to eat) for days and provide gifts and offerings to the God, and dance and celebrate. This festival continues to celebrated every year in Cusco.

Carnavales

In February, carnavales are celebrated all throughout Peru! A carnaval is

a joyful celebration that can include parties, parades and dancing. During

these celebrations people sometimes toss water from buckets and in water balloons as part of the fun! This reminds me a bit about India's Holi celebrations and the amazing colors they like to throw! There is also a Yunza Tree set up in main squares across Peru. A Yunza tree gets decorated with fruits and other gifts!

Christmas (Noche Buena)

Christmas is an important holiday in Peru. The majority of the celebrations take place on December 24, known as Noche Buena, Christmas Eve. Families go to church, and enjoy a large feast! Depending on the region they live in, they celebrate with different foods! Some people enjoy a sweet and spicy apple-stuffed turkey, while others have roast pig, and sometimes even guinea pigs!

In the jungle people sometimes have carachama fish for dinner or juanes.

Juanes is a popular jungle food made of chicken, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and seasoned rice.

Another popular food in Peru is ceviche which is a raw white fish, that is first marinated in lemon or lime juice.

In the jungle food people also enjoy serving tacachos during Noche Buena.

Tacachos are made of plantains (a relative to the banana) and pork.

Families like to enjoy large and spicy tamales. Tamales are a steam-cooked corn meal dough, wrapped in banana leaves. The corn meal is typically filled with chicken or pork, along with olives, peanuts, pieces of chili pepper or boiled eggs.

Sometimes families enjoy Pachamanca. This is a special dish cooked in the ground. It takes hours to make and so it is often made only for special celebrations. Heated stones in a hole in the ground cook vegetables (such as corn), meat, and herbs in cloth.

Other families enjoy eating Anticuchos, which are popular meat skewers.

A Waldorf salad is like a fruit salad with walnuts and a special dressing.

This is another popular pick for Christmas Eve celebrations.

They also love serving Peruvian rice!

Panetón bread is a popular choice for dessert. It is a soft and airy fruit cake, and is popular in Italy too. In Italy it is called Panettone.

At midnight on Noche Buena families open presents! There are lots of fireworks too!! Almost every house lights up fireworks to celebrate! Woohoo!!

😀

I loved learning about Peruvian celebrations! What about you? Which celebration would you be most excited to join in? How do these celebrations compare to our celebrations in Canada? What about the celebrations in India?

Last year, Mr. D and I visited the Miami Zoo in Florida. We were able to see many Peruvian animals in the Zoo's "Amazon and Beyond" exhibit! It was very exciting! Below you will find a video we captured of a jaguar roaring, and some of our pictures of the harpy eagle, anaconda, and a toucan!

Did you know that chinchillas are from Peru? Chinchillas are noctural and are very active at night. There aren't many left in Peru because of over-hunting! They eat grass and seeds, but they also eat insects and bird eggs when they get the chance. To eat, they hold their food in their front paws and nibble on it, just like a rabbit! Cute!

What about flamingos?? These are Andean Flamingos. They are some of the rarest flamingos in the whole world! They enjoy eating algae and they make a loud honking sound!

Have you hear of the Andean Mountain Cat? This is one of the world's most endangered and rarest species of wild cats! There have been only two Scientists in the world who have observed this cat in the wild! The only other information we have about this incredible creature is from museum skeletons and skins! There is believed to be less than 2500 of this cat left in the world! They are about the size of a house cat. It is believed that they eat vizcachas, mountain chinchillas, reptiles, birds, and other small mammals.

Did you know that Capybaras live in Peru? These are the largest rodents on Earth! They are strong swimmers and are considered semi-aquatic! They have webbed toes for swimming and hair that dries out quickly! Capybaras have teeth that grow fast! Like a beaver, they have to chew on plants to wear their teeth down. They enjoy eating plants and grass. Did you know that Capybaras eat their own poop? They have a hard time digesting their meals from the day before, so eat their poop to get double the nutrition! I don't know how I feel about this! 😮

Armadillos! Armadillo means "little armored one", because they have many body plates to form a shell of protection! Armadillos live in warm places! Armadillos love digging up burrows for themselves when they are awake, as they have strong legs and front claws to help them dig up ants and termites. They have sticky tongues too! Armadillos have very poor eyesight, and use their sense of smell to hunt! Armadillos also eat small animals, plants, and some fruit.

Do you know what a Condor is? It is one of the largest birds in the world that can still fly. It has a wing span of 10 feet, and can weigh over 33 pounds! Condors are excellent "natural recyclers" as they enjoy scavenging. In ancient times the condor was considered a sacred bird that could communicate with the Gods.

How about the amazing Harpy Eagle? Did you know I only learned about the Harpy Eagle last year? What an incredible bird! It is a very powerful bird! The Harpy Eagle can go a whole week without food if it needs to! Harpy Eagles only eat meat, and they are very patient hunters! Females are usually twice as big as males and can be up to 20 pounds! Their names comes from a Greek word "Harpyja", which means half-woman and half-bird! The legs of a harpy eagle can be as thick as a child's wrist! It's talons are longer than a Grizzly Bear's claws! Whoa!

Have you heard about amazing anacondas? The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world! Anacondas are constrictors which means they wrap their bodies around their prey and squeeze instead of biting. Anacondas can open their mouths VERY wide and can eat whole caimans, jaguars, deer or even tapirs!

Jaguars in Peru! A jaguar's jaws are twice as strong as a lion's! Unlike my cat, they love water and are very good swimmers. In Peru, the jaguar is called the "otorongo", which means "beast." They love to stalk their prey and sneak attack them! Did you know that jaguars sometimes dip their tails in water like a fishing line to lure fish to eat? Jaguars can see six times better than humans at night because of a fancy layer of eye tissue they have at the back of their eyes that reflects light! COOL!

Toucans! There are about 40 different species of toucans in Peru! When toucans sleep they tuck their beak under their feathers! They love using their beaks to pluck and pull fruit, which is their favorite food! Did you know that toucans are not great at flying and often move best by hopping? They usually live together in small flocks!

Caimans! There are 6 different species of caimans! The caiman is a carnivorous reptile that loves eating fish and small mammals. Sometimes they eat plants and fruit. The bigger the caiman, the bigger the prey! Watch out! They use their tails to swim, and are swift in the water! In the Amazon, black caimans are the TOP predator, and are even dangerous to humans.

Humboldt Penguins? YES, THERE ARE PENGUINS IN PERU! These penguins need to be on the look out when they are swimming as sea lions enjoy dining on them! The sea lions can't catch them on land though, they are too slow for the Humboldt Penguin. We saw Humboldt Penguins at the Calgary Zoo back in January! They love snacking on fish, shrimp and squid. They can dive deep and swim fast! These penguins are quite the little climbers and have good claws and webbed feet for gripping on slippery rocks!

Have you ever seen a picture of a spectacled bear? These beautiful bears live high in the cloud forests in Peru. These animals are very vulnerable and there are not many left in the wild due to loss of habitat and hunting for food and fur. That makes me pretty sad. They spend most of their time in trees and make little platforms in the trees to sleep on. Like humans, the spectacled bear is an omnivore. It eats plants, small mammals, birds, berries, honey, fruit, eggs and insects. Pumas, jaguars and humans are the spectacled bears biggest predators.

The Peruvian hairless dog is also known as the Peruvian Incan Orchid! That's right, they have VERY LITTLE hair! These dogs can come in many different colors and patterns! They are very obedient and affectionate. Would you want to take care of one of these interesting looking dogs?

Have you ever seen a photo of an Emperor Tamarin? These mustached monkeys are a delight to see! They are very small and weight less than one pound! Some tamarins can only see two main colors, green and blue. Others can see all of the colors. They love eating insects and use their long fingers and little claws to dig in trees. Because they are so small they are good at hiding when predators come around!

Tapirs are herbivores meaning they only eat plants, fruits and grasses. They are excellent swimmers and divers and can move quickly on land too! Sometimes they can use their snouts like a snorkel! Crocodiles, anacondas and big cats like the make meals out of these adorable creatures. Good thing they are so fast! This is a picture of baby tapir. Baby tapirs have elaborate stripes and spots. As they get older they lose their spots and stripes and turn into an even tone of black, grey or brown. Tapirs are important as they can't digest seeds, so their poop helps to grow new plants all over the ground in the Amazon! Keep this in mind when you get to Grade 4 and start learning about seed dispersal!

Bald Uakari Monkeys are very non-aggressive, intelligent and social! They live in troops of up to 100! They eat mostly fruit but also some leaves, nuts, and insects. During the day they look for food, and at night time they sleep high up in the tree tops. They can only have one baby every two years. They are a threatened species because of deforestation and because some people eat them for food.

What about a Peruvian Booby Bird? A friend of the Galapagos Islands' Blue-Footed Booby Bird! Andrew, I know you'll love learning about this species for certain!!!! These birds live on the coastal cliffs and have white legs. They often feed in groups by diving into the water to get their meals! Delicious fish! It is the second most common sea-bird in Peru! People use it's guano (poop) for fertilizer!

Have you heard of capuchin monkeys? The brown capuchin monkeys have fur that looks like shades of coffee! You may remember seeing capuchin monkeys in famous movies like Pirates of the Caribbean! Capuchins live in groups and are very social! They are smart and love using tools; they use rocks to open nuts to eat! They have an odd behaviour too where they pee on their hands and wash their feet with their urine! That's certainly not a behaviour I would be interested in trying! Did you know sometimes female capuchins throw rocks at the cute males to get their attention? They eat a variety of things including frogs, flowers, plants, oysters, lizards, birds and more!

Squirrel monkeys are small, thin and FAST! They live in the Rainforest too. Adults weigh just a little over 2 pounds. Despite their little size they are one of the cleverest monkeys and have very large brains compared to the size of their body! They have excellent eyesight and live in large groups called troops! Troops can have up to 500 monkeys in them, but usually they are smaller around 50 in a troop or so.

Red Howler Monkeys are the loudest monkeys in the world! They can be heard almost 5 kilometers away!! These guys are pretty inactive and spend a lot of their time sleeping and eating. They enjoy eating lots of leaves but also eat fruit, nuts, and flowers.

What about the adorable Vizcacha (a type of chinchilla that is so stinkin' cute)?

These little rodents are very vocal and use their sounds to communicate! You can hear them chirping in a video below! They are good at jumping and live in colonies with other Vizcachas! Be careful though, the Peruvian people, birds of prey, and wild cats enjoy eating these little critters!

Llamas? Alpacas? Did you know that llamas are smart and can be used to protect herds of small animals? They communicate through humming! Have you heard a llama hum? Llamas are used as pack animals (like a horse, camel or donkey)! They can be sheared like a sheep and their fur can be woven into clothing and other textiles! Did you know that llamas don't bite? When they are mad they spit! Alpacas also hum to communication and their fur is also used to make clothing and textiles. Did you know some people in Peru eat alpacas?

Pumas don't roar they make sounds they hiss, growl, purr and scream. They can jump far and high! Watch out! In Peru, the Puma is a symbol of strength, wisdom and intelligence! Pumas are territorial, and are carnivores, meaning they only eat other animals (meat). They are excellent hunters, and usually avoid humans as much as possible.

Check out these amazing PINK DOLPHINS that live in the Amazon River!

YES! THEY ARE REAL! When they are first born they are grey but as they age they change color, some will stay grey with pink spots, others become a bright pink! Did you know they can turn a brighter pink when they are excited? They are the largest and the smartest of the five freshwater dolphins! They have a brain capacity that is 40% greater than a human brain! In Peru, there are lots of stories and legends about the pink river dolphin, and some people think they are semi-magical. One story suggests that if you go swimming alone, the dolphins may take you away to a magical underwater city! WOW! I'd be up for that! It’s considered bad luck to harm these dolphins!!

Here is a video about some of the many monkey species you can find in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru! Some of them you have already learned a little about above.

There are so many Peruvian animals to explore! Which animal are you the most interested in learning more about?

Have you heard of Disney's Jungle Cruise ride?

In Peru you can take a REAL Jungle Cruise through the Amazon Rainforest!

You can learn more about the jungle with this free mini-book on the Amazon rainforest.

You can also try out this rad directed drawing of a sloth from Art Hub for Kids! Sloths live in the Amazon rainforest! Sloths are slow movers and can sleep for up to 18 hours a day! Sloths enjoy eating leaves and living a slow-paced life!