The Pink Dolphin

by Catherine D. and Anne Z.

One of the most spectacular creatures found in Venezuela is the Pink River Dolphin. It's only habitat in the world is the Orinoco River. The color of the dolphin is pink due to it's diet of crustaceans, crabs, turtles, catfish and other fish and the waters it swims in. Scientists believe that the dolphins' pink color comes from a red pigment in the muscle tissue in the crabs and shellfish. Over time, as the dolphin eats these creatures found in the water, that red pigment builds up in their bodies, too, turning them more and more pink as they get older. Another really cool fact about their color is that the red blood cell count in the dolphin is higher that that in humans, which may explain the dolphins' unique ability to change to a bright pink when they get excited. The species is the only living pink dolphin in the whole entire world. This is a special animal because of it's pink color.

Galapagos Iguanas

by Emma F.

In the Jungle Club, we have been learning about the Galapagos Iguanas. They are the only Iguana that swims in the sea! They can dive 15 meters and will eat seaweed at 15 meters for 30 minutes before surfacing. They are the only Iguanas to eat seaweed. They are also the only Iguanas to live near the ocean. The Galapagos Iguana is a very unique Iguana. Its color is blueish green. I would love to see one in person some day.

The Fur Seal by Maya M. and Anne Z.

One of the Galapagos Islands native animals is the Fur Seal. The Fur Seal likes to live in rocky places that have a lot of shade because of it's thick fur. The face is shaped like a bear and it's eyes are slanted giving it a sad expression. It's fur is thick so it can survive in freezing cold weather, but when it comes out, it has to be careful not to lay in the sun too long or else it will overheat. We hope you enjoyed learning about the Fur seals!

The Galapagos Tortoise

by Catherine D.

The Galapagos tortoise is named because it is first on the Galapagos islands and second Galapagos means saddle and each lump in it's shell is shaped like a saddle. The tortoise also has a very strong curved mouth to comp it's food - cacti! The Galapagos tortoise is very slow so that when dry season comes, it doesn't need to do much. The tortoise is rare because it is only found on the Galapagos islands and only 200 of these tortoises exist there right now! The Galapagos tortoise is one of the most amazing creatures found on the islands.

Wealthy People in Venezuela

Natalie M. and Emma R.

Hello Stoneleigh Walkers!

Are you allowed to wlk to a friend's house alone? Well, if you were from a wealthy family and if you were a girl in Venezuela, that would not be an option. If a girl wanted to go out, all her male brothers and cousins had to surround her to make sure other males kept away.

At home, life is a lot better. No matter what gender, you are served and waited on. Cooking and cleaning are not allowed. Parties are frequent, but when you go to bed, enormous bugs and even small animals like chameleons come inside because there are no screens or glass over the windows!

Angel Falls - Venezuela

By Alena B and Genevieve S.

Breaking News, Stoneleigh!! Can you name one of the natural wonders of the world? You can't? We'll let us tell you...Angel Falls! Where is it? It's in the southern part of Venezuela. Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world!

It's so high that the water turns into mist on the way down because of the height and the winds. Angel Falls is hard to get to. If you want to see it, you have to take a plane and sometimes you don't see anything if it's cloudy. It costs a lot of money to see if from an airplane, so if you don't see anything, you waste a lot of money. And I mean a lot! You should go to Venezuela and see Angel Falls. That's all for now! Keep Walking Stoneleigh!

Food In Peru

by Alex Z.

Peruvians have many unusual foods that they eat such as guinea pigs and monkeys. The native Peruvian people named Indas grew potatoes which they are still growing today. The Peruvians make bread out of corn instead of wheat. This week at our Jungle Club meeting, we had a cookie called Alphajores. It had a caramel filling with coconut shavings on the sides. Some herbs in the Amazon Basin in Peru have medicinal qualities and are used as teas.

The Rainforest Region of Peru

By Sophia S.

Good morning, Stoneleigh Walkers!


This week the Jungle Club learned about Peru. Did you know that Peru has many rainforests? No? Well, there are! There are lots of mudslides, too. And the houses in these forests are open most of the time due to intense heat, humidity, and rain.


When you travel deeper into the rainforest, there are less and less inhabitants or people. Also, the natives dress differently than the city people and their clothes are made fun of. The water is very muddy and dirty and people have to drink from it! I wouldn't want to live in that area of Peru, but who knows, it might be lots of fun!

Weaving in Peru

by Ariel B.

Good morning, Stoneleigh! This morning, I'd like to talk about weaving in Peru. Our Jungle Club got to try weaving and it was so much fun! We wove a book mark with cardboard and string. That day, we also learned about how the people in Peru weave. This is what we learned...we learned that many boys and girls begin to weave between the ages of 6 and 7 years old.



These children learn by watching their relatives. They are also taught different patterns that have been passed down from mother to daughter. Weavers get their wool from the sheep, alpaca, and lamas that they raise. A long time ago, the yarn was colored or dyed by using flowers, roots, and minerals. Weavers had to make their own looks and some looms could be as big as a room!

You can try weaving at home. Here's a link with some suggestions...
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/2546/how-to-weave-on-a-cardboard-loom

Belly Button of the World

by Julia C.

Good morning, Stoneleigh Walkers. Have you ever heard of the TV show, the Emperor's New Groove? Well, the main character or emperor's name is Cuzco, which is a capital of Native South american, the Incas. Cuzco means "belly button" of the world. Incas believe that all life started at the Belly Button of the world. Cuzco ruled in 1438. The Spanish Government destroyed about all of their empire 100 years after 1438. Keep Walking, Stoneleigh.

Children in Chile

By Maya M., Sophia S. and Catherine D.

Have you ever wondered what Chilean children do for fun? Well, it's your lucky day because you will find out! They do things just like us, such as talk on cell phones, go to the mall, surf the Internet, go to the movies, and hang out at the beach. Some sports they play are soccer - or as they like to call it...futbol. They also like to hike, climb, mountain bike and ski in the winter. Rodeos are a very common event. In Chile, people celebrate with very delicious food and festive clothes and dancing. The people also visit Antarctica! Really! It's very close to the tip of Chile. The people travel there by boat or plane. Those are the things that Chilean children like to do.

Children go to school in Chile too! In fact 96% of the population can read and write. Education there is public, that means that it is paid for by the government, just like Stoneleigh! Their school months are reversed so they have no school from December until March. This is because their summer is during our winter and their winter is in our summer. It is caused because they are below the equator. Its wacko!

Remembering the traditions of Chile is a big and important part of the education. During school they learn the native language and traditional myth. These are stories handed down from generation to generation and on and on. During school most children wear uniforms. For girls it’s a white shirt and blue jumper and boys wear white shirts, grey pants and blue jackets. Once a child gets past high school they have a couple of choices. One is to go to college and study for a technical or vocational job. Another is study art or music. So that's what Chilean kids call school.

Easter Island

By Alena B.

Today I'm going to tell you about an amazing island that is part of Chile. The island is called Easter Island and is located on the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles from Chile. Yes! 2,000 miles!
The nearest island is 1,000 miles away. We're about 1,000 miles from Florida, can you imagine having your closest neighbors THAT far away?

The natives settled here 1,500 years ago and they called their island Rapa Nui because the island was shaped like a canoe paddle and Rapa Nui means canoe paddle.

Easter Island was discovered on Easter by Dutch Explorers in 1722, and that's how it got its name.

The island is surrounded by enormous statues called Moai that were carved from volcanic rock found on the island. The native people moved the statues all around. Most of the statues are 13 feet tall but one is 72 feet high and another is 32 feet high and weighs 82 tons.

887 Moai have been found around the island. One interesting fact is that the statues face towards the center of the island not toward the ocean. Eventually, the native people all died.

You can visit Rapa Nui or Easter Island today to see these amazing statues.

The Atacama Desert in Chile

By Genevieve S.

I'm here to tell you about the driest place on the earth! This desert is located in Northern Chile between the Andes Mountains and the Coastal Mountains along the Pacific Ocean. It's called the Atacama Desert, it is 600 miles long, and it is the driest place on the planet.

It is the driest because of something called a rain shadow. Warm moist air that rises up the mountainside where it cools and loses water before reaching the desert. This makes the desert really dry because of the mountains on both sides.

The desert has several salt lakes that formed long ago. Now, they are evaporating and concentrating the mineral salts in the water. The Atacama is one of the only places on earth that rain has never touched. Plant life in the desert is supported by marine fog called camanchaca.

One really neat fact is that the soil that is found in the Atacama desert is like soil found on Mars!

Chile – the National Dance and Mapuche People

By Julia C. and Ariel B.

The national dance of Chile is called the Cueca. The Cueca has Spanish and African influences. The dance looks like a rooster attracting a female chicken. The rooster acts crazy and the female chicken looks embarrassed and shy while they are doing the dance. When a boy likes a girl, instead of asking her out on a date, he will ask her to dance the cueca at festival or celebration.


The Mapuche people live in Central and Southern Chile. Traditional Mapuche live in big wooden huts with thatched roofs, which only one family can live in that is called a ruka. Before Spanish invaders, the Mapuche lived in rukas that were built far away from each other, but war and other fighting taught the Mapuche that it was safer to live closer together. The Mapuche Indians create instruments that are known as zamonas (pan flutes) and kultrunes (drums) which are used in special ceremonies. These talented indians sing folk songs, or tonadas, and these folk songs are often sad.

Letters to World's Finest Chocolate

Here are some letters our jungle club members wrote to the 8th largest chocolate company in the U.S. and the leading manufacturer of chocolate for fundraisers in schools, churches and community groups. The letters are meant to encourage World's Finest Chocolate to use Fair Trade cocoa in their products. You can see from the emotion in these letters that the students were anxious for change after learning about the problems facing chocolate farmers in South America and other countries where cocoa is grown:

Edmond Opler, Chairman and CEO
World's Finest CHocolate
4801 Lawndale
Chicago, IL 60632-3062
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. Opler,
I love chocolate. But the way you get chocolate makes me not want to eat chocolate. I am 10 years old and I can go to school, but the children who are forced to make chocolate cannot go to school.
You should consider the well being of all children who are working for you. Please make it possible that they can go to school.
Please try doing fair trade chocolate. And stop forcing children to work on your cocoa farms.
Sincerely,
Sophia S.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. Opler,
I am beside myself that coca farmers do not have a choice like me. So you need to help them and start selling Fair Trade Products.
START SELLING FAIR TRADE PRODUCTS!
From,
Emma F.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. Opler,
I love chocolate but don't like the way you do it. You shoud let children go to school. I am also disappointed that cocoa farmers don't get paid enough money. Also you shouldn't use child slaves. Please use Fair Trade Chocolate.
Sincerely,
Emma B.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. Opler,
I feel really disappointed that children are working on cocoa farms instead of going to school. I am also disappointed that the farmers who are working on the farms aren't getting paid enough. But if you use fair trade chocolate, farmers will get paid more and then their cildren will be able to go to school and get an education. PLEASE USE FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE!
Sincerely,
Ariel B.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Mr. Opler,
It makes me very mad that the children are not able to go to school since all cocoa farmers are poor. The children aren't able to go to school so they will be poor and so will their children. I HATE the way that you use children slaves.
For these reasons you should start selling Fair Trade chocolate.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

Sincerely,
Emma R.

Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Have you ever thought about where chocolate comes from? Well, even though chocolate tastes good, the story isn't so sweet. Chocolate comes from the dried beans of the cocoa tree and one of the places where this tree grows is Bolivia. Cocoa trees need about 80 inches of rain per year. A cocoa tree grows near the equator and grows between 50-200 feet tall.

Many cocoa farmers are very poor and only get about $.25 per pound of cocoa. Because families are so poor, many children have to work to help support their families. Even worse, some children have to work as slaves on these farms. These children support their families by working in fields all day long instead of going to school. Some cocoa farmers don't care about the land and hurt the rainforest by cutting down trees or using chemicals on plants to grow the cocoa.

But there is something that we can do to help! We can buy fair-trade chocolate. When we buy fair-trade chocolate, we help to pay a fair price for the farmer's hard work.

We wrote lots of letters to companies asking them to sell their chocolate fair-trade. We hope it will help!
Keep walking, Stoneleigh.

Women Wrestlers in Bolivia

by Catherine D. and Maya M.

La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 11, 913 feet above sea level. In Bolivia, woman's wrestling takes place in a small town called El Alto high in the Andes mountains near La Paz. This is where woman's wrestling originated. The natives in this village are called Aymara and they participate in this event. The traditional costume is a ruffles skirt, petticoats and bowler hats.
Both men and women fight against each other. This Bolivian hobby helps the people forget they are very poor.

Welcome to Bolivia!

By Natalie M.

At our last Jungle Club meeting we learned about Bolivia. Some of the features include a small portion of the Amazon Rainforest, deserts called Chaco, and a type of plateau called altiplano. The Andes Mountains also run through this South American country, as well as vast plains of salt mineral called salt flats.

Although rain is rare at these white expanses of land, when it does rain, the water spreads like a sheet and gives the appearance of a lake. After the water evaporates, small pyramids form from wind and other elements.

Tourists come to see these unique attractions. While visiting, many stay at the Salt Hotel, a building created from large blocks of salt. There are 10 billion tons of salt that make up Bolivia's Salt Flats today.

The Navidad Holiday in Paraguay

December 17, 2008

Hello, Stoneleigh. This week we walked another 103 miles in Paraguay. Before we leave the country, let’s learn about the holiday they are preparing to celebrate.

Right now, children are very excited about a holiday called “The Nativity” or “Navidad.” In Paraguay, it’s summer right now, the weather is warm, and there are blooming flowers EVERYWHERE. Early in December, holiday decorations, especially the manger scene, or nativity, are set up in homes, on the streets, in factories, and in the shopping centers. The nativity must be in every Catholic home.

Churches and homes are decorated in bright colors to match the colorful flowers. At midnight, church bells will begin to ring and call the people to mass. This ceremony is called “The Mass of the Rooster.” Families set off a huge fireworks display at midnight on Christmas Eve to celebrate the nativity. Presents are normally only given to children.

January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings. The children of Paraguay set out a pair of shoes with letters to the Three Kings on this night and the Three Kings bring presents to the children.

We hope you’ll do a lot of walking over the holiday. Look at the bulletin board and our blog for the story of creation from the original Paraguay religion and more about children in Paraguay! Keep Walking Stoneleigh!

Getting to Know Paraguay!

By Maya M., Claire P., Genevieve S, and Sophia S.,

Hello, Stoneleigh! We are currently in Asuncion, Paraguay and have walked 2226 miles!! Great job!

Our club is learning about a country called Paraguay. It's sometimes called "an island surrounded by land." It is located deep in the heart of South America. Not one of it's borders touches an ocean. People have lived in Paraguay for thousands of years. They lived in the lush forests of the eastern part of the country.

Early Spanish and Portuguese explorers arrived in South America in the beginning of the 16th Century. At first they had no interest in this part of the world, because it was also a land of extremes and finding food was difficult. They were very wrong because South America is a very beautiful continent!

At our club, Miss Trish L. came to talk to us about her experience living there as a Peace Corps Volunteer. One of the traditions she saw every day was drinking Yerba Mate. Yerba Mate is a tea produced from the leaves and stem of an evergreen plant. To make the drink, the plant leaves and small stems are picked and dried. They leaves are then crushed and placed in the bottom of traditional gourd cup or cow horn. The leaves are steeped in hot water.

Paraguayans drink the tea through a bombilla or straw made of metal or wood. The bombilla has a filter on the end which prevents the crushed leaves and stems from being sucked into the drinkers mouth. Yerba mate is a refreshing drink served hot in cold weather and cold in hot weather. The indians believe that it cleared their blood, gave them stamina, and made them mentally alert.

Help Name Our Millipede Mascot

Good Morning Stoneleigh Walkers!  Did you forget to turn in your Walking Wednesday calendar before Thanksgiving?  You can still turn it in today or tomorrow to help your class win a visit from our millipede mascot.  The mascot will be living in the Walking Wednesday bulletin board display case until Wednesday morning.  Take a look during lunch an think of a good name for him/her and write it on your calendar!  Keep walking Stoneleigh!

Sophia S.: Hello, Stoneleigh Walkers! This week we walked 213 miles in Argentina from Buenos Aires to Parana. We would like to tell you about some of the foods from Argentina we got to try during the Jungle Club meetings.

Emma R.: The empanada looks like a smaller version of a taco, but instead of cheese and lettuce, there is minced meat, cod fish, and chicken. In Argentina, it is considered the national dish. In Spain, the dish is called Galician empanadas, where as here, it is just called empanada.

Emma F.: Yerbe Mate comes from yerba which means herb and mate which is a hollow gourd used as a bowl for brewing yerba mate. Yerba Mate is a drink similar to tea and is very popular in South America.

Ariel B.: You typically use a special metal straw that has little holes at the bottom so that the chopped up leaves in the beverage aren't consumed. The Yerba Mate is made by using a gourd, as a bowl, and adding water and chopped up leaves. We hope you enjoyed listening about Yerba Mate and we encourage you to...

Keep Walking!

Animals of Patagonia!

The Patagonian Puma
by Julia C. Hello Stoneleigh!
We hope you are keeping track of when you walk on your new Walking Wednesday calendars. These are some of the animals we see as we walk through Argentina. The Patagonian Puma is from a place called Patagonia in Argentina. There are many pumas around the world, so there are different names for them in each language. You've heard of the panther before, right? Well, the puma is a type of panther, but its also called a catamount and a cougar. You won't believe how many types of pumas there are! Well, to be exact, there are 27 types, but the Patagonian Puma lives the furthest south. It's one of the largest. Pumas can cross 10 miles of rocky terrain in a few hours. Pumas have been known to live in almost any habitat.



The Patagonian Gray Fox
by Alex Z.
The Patagonian Gray Fox is truly an animal all its own. It evolved from the wolf family about six to seven million years ago. The average gray fox is about two feet tall and six to ten pounds. It eats hares (rabbits) and other small rodents. When food gets scarce, the gray fox eats berries, bird eggs, insects, and sometimes leftovers of puma's prey. When female gray foxes don't have litters, they bring food to fox families that do.






The Guanaco
by Maya M.
The Guanaco is a relative of the domesticated Illama. It is Patagonia's largest land vertebrate. Its habitat is the Plains of Torres del Paine. They live in groups consisting of a single dominant male and up to 10 females and their young.





Magellan Penguins
by Genevieve S.

Magellan Penguins are penguins that are migratory seabirds. They arrive during spring at the coasts of Patagonia Bay. During the cold months, they travel more than 3000 kilometers to warmer areas of South America. The baby penguins are born in November. The baby males weigh about 5 kilos and are bigger than females. They spend a lot of time cleaning their feathers and trying to look pretty. They are very conceited.





Magellan Penguins
by Alena B.
Many penguin families return to the exact nest that they made the year before. At the Punta Tombo colony, there are more than half a million penguins every year! Males and females share all the birth tasks: they build their nests together, they look after and defend the nest, they incubate the eggs together. The same happens at the moment of feeding – they take turns doing it.

The Inca Rose

By Genevieve S.

The Inca Rose is the national stone of Argentina and is a rare and beautiful pink quartz-like stone with wavy bands of veins. Mined in Catamarca Province in Argentina at the Northwest edge of the Andes Mountains, the Inca Rose is found in stalactites which are long icicle-like formations formed by dripping from the ceiling of the cave. The Inca Rose was discovered by the Incas in the 13th Century and mined along with silver. Incas are a native South American people that once ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the Americas. Their empire covered much of present-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and parts of Columbia and Argentina. The Incas believe the Inca Rose was the blood of former kings and queens turned to stone. In the 1930s, the mine was rediscovered and an Incan tomb was unearthed. Mummies in the tomb wore amulets or funeral jewelry made of Inca Rose.

We also tasted fresh cut mango and delicious Dulce de Leche Girl Scout cookies! Thank you, Miss Becca, for today's snack!

Tierra del Fuego

by Anne Z, Emma B., and Natalie M.
While sailing for India, Magellan named an island on his route, Tierra del Fuego. In English, it means “land of fire.” The reason he called it this was because the native people lit huge fires to heat up the freezing air.

Tierra del Fuego meaning the land of fire consists of one large island, five medium sized islands, and numerous small islands that is half in Argentina and half in Chile. The Andes Mountains run through the western part of Tierra del Fuego. The mountain peaks alternate with valleys where there are rivers and glacial lakes.