Webinar: Natural History at Home – At Home in the Rainforest Canopy
Aired July 17, 2021
Katie Derloshon:
All right. Good morning everyone. Welcome to today's Natural History at Home Family Program. My name is Katie.
Caroline Herrero:
And my name is Caroline, and we are educators from the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History. We're so happy you can join us where today's program at home in the rainforest canopy. Together, you'll learn about the tropical rainforest canopy and how it meets the needs of the animals and other organisms that live there. Before we begin, we'd like to give a special thanks to our generous donors, volunteers, and other important partners who enable us to discover, create, and share new knowledge with the world today and every day free of charge.
Katie Derloshon:
All right, thanks Caroline. I'm so happy that you can be with us here today too, Caroline. Caroline has been working with our family programs team this summer as a summer intern with the Office of Education and Outreach and Visitor Experiences at the National Museum of Natural History. And today, she will be your onscreen educator. But before we jump right into our program, let's go over some logistical things to help us navigate through our program today.
So today's program is designed to last around 45 minutes to an hour long. There'll be a recording of our program posted on the website next week that you can refer to if you have to leave early or if you want to watch it again. But since it is a webinar, your cameras and microphones are turned off, but you can still communicate with us through the Q&A and polls. So polls will pop up on your screen a couple times throughout the program, but the Q&A is a way you can share your thoughts and your questions with us throughout the entire program at any time. And you can find the Q&A at either the bottom or the top of your screen. We'll do our best to answer as many questions as we can throughout our program today, and we'll try to weave in as many of those questions throughout the program too. And we'll be able to stay hopefully for a few minutes after the official program ends to answer any of those remaining questions that you might have for our expert.
Now, we're also joined today by Maura, an American Sign Language interpreter. And depending on what device you're watching our program on, you might need to swipe over to view Maura. So let us know in the Q&A if you need any assistance. And thanks Maura for joining us today. Also, we have close captioning available. You can turn these on by clicking the CC button next to the Q&A feature. And we also have an amazing team working behind the scenes in the Q&A. So today we have, Odalys, Christian, Nicole, and Efrain. You might interact with them today using the Q&A. Thanks team for being here with us today.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. So one more very important thing for today's program is a reminder that you'll need some supplies. Together as a family, you'll be invited to create your own mini-habitat model or exhibit. Please make sure you have the following supplies ready to go. You'll need some paper. It can be colored or blank, and you can color it later. Some coloring supplies like crayons or markers, yarn or string, scissors, tape or a stapler, and a pencil.
We're so excited for you to create artwork together as a family today. We really enjoy hearing from you and seeing what you create each program. And speaking of seeing what our viewers create, let's take a look at a few of our participants created and shared with us from June's family program about sharks in the Galapagos Islands. During June's program, ocean educators, Meaghan Cuddy and Lara Noren joined Katie to explore the marine habitat surrounding the Galapagos Islands in celebration of World Ocean Day. Together, they drew whale sharks and created their own ocean murals. We received so many amazing images of murals from families that participated. Here are just a few. Each mural showcased the biodiversity found in the habitat and so many different animals were represented. Thank you all for sharing some of your artwork you created as a family.
Katie Derloshon:
Yes, thank you. It was a lot of fun looking through all of those with Meaghan and Lara and the team. We had a really fun time looking through all of them and seeing all those different organisms that you used in your murals. And I can't wait to see all those amazing habitats that you create together as a family today too. I'm going to be making mine during the program and I'll share it with you throughout the program as well as at the end of the program to show you how mine is shaping up. So for now, I'm going to turn off my camera, but I'll see you at the end.
Caroline Herrero:
Sounds great, Katie. We'll check in with you when we're all done. So while our museum is now open, we're still broadcasting from our homes. I'm joining you from my home in Gainesville, Florida. We would love to hear where our viewers are joining us from. Go ahead and use that Q&A feature at the bottom of your screen to let us know. Also, if you haven't already told us something that you can't live without, tell us in the Q&A. I can already see that Christopher can't live without a world full of amazing creatures. I agree Christopher. We see Orien says we can't live without trees. That's very true. I agree with that. We see Elias can't live without his dinosaur toys. Dinosaur toys are very fun. Very nice. Got lots of people joining us from all over. Ooh, Ella says she can't live without cats. I love cats too. Very nice.
Hello everyone. All right. We have some viewers. Hi Emma. Hi Sophie. Thanks for joining us today. All right. Ooh, we can't live without water, AJ. That is very important. Zoe says, we can't live without animals. Absolutely. All right, well, hello and welcome to those who have just joined us. My name is Caroline and I am so excited to welcome you to today's program.
Today we have a special guest expert. Museum Technician Ingrid Rochon from the Division of Mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Ingrid joined us last September for a program all about the platypus and the habitat it calls home. Together. Ingrid, Gale, Katie, and families all created different mini-habitats suited for the platypus informed by learning more about what the platypus needs to survive. Throughout our program today, Ingrid will lead us through an exploration of the tropical rainforest canopy, as well as share with us key features or characteristics of this habitat. We'll also learn about some of the living organisms that call this place home. During the program, we'll be creating a mini-habitat model that you can use to teach others about the rainforest canopy too. Be sure to have your materials ready to go. Okay, let's go ahead and get started by saying hello to Ingrid. Hi, Ingrid.
Ingrid Rochon:
Hello, Caroline. Hi, everyone. It's so nice to see you.
Caroline Herrero:
I'm so glad you could join us today. Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do at the museum?
Ingrid Rochon:
Yes, absolutely. So I'm also talking to you from my home today in Washington, D.C., but you can normally find me at the museum where I work behind the scenes in our Mammals department, taking care of our specimens, all 600,000 of our skulls and our skeletons and our skins. I am basically a librarian for skeletons. But like the librarian at your local library, I do a lot more than just organize things. I help scientists learn about mammals every time they use our collection by researching information about those animals and their habitats. So we use books and maps and skulls like the one you see me holding in this photo and our own observations to learn about animals that live on mountains and in deserts or even in your own backyard.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow. What an awesome job and a super cool skull you got there. I imagine that you've seen so many interesting animals. Do you have a favorite animal?
Ingrid Rochon:
I do. So my favorite animal actually lives in the habitat we're going to be learning about today. This is the silky anteater, which is the smallest and in my opinion, the cutest species of anteater. And it spends its entire life living in the very tops of trees in the rainforest. That tallest layer of branches and leaves that we call the rainforest canopy. And believe it or not, there are so many ants that live up in the canopy for the anteater to eat that it almost never needs to come down to the ground at all. And I think we have a few more pictures to show you.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh my gosh, what an adorable animal and what a life living up in the tops of the trees. Thanks for sharing a new animal with us, Ingrid. Now you said that this animal, the silky anteater, lives in the rainforest canopy and you said that this is the habitat we're going to be learning about today. But what exactly is a habitat?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, a habitat is the place in nature that an animal or a plant calls home. So a habitat could be a pond or a rainforest, or it could be your own backyard. Habitats are really important because they provide all of the things an animal needs to survive and cannot live without.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow, okay. So at the beginning of our program, we asked families to share something they couldn't live without. Some examples where cats, Ninja Turtles, my favorite snacks. For me, one thing I think I can't live without is my laptop. Is that what you mean by something an animal or plant can't live without?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, not exactly. So when I say can't live without, I mean the things that you need to stay safe or survive. I mean, my laptop sure makes my life easier, but I know I could live without it. It's more like something I want. But all animals need at least the following to survive. They need food, water, shelter, and space to live and to raise their babies.
Caroline Herrero:
So a habitat has to provide all of the things that an animal needs. Does that mean that a habitat must provide each basic need like food, water, shelter, and space all in the same spot?
Ingrid Rochon:
Absolutely. You got it. Perfect.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow. And since all animals have those four basic needs, it makes sense. It's really important to live in a habitat where all of those needs are met. How do habitats do that for all the animals on our planet? There's so many different kinds of animals.
Ingrid Rochon:
So every place where animals live on Earth provides them with those four basic needs. Even though habitats like mountaintops and deserts and coral reefs are very different from each other, animals have adaptations that are tailored to those different habitats that help them find and use the food, water, shelter, and space that each habitat provides.
Caroline Herrero:
So animals live in specific habitats. They can't live just anywhere. Why is that Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, that's because of those specific adaptations. So an adaptation is a body part or a behavior that helps an animal or plant survive in a specific habitat. And adaptations that are useful in one habitat might not be useful at all in another. So here's an example to help us think about it. Animals that live under the sea, like those whale sharks we saw in your beautiful murals, have evolved fins and flippers to help them swim around their habitat space. And those fins are very helpful for getting around and helping sea creatures to survive in the ocean. Fins are an adaptation, but they wouldn't be much use for an animal that lived on top of a mountain.
Animals that live on mountains will have legs and feet that are better suited to help them climb. And over long periods of time, animal and plant adaptations become pretty well matched to their specific habitats. In the museum where we can see all sorts of animal body parts in our collections and in our exhibits, we can begin to collect clues about an animal's habitat just by looking at those body parts and thinking about how they might be adaptations.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow, that's so neat that the adaptations make the species suited specifically for its habitat. Does the habitat also have adaptations for the animals living in it?
Ingrid Rochon:
It absolutely does. So habitats are made up of both living and non-living things. Habitats have rocks and water and air that are not living things, but they also include living plants and other species of animals. And all of these living things have adaptations for competing with or cooperating with and living with each other. And that's what makes habitats across our planet so diverse and fascinating.
Caroline Herrero:
That's so cool. Ingrid, you mentioned that we are going to be learning about the habitat where your favorite animal, the silky anteater, and a lot of other animals and plants live in, the tropical rainforest canopy. Today we're going to work together to create a model of this habitat. At the end of the program, the model will be ready for families to create animals that call the canopy home. And you may be inspired to create a silky anteater or some other creatures for your habitat too. But before we get started making our model, what exactly is a model Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, the model we're making today is a small 3D representation of a habitat. And when you visit the museum, you might see big models, which we call dioramas or little ones in our Deep Time exhibit that you see here. And they're great ways to show in a smaller amount of space all of the most important parts of a habitat, including the plants and the animals that call it home.
Caroline Herrero:
That's awesome. I can see how these models at the museum help represent different habitats from Earth a long time ago. Today we're going to look at the rainforest and the rainforest canopy. Let's take a closer look at this habitat together. Now, let's see. We got our pictures. Sorry guys. So let's go ahead and take a look and go ahead and make some observations, you can share with your families and then share with us in the Q&A what you notice about these images of the rainforest.
Ingrid Rochon:
Let's see here. Well, I notice it's very green.
Caroline Herrero:
We've got lots of people sharing in the Q&A. Awesome. Ooh, we see lots of friends notice that it looks very wet. That looks like there's some mist in the air. Yeah, very green. Absolutely.
Ingrid Rochon:
Many tall trees, Michelle and Chloe and Kira both mention all these trees.
Caroline Herrero:
The trees, a lot of people notice they look very tall too. Looks like a forest. Yes, absolutely. Great observations everyone. Now one thing we noticed is that there are a lot of trees. Now there are forests here where I live in Florida and probably somewhere around the homes of our families too. But I don't live near a rainforest, I don't think. I'm currently in Florida. And the museum is in D.C. Is the rainforest canopy close to either of us, Ingrid? Where in the world is this habitat?
Ingrid Rochon:
So you can find tropical rainforests in a band around the Earth's equator, which is the middle of the Earth where the temperature is warm and mild all year round, and there's lots and lots of rain. So rainforests usually receive more than five and a half feet of rain every year, which is as tall as I am. And the wettest rainforest can get over 25 feet of rain, which is more than four times as tall as I am. Now in Washington, D.C., we have an annual average rainfall of three and a half feet, which is a little taller than a yard stick, so I beat it in height.
But the closest tropical rainforest to us is in southern Mexico and Central America. In fact, the Smithsonian has a permanent research station located in the rainforest in Panama, right here in the circle on the map. So Caroline, you and I are where the stars are located on that map. And Panama and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Punta Culebra are in that circle. And a lot of the photos of animals we're going to look at today are from Punta Culebra and the Tropical Research Institute, which you can see in a photo right here.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow, that looks beautiful. Now, I saw on the map that there's rainforests in many other places around the world too. Have you ever visited a rainforest Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
I have. So I have looked for animals in the rainforests of Eastern Ecuador. And having been there I can confirm it's very hot and it's very wet, and there are animals absolutely everywhere.
Caroline Herrero:
That is incredible. So since you visited a rainforest before, can you share with us a little bit more about what it was like and more specifically, what is that canopy layer like?
Ingrid Rochon:
Yeah, so when you enter the rainforest, you're down on the ground layer where it's very shady and it's almost dark and you're surrounded by the trunks of hundreds of trees. There are more different kinds of trees here than there are anywhere else on Earth. And some of the biggest trees too. Some can be over 20 stories tall. You can hear the sound of birds and insects. You can hear the howls of monkeys, but you don't see them on the ground layer. You have to look up through these layers and layers of leaves to the very top layer, which is the rainforest canopy. And you realize that up in the tree crowns, there are animals that live their lives entirely above you.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow, how amazing. Ingrid, I think that's a great place to start with creating our model. Let's go ahead and begin by creating tree trunks for this ground level you talked about as a base for our model. Katie will show us what she's making on her craft cam too. So we learned that the canopy habitat is in the treetops of the rainforest. We are going to be creating a model of the canopy. And in order to get started, we have to have a base for our treetops. So we are going to create a tree trunk together. Each family member can create their own tree trunk and treetop for their model.
So to get started, you will need one piece of paper, which is going to be our tree trunk. It can be brown, it can be white, and you can color it later. Awesome. I see we've all got different colors. That's so exciting because trees usually look pretty different, they don't all look the same. So to make our tree trunk, you're going to start with your piece of paper. Grab both ends and we're going to roll it into a tube. It looks something like this. And remember, you can make your tree trunk any size that you want. Ingrid said there's a lot of big trees there, right Ingrid in the rainforest?
Ingrid Rochon:
There's a lot of tall trees, there's medium size trees, many different kinds.
Caroline Herrero:
Whatever size tree you would like to make. And the next step is you'll take a piece of tape and you're going to tape where your tube paper edges meet to make a tube stick. Something like that. Nice, Katie. And now it should look something like this. So you'll have a nice tube of paper. All right. And next up you're going to grab your scissors, and friends at home, make sure that you ask for help with cutting or using scissors. And you're going to go to the bottom of your tree and you're going to make four small cuts around the circle in the bottom. Two, three, four. Very nice. All right. And then you're going to grab the pieces that you just cut and you're going to fold them back. Just like that, Katie. Oops, my tree trunk came apart. Have to restick it.
Ingrid Rochon:
Stick it right back.
Caroline Herrero:
All right. So then you're going to fold around the bottom. And this is going to help our trees stand up nice and tall. All right. Nice and good. Yours is upright. Looks great. All right. Here you go. And now your tree will look something like this. And now when you put it flat on a table or a desk or the floor, wherever you are, it will be able to stand up for you. Nice and tall. All right.
So our next step is going to be making that treetop canopy that we talked about. So you're going to get another piece of paper. I'm going to choose green because I don't have enough green markers to color it in later, but you can choose any color you would like. I see Ingrid's got some dark green. I think Katie's using white again. Fantastic. So to create our canopy, we are going to go ahead and measure with about three fingers. It doesn't have to be exact. And we're going to cut along the bottom. And we're just going to cut a strip off of our paper. Again, make sure you ask for help using scissors for friends at home.
All right. So now we are left with one big square of paper and a little strip. We're going to put this to the side because we can use it to add onto our models again later. So now, awesome Ingrid, got yours ready. So now we are going to grab the edges of our paper and we are going to fold it into a triangle and then we are going to crease the edge. Awesome. Great. All right. And now we're going to grab the edges again and we're going to make another triangle by folding it in half. Crease the edges. And then one more time, we'll fold it in half. So now we have a small triangle. Fantastic. Now this is the part we can get really creative. We are going to cut along the edge that does not have the fold on it, and you can cut any pattern you like to make leaves for our treetops. So I'm going to go ahead and I am just going to cut what I think leaves might look like. Maybe a little shaggy.
Ingrid Rochon:
You can do it freestyle, you can draw on if you want.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh that's awesome. Ingrid, what do you have on there?
Ingrid Rochon:
I drew a leaf to help me to me make my cuts. But you can make them ... There are so many different shapes of leaves in the rainforest that you can do any kind of shape you want. You can freestyle it, you can draw ahead. It's up to you.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, I'm going to freestyle mine. And Caroline and Ingrid, is it okay if I try and do little cuts along all of it just to see what happens?
Caroline Herrero:
Sure. You got to test it out, see what happens.
Katie Derloshon:
Because I'm sure I can make another one, right?
Caroline Herrero:
Yeah.
Katie Derloshon:
I'm going to make sure I don't cut straight across though. Just little chunks along each of them so it doesn't fall all the way apart.
Caroline Herrero:
That's a good idea, Katie. I didn't think about that. So Ingrid, we are making a model together today. Do scientists like you use models in your work at the museum?
Ingrid Rochon:
We do. So they're a great way to ... I do a lot of drawings and things to communicate science ideas to my colleagues and to other people because it's very helpful to have visual representations or things you can touch. All the objects in our collection, things you can touch to help us learn and to help us make observations are a great way to use models to do science.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. All right friends. So when you have-
Katie Derloshon:
Caroline, oh, I'm so sorry to ... I see we have one friend that's asking for the fold again. So while you're giving the next instruction, I'm going to go ahead and show the fold again for our friend at home that wants to see it one more time.
Caroline Herrero:
That's a great idea. Thanks, Katie. So if you still want another reminder on how to fold for our treetop, go ahead and look at Katie's craft cam. I'm going to go ahead and open up my paper snowflake creation for my treetops. We'll see how it turned out. All right, so now you have leaves for your canopy layer. You can go ahead and grab it in the middle and you can tape it or just place it on top of your tree trunk. I'm going to put mine in there. And later after the program or during, if you want to create another treetop for your canopy, you can totally do that too. All right, How's it going, Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
It's going great.
Caroline Herrero:
Good.
Ingrid Rochon:
Good work guys.
Caroline Herrero:
I'm going to add a little tape on mine. It's a little unsteady.
Ingrid Rochon:
[inaudible 00:26:25] on my tree. I'm going to add another piece of tape.
Caroline Herrero:
Yeah. Great. Great. Looks good, Ingrid.
Ingrid Rochon:
Here we go. Beautiful.
Caroline Herrero:
All right. So now we have the base for our rainforest canopy model. To continue to add to it, we're going to learn about one special animal that lives in the canopy and the unique adaptations it has to live there. We are going to learn about this animal by making observations, using images and videos. We're going to think about and learn about the animal's needs and how the canopy provides for its needs and use that information to add to our model. So let's go ahead and think about how the needs that we learned about earlier today are going to transfer into this special animal. So Ingrid, what is this mystery animal that we are going to learn about?
Ingrid Rochon:
This is one of my favorite animals out of the many animals that live in the rainforest. We're going to be learning today about the northern two-toed sloth. I think we have a picture of the sloth. There we go. So here's the sloth and why don't we start by making some observations about the sloth and its surroundings. Families at home, if you want to take a look at these adorable sloths and share your observations with each other and you can share with us too in the Q&A. What do you notice, Caroline?
Caroline Herrero:
I'm noticing first off that these animals are very cute in my opinion. All right. We have some people noticing that these animals are all hanging upside down. That is true. Absolutely.
Ingrid Rochon:
Somebody points out their long nails. We can talk about those.
Caroline Herrero:
Their big noses. They do have big noses it looks like.
Ingrid Rochon:
Oh, someone says they're furry.
Caroline Herrero:
They do. They look very furry, don't they?
Ingrid Rochon:
These are great observations, everybody.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. Yeah, they do look pretty big too. Someone noticed they look kind of big. Absolutely. Nice observations. I see that a lot of families are noticing that these sloths have shaggy brown fur. Looking at the other observations that people made, let's think about how the shaggy fur helps the sloth live in its habitat.
Ingrid Rochon:
Yeah, so when I look around a rainforest, I see lots of brown branches. I see lots of green leaves, and it's a really nice color scheme. One that the sloth copies. So take a look at this sloth we have up on the screen for you. He's got that brown shaggy fur, and I noticed this one has a lovely green hairdo. So this sloth has not used hair dye. In fact, that shaggy fur is full of algae and the sloth doesn't mind. The sloth's fur is actually an adaptation that allows and encourages algae to grow on it. So I think we have a photo of sloth fur under a microscope. And when you look at the hair under the microscope, you'll see that it has a grooved surface. Now those grooves are perfect for algae to gain a little foothold and live and grow in. So on the one hand, algae is actually pretty tasty. So whenever the sloth grooms its own fur, it gets a little snack. But on the other hand, that algae helps the sloth to camouflage itself. So can you see the sloth in this picture?
Caroline Herrero:
There's a sloth in that picture. Oh my goodness. I see a lot of green.
Ingrid Rochon:
There he is. So that green tinged shaggy fur, helps the sloth blend right into the background of shaggy moss and brown branches and green leaves.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow. So the sloth will actually turn green to help it blend in?
Ingrid Rochon:
Yes. So the sloth's fur makes it very hard to see in the treetops. It's very hard for us to see, but it's also hard for its predators to see. So anything that might want to eat the sloth, like an eagle or an ocelot, like a rainforest cat that might want to make a tasty meal of the sloth, will have to work pretty hard to find it first.
Caroline Herrero:
What an amazing adaptation. The animal's fur helps it blend right into its habitat. And friends, a little reminder, I know we went pretty fast through the craft, so feel free to work on the craft while we're sharing more information. And also remember that you can go back and add to it later. So families at home, having this adaptation of green or brown fur in this habitat of the rainforest canopy helps a sloth get which basic need met? Go ahead and discuss with your family and then make your choice in the poll.
Ingrid Rochon:
Let's see here. I'm going to keep working on my craft while we talk. I'm going to add some little-
Caroline Herrero:
That's a great idea, Ingrid. All right, we've got some answers coming in. Fantastic.
Ingrid Rochon:
Let's see.
Caroline Herrero:
Nice work.
Ingrid Rochon:
Yes, it does help it blend in from predators, somebody commented.
Caroline Herrero:
Awesome. Thinking about it, I had a hard time finding it in that picture. I can imagine it would be hard for other animals too. All righty, we've got lots of answers. We'll go ahead and close our poll in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's go ahead and close that poll. See what everyone thought. Awesome. So lots of great answers. And it looks like Ingrid, a lot of families chose shelter. What do you think about that?
Ingrid Rochon:
I think that's a great choice because shelter is a place where you can be protected. So the dense green leaves of the canopy help protect the sloth from its predators. And that adaptation of camouflage blending into the background helps it take advantage of its habitat even more effectively.
Caroline Herrero:
Amazing. Let's go ahead and add some more color to our treetops to give the sloth some shelter. We know that the sloth's brown and sometimes even green fur helps it blend in and stay safe. You can include treetops that are these colors, or if you don't have colored paper, you can use crayons or markers to color it in. So I'm going to go ahead and start adding some more color to my treetops. I have a handy dandy green marker here, so I'm going to add some extra leaves for my sloth to blend into.
Ingrid Rochon:
I'm cutting some little shaggy leaves.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh, that's awesome, Ingrid.
Ingrid Rochon:
I'm going to tape them to my model.
Caroline Herrero:
Nice. And remember, your treetops do not have to be perfect. They can look any way you would like.
Ingrid Rochon:
Leaves come in all shapes and sizes.
Caroline Herrero:
Whoa, tree's going down. All right.
Ingrid Rochon:
I love how yours looks, Caroline.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh, boy. All right. I can't wait to see how everyone's adding different leaves and spots for their sloths to take shelter in. All right, so now during our observations, some friends also noticed that the sloth has really long arms and what looks like long fingernails. Ingrid, what is this?
Ingrid Rochon:
So you're not far off when you think of them as fingernails. The sloth's claws are very similar to our fingernails. They're made out of the same stuff, the same material, and they also grow from their ... scientists would call them distal phalanges, but we can call them fingertips. And those long, hooked claws fit perfectly around branches so the sloth can grip them without having to squeeze their hands to hold on. And the claws make it really easy to literally hang out.
So the sloth can climb up and down wide tree trunks, which they have to do occasionally. But when I look at the shape and size of their hands, I can see that they fit best around smaller branches and vines. And indeed that's where they like to hang out. And when I look up into the canopy layer, I see lots of vines connecting the trees. So rainforest trees grow into and around each other and many smaller plants like vines grow on top of them. The sloth can use all of those branches and vines as a highway to get from one tree to another. And those long arms help it reach across the gaps.
Caroline Herrero:
Absolutely, those shaggy long arms and claws look great for moving around the treetops. Think about how this adaptation of having claws that fit around vines and branches of the canopy helps the sloth. Families at home, having this adaptation of long arms and claws in this habitat, helps the sloth get which basic need met? Go ahead and discuss with your family and then make your choice using the poll.
Ingrid Rochon:
Look at that sloth go. All right.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. Let's see what everyone's thinking.
Ingrid Rochon:
You can think all about-
Caroline Herrero:
Lots of great answers coming in. Absolutely.
Ingrid Rochon:
Those claws help with. Two of them.
Caroline Herrero:
They definitely look very unique. Those two toes are claws. Is that why they're called two-toed sloth, Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
That is, this species has two claws on the front.
Caroline Herrero:
Are there some that have more than two claws?
Ingrid Rochon:
There are other kinds of sloths. And there are three-toed sloths that have three.
Caroline Herrero:
Very nice. All right friends, it looks like we've got lots of great answers coming in the poll. Let's go ahead and we are going to close our poll in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's see what everyone thought. Awesome. Nice work everybody. So Ingrid, it looks like a lot of families chose space. What do you think about this?
Ingrid Rochon:
I think that's great because those long claws help it move around. That's a great adaptation to utilize their habitat space to move around and between their trees. And a sloth usually lives in an area that has 25 different trees that it calls its home, that it needs to move around to find its next need, which we'll talk about in a minute. But first, let's add to our model.
Caroline Herrero:
All right, Amazing. Yes. Let's go ahead and we'll add some vines and branches to our habitat model. I'm going to roll up some extra paper that I have here left over from cutting my canopy to make some branches. And maybe you could even tie some yarn around your tree to add some vines. And remember, you can create whatever you have at home and make sure you ask for help using scissors or any other materials. So I'm going to go ahead and I think I remember, I have this handy dandy strip of paper if you'd like to create some extra vines. I see Katie has some vines going on in her craft cam. Amazing. You can cut your strip of paper into smaller strips and tape it on to create some vines. That's what I'm going to do too. Ingrid, what are you using to create branches and vines?
Ingrid Rochon:
I've got some yarn that I had left over from a project and I cut a piece and I'm going to tape it to my canopy to make a vine.
Caroline Herrero:
That looks like a really fun little highway for this sloth. Right? Awesome.
Ingrid Rochon:
Great.
Caroline Herrero:
All right, I'm going to tape it on. Looks great. All right friends. So I'm going to place my model to the side. And remember you can keep crafting while you're listening and we will repeat the fold at the end of the program if you want to make another canopy or if it was moving a little fast at the start. So something else that viewers noticed when we were making observations of the sloth is that it looks like they have a big, round belly. Why is that, Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
So when I look at sloths, I think of them like these little round barrels in the treetops because everybody knows that sloths are slow and that's because they spend most of their time digesting. So after I've had a big meal, I like to sit and digest a little, but the sloth does this all day with a huge elaborate stomach. So a sloth's stomach actually has three different chambers in it. A lot like a cow's stomach.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow, that's so interesting. Why do they have three chambers in their stomachs? What do they eat?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, this sloth in the picture is eating leaves and they have that big stomach. When they eat leaves, they ferment those leaves in the first two chambers of their stomach. And that's a long, slow process in which bacteria help them break down their food to get as much nutrition from it as they can. We often see this adaptation of a big chambered stomach in animals that eat things without a lot of nutritional value, like the leaves of rainforest trees. And so the sloth eats lots of leaves and buds and twigs and stems — and fruit and flowers as a treat, when they can find them.
Caroline Herrero:
Sounds tasty for a sloth. Families at home, having this adaptation of a three-chambered stomach in this habitat helps the sloth get which basic need met, discuss with your family, and then make your choice in the poll.
Ingrid Rochon:
Yeah, those three chambers take up so much of the sloth's belly. It's anytime you see a sloth, you know that it's just hanging out full of leaves.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow. It looks like a lot of people are making very strong opinions in the poll. We love it. Nice work everyone. All right, we'll leave it open a little longer. I don't think I had ever seen a sloth eating before that video. Eating little flowers and buds. Seems like a nice snack if you were a sloth.
Ingrid Rochon:
When you live in the treetops, you can eat leaves all day long.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. Alrighty, so we will leave our poll open for five more seconds and we'll go ahead and close in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's see what everyone thought. Fantastic. So a lot of people thought that this adaptation helps meet the basic need of food, Ingrid?
Ingrid Rochon:
You are absolutely right.
Caroline Herrero:
Yes. So that stomach, that three-chambered stomach, helps the sloth digest all those rainforest greens, which definitely meets the basic need of food. So let's go ahead and add some more details to our canopy models to represent the different kinds of plants and flowers, to make sure that we have enough in our model to keep our sloths' bellies full. So I'm going to go ahead and bring my model over. All right. And again, I have some scraps left over. I might add some extra scraps, some of these.
Ingrid Rochon:
So I've got plenty of leaves on my model, but I wanted to give my sloth a treat, so I made him a little flower.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh, fantastic. That's a good idea Ingrid, maybe I'll use a marker to color on some bright flowers or fruits.
Ingrid Rochon:
There's lots of fruiting trees in the rainforest. Figs are very common.
Caroline Herrero:
What color are figs, Ingrid? Do you know?
Ingrid Rochon:
The ones in the grocery store are purple, but there's lots of different species.
Caroline Herrero:
Yeah, maybe there's special rainforest figs. That's something we could do some research on. All right. So nice work everyone, families at home keep adding flowers and fruit. Ingrid and I noticed that we haven't talked about water. The sloth lives in the rainforest where it's really wet, but how does this animal get the water it needs?
Ingrid Rochon:
Well, a sloth can get some of its water from its food because you know when you eat a salad, it's got some water in it, but it needs to get water from elsewhere, of course. And to get that extra water it needs, it will lick the surface of leaves whenever it rains, or in the morning when dew condenses on the surface of the leaves. Now this is a way of acting. This is a behavioral adaptation of the sloth. And it so happens that we're only going to find sloths in certain kinds of rainforests where there's not much seasonal variation and rainfall, where the trees keep their leaves all year round and on any given day it's probably going to rain. So in this moist tropical rainforest, the sloth prefers to live where it can find water on leaves every day of the year.
Caroline Herrero:
Wow. So they'll actually lick water off the leaves. Is it like a natural cup for the sloths to drink from?
Ingrid Rochon:
So lots of rainforest leaves have waxy coatings that repel water and make it bead up on the surface, which is actually an adaptation of the trees to their wet habitat. And because the water sort of beads up on the surface, I think it's fair to say that they can act like a kind of cup for the sloth. So it's very easy to lick the water off them.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. So we know there's a lot of rain in the rainforest canopy. Let's add some water droplets so our sloths have water to drink while they're there. You can draw them on your leaves using a blue marker or a crayon. You could use beads or anything else you can think of to represent water. I have some extra glitter here, blue glitter that I'm going to add to my treetops so that my sloths will have some water to drink.
Ingrid Rochon:
That is very nice Caroline. I've got a blue marker, so I'm going to draw some little raindrops on to make sure my sloth has water.
Caroline Herrero:
All right. And the really exciting thing is everyone's will look unique and different. See here I added a little water droplet. So now they have some water to lick off the leaves. All right, friends. So friends at home, I'm going to place mine to the side. But remember you can always keep adding to it. So as we're wrapping up, adding all the habitat elements to our models, we've seen that animals have lots of different adaptations that help them to get their needs from their habitat. And the habitat is able to provide all of those needs for the animal. Think about some of the sloth's adaptations we learned about today. Its claws, its stomach, the way it licks water off the leaves. And think about how the sloth uses them to get its needs from the habitat. Which of the sloth needs are provided by the rainforest canopy? Does the habitat provide for all of the sloth needs, for some of them? Go ahead and let us know using the poll feature.
Ingrid Rochon:
I know. And we can also look at our model to help us remember.
Caroline Herrero:
That's a great idea, Ingrid. We've got lots of answers coming in. Everyone feels good about this one. That's awesome. All right.
Ingrid Rochon:
This is great.
Caroline Herrero:
Fantastic. All right friends, we are going to go ahead and close the poll in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let's see what everyone thought. Awesome. So there's lots of needs that are met by the rainforest habitat. And Ingrid, we talked about how animals have to live in a habitat that provides for all of those needs. Fantastic. Thank you for sharing everyone. Wow. So we just learned about some unique adaptations of the sloth, that help it survive in the rainforest and some of the key features of the rainforest that provide the basic needs of the sloth. As we were learning, we were able to begin creating our own model, highlighting the different elements of the canopy layer that the sloth calls home. Let's go ahead and check in with Katie to see how her rainforest habitat is going.
Katie Derloshon:
All right. Hello everyone. Oops, hold on one second. Let me turn my camera back on. All right. Hello. Hi everyone. Okay, so here's my tree so far. I definitely, I added some more green lines, green color to my leaves, and I was able to add three different vines or three different highways for my sloth to get around. I didn't have time yet to add on the water droplets or the flowers yet, but I do plan on adding those as soon as our program ends. So those will be determined shortly. But yeah, that was fun. Thanks for walking us all through.
Caroline Herrero:
I'm so glad. And remember, I love that you took your time and are going to add in whatever elements you want later. That's awesome. Now, today, you might have just made one tree, but Ingrid told us that the rainforest has more than one tree in it, so we should add more trees to our model too. So families, if you all created trees, make sure you link them up using those vine highways so that all the animals that you add to your model can climb around and have lots of space. And if you want to do this after the program, that's always a good idea too.
Katie Derloshon:
Excellent. Yeah, here's a picture of ours Caroline, that we made together.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh my goodness. It is beautiful. I love all of those branches you guys added.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, we had a lot of fun creating it. Christian and I and Caroline, you were able to mail in that cute little sloth right there up front to add into our museum family's rainforest habitat model. And we were able to add in some snakes and some other insects and creatures that you can find in the rainforest too.
Ingrid Rochon:
Yes. So there's lots of animals besides the sloth that can be found in the canopy layer of the rainforest. And after the program, you can pick your favorite and add your favorite animal to your rainforest canopy model. These are some of the animals that you might find. Of course we have my favorite, the silky anteater, but you could add a spider monkey, you could add a capuchin monkey, you could add a ... we have a keel-billed toucan, and all of those monkeys definitely will love the fruit that you might want to put in your model. We have a ringed tree boa if you want a snake to move around your leaves. And even red-eyed tree frogs live all their lives up in that very top layer.
Katie Derloshon:
So cool. Thanks for sharing. There are so many different types of animals that live in the canopy of the rainforest. So families at home, what animals do you think you might add to your model? So Christian, Caroline, and I put snakes, insects, and sloths in ours. What do you think you might put in yours? Tell us in the Q&A what you might put in your rainforest. Ooh, okay. Ooh, Ella's going to add the anteater in. Okay. Ingrid, what do you have in yours? Did you add an animal?
Ingrid Rochon:
I made a tiny sloth. I made it out of paper.
Katie Derloshon:
So cute.
Caroline Herrero:
Oh my goodness, that's so cute.
Katie Derloshon:
And Christopher in the Q&A is asking how are we going to make the sloth itself? So Caroline, how did you make your sloth?
Caroline Herrero:
So I made my sloth just using an extra piece of paper I had and I just made, Ingrid was telling us like a round barrel, so I kind of made like a circle and then I added his little face and arms and then I decided to use, I had some extra staples, so I made staples for his little hook hands so he could hang on the vines.
Katie Derloshon:
Ah, very cool. That's excellent use of supplies, especially for those the little claws to hang on. Excellent. And we've got snakes, parrots, anteaters, sloths, snakes, birds, reptiles, butterflies, toucans. Ooh, I can't wait to see all these habitats. Please send us in your creation so that we can take a peek at what you all create as well.
Caroline Herrero:
Yes, these models are going to be bursting with life. I can already tell. So there's so many other animals that we didn't even get to talk about today, but today we did look really closely about how this habitat of the rainforest canopy provides the basic need for sloths and other animals that call the canopy their home. And how the sloth is adapted to live in the rainforest. But the rainforest is just one habitat and there are many different habitats all around the planet.
Families at home, we're curious to hear what other habitats you are interested in learning about, either with us here at Natural History at home or as a family. What other habitats would you like to explore? Go ahead and share with us using the Q&A feature.
Katie Derloshon:
Caroline? Oh.
Caroline Herrero:
Go ahead.
Katie Derloshon:
I was going to say last month, I know we had a lot of fun talking about the ocean, here at Natural History at Home, and we've talked about the Arctic before too, so I'm really curious to hear some of these answers from families. We've got the jungle. That would be a fun one. Volcanoes, mountains, the desert, the ocean again. Ooh, lots of excellent ideas. So families, thank you for sharing some of those different habitat ideas and keep sharing them. And before we wrap up, we want to give a special thanks again to Ingrid for joining us to share her knowledge all about the sloth and the rainforest with us here today. It was interesting to make observations both of the animal and the habitat to see how they really depend on each other and that they're adapting with each other. So thanks for joining us.
Ingrid Rochon:
It was wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me, Katie and Caroline.
Katie Derloshon:
And we also want to give a special thanks again to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute of Panama for providing us with lots of wonderful images today. So we are fortunate to have many scientists around the globe working together as the Smithsonian family. And I must say that the people in Panama are quite lucky to see some of these amazing animals so close up, right? So thank you for sharing some of those photos and videos with us.
Caroline Herrero:
Absolutely. We also want to say thank you to Maura for joining us on screen for today's program as well. Thank you, Maura.
Katie Derloshon:
Yes, thank you. And special thanks to you, Caroline, for joining us online this month. It has been so much fun working with you this summer to prepare for this program. So thank you for sharing your knowledge and time with us here at Natural History at Home.
Caroline Herrero:
Absolutely. Thank you to the whole team who helped make this program possible. We hope to see you again next month, where we'll talk about how scientists can use storytelling and art to share knowledge with others. Caregivers, there will also be a short survey for you to fill out. Please take a few minutes to complete it by using the link that will be found in your browser after we close the webinar. The family programs team at the museum are excited to hear your feedback so we can continue to bring meaningful family programs to you and your family.
And also, as a reminder, we'll be emailing out the steps to create the craft for today. So in case you want to refer back to it and add even more to your rainforest model. And last but not least, we would love to see what you and your family have created together. Please share your rainforest models with us using the email on the PowerPoint. We can't wait to see what animals can be found in your model. Thank you so much again for joining us and we look forward to seeing you online again in the future.
Katie Derloshon:
And before we go, Ingrid, we have a few questions. Do you have a few moments to stick around to answer some questions with us?
Ingrid Rochon:
I can absolutely stick around to answer your questions. That is what I'm here for.
Katie Derloshon:
Excellent. All right. So let's see. Caroline, is there one of the questions that you see on here that stands out to you from doing the program? Let's see.
Caroline Herrero:
Suzanne asked, does the algae hurt the sloth?
Ingrid Rochon:
It does not hurt the sloth at all. It's actually a mutually beneficial relationship, which means they help each other. So the sloth gets that camouflage, it gets to eat the algae sometimes, and then the algae gets a very safe space to live and it's perfectly well adapted to grow on the sloth.
Katie Derloshon:
Ah, oh, okay. Can we talk about food? There's two questions here for food too. Are they herbivores?
Ingrid Rochon:
Yes. So they eat only plants. Herbivores are animals that eat primarily most of their food is plants, so sloths are herbivores.
Katie Derloshon:
Excellent. And then we talked about a habitat and we talked about, I think we might have said ecosystem in there too. And someone was asking about a food web. What's the difference between a food web, an ecosystem, and a habitat?
Ingrid Rochon:
A food web, an ecosystem, and a habitat. These are all really closely related ideas. So a habitat is the place an animal calls home and lives in. A food web is all of those sort of relationships between animals and plants that eat each other. Because if you look at a diagram of a food web, in the rainforest, a bug might eat a leaf and then a bird might eat the bug. And then a bigger bird, like an eagle might eat the smaller bird. And there are all of these interconnected relationships of animals that feed off of each other, which makes a food web. And an ecosystem is sort of the name for all of those relationships. It's the name for all of the animals and the habitat together, if that makes sense.
Katie Derloshon:
Yeah, they're all very closely related. You're right.
Ingrid Rochon:
They are. Yeah, very.
Katie Derloshon:
Let's see, Caroline, is there another question sticking out at you?
Caroline Herrero:
There is one question that a lot of people and myself are very curious about. What noises do sloths make? Do they make a special sound?
Ingrid Rochon:
What noises? They do make noises. I think they don't make noises very often to communicate with each other, but I know that baby animals often have noises that they make to get their mom's attention. So I think mostly when I hear sloths or when they're trying to scare something that's attacking them. So I see somebody asked if a predator sees a sloth and wants to eat it, how does it escape when it's so slow? The only thing it can do is sort of try to look scary. So they might try to make a noise to startle a predator. And I feel like they go eee (sloth noise) they don't make noises often, but they do occasionally.
Katie Derloshon:
We had one video where it was (chewing noise), it was chomping away on some plants so if I was going to be asked to make one, I was going to chomp on some plants.
Ingrid Rochon:
That's a great question.
Katie Derloshon:
Let's see. We have a question from Chris. They're asking us if we know about something, and so I want to ask you about this. Do sloths only come down to the ground to use the restroom only once a week?
Ingrid Rochon:
That is true.
Katie Derloshon:
Only once a week?
Caroline Herrero:
That's not very often.
Ingrid Rochon:
And this is actually an enduring scientific mystery. We do not really know the answer to why they do this, but some clues are that their digestion is so slow, their food spends so much time sitting in their stomach that they really only have to go once a week. But they often climb down to use the restroom on the ground and we're not entirely sure why other than to-
Katie Derloshon:
Excellent. All right.
Ingrid Rochon:
They're very fastidious and clean.
Katie Derloshon:
And then we have one more it looks like about sloths hanging upside down. So for sloths to be hanging upside down their stomachs and systems must be different right? Because I know if I hang upside down while eating, I might get sick.
Ingrid Rochon:
Yeah. So their stomach sits on the top of their organs, it takes up most of the front of their body, but one adaptation they have for hanging upside down is that the grain of their fur is the opposite from your dog or your cat, so that the hair hangs down and the natural grain of it is like my hair that hangs down so that when it rains, the water can run off of the hair and drip straight down. So that's an adaptation for hanging upside down all of the time.
Katie Derloshon:
Excellent. Okay. All right. Well Ingrid, it's time for us to wrap up. So we have one last question that it looks like is a request. I'm not sure if it's a request from our back end team or if it was a request in the Q&A, but since you had shared that sloths might make a noise to scare others, they're wondering if we can end with our best sloth scream. So not quite sure what that will sound like, but if anyone ... who wants to go first to sign off with our sloth scream?
Caroline Herrero:
I feel like it would be a little squeaky. Right. Maybe like, eeee (sloth scream). I don't know.
Katie Derloshon:
Sounds good. All right, I'll go next. I'll see. I'm going to hang upside down. Eeee (Sloth scream).
Caroline Herrero:
Oh, that's good too.
Katie Derloshon:
All right, Ingrid.
Ingrid Rochon:
That's it?
Katie Derloshon:
You got a sloth scream.
Ingrid Rochon:
Eeee (softer sloth scream).
Caroline Herrero:
Yeah.
Katie Derloshon:
Awesome. Great job. All right, well thank you everyone for again joining us today families. We'll be sending out the instructions again on how to make your habitat model, as well as some more information from our program and for next month's program. Thank you again to Ingrid, Caroline, and Maura for joining us and our back-end team for all of your support. Have a wonderful day and thank you for joining us here at Natural History At Home. Bye.
Caroline Herrero:
Thanks everyone.
