11-23-20

I’m not a good science teacher. I’ve known that from the start. It’s the one subject that concerned me about pulling my son out of public school for this pandemic year. I lack knowledge, but more importantly, I lack enthusiasm. Yes, I tried faking it, but those of you who know me, know that faking things is not my strong suit. In fact, I’m really bad about pretending, my face and body language give me away every time. And my son knows me very well. At first, I worried that this year would leave him way behind his peers. Would he be able to catch up? My spouse was the voice of reason, “No one is learning this year, not like the used to. Relax. Even if he’s behind, he won’t be so far he can’t catch up.” Okay, that made me feel better. But then I realized, instead of dwelling on what I can’t do, maybe I should play to my strengths, the things I do well. How can I apply my writing skills to science? The answer was simple: Research. Why not have him write a couple of research papers throughout the the year. Science based research papers. He’d learn something new in regards to science, but he’d also learn how to do research and write a cohesive paper. 

Early in the month, I suggested we take a few days off from reading the text book. My son was thrilled with that idea. We were learning about animals, the dichotomous key, and Carl Linnaeus so I figured it might be fun to focus his first research paper on an animal he liked or one he wanted to learn more about. Not surprisingly, he chose an animal I knew nothing about, one I never even heard of — the hyrax. He had been reading a book about the Serengeti and learned about hyraxes for the first time. Since it was a new animal for him, he thought it would be a good one to research. I agreed.

My problem: Where could I find age appropriate articles for him to read. I know how to do research. I taught it for two years. But finding articles in college is easy. What databases do kids use? I went to the library in Mattituck (which by the way, is the best public library I’ve ever experienced) and I spoke to the librarian in the kids’ section. She was extremely helpful. Not only did she explain how to access the library’s database, she sent me links to help me find my way around the databases. I had no idea that there was so much information for us to access through our local library. Immediately, my son and I looked for articles. When we found ones of interest, the librarian was even kind enough to print them for us.

With the articles in hand, my son read them, took notes, and practiced putting the information in his own words. We then discussed how he wanted to breakdown the information. From there he set out drafting the paper. I was very pleased with his first attempt at writing a research paper. I was doubly impressed that he was able to teach me something through his research.

Little Chubby Hyraxes

Imagine a guinea pig, but twice its size that hides in rocks to not be eaten by predators. Guess what? Would you believe that hyraxes, or dassies, which are almost the size of guinea pigs, are more closely related to elephants and manatees than any other animal in the animal kingdom? The first time I heard of dassies was when I read What Is the Serengeti by Nico Menda. 

Hyraxes are seen throughout Africa, the Middle East, and the very south of Asia. Hyraxes are very popular in the Serengeti and around Mount Kenya. Mount Kenya is an old dormant volcano created almost two million years ago.  Back then it was one of the tallest mountains in the world. It was once covered in thick wet forests. The Serengeti is a national park in East Africa. The park was founded in 1951 and covers 5,700 square miles so the migrating animals don’t have to leave the park’s borders. Three hundred and fifty species of birds live here.  Sixty thousand zebras, 150,000 gazelles, 1,300,000 gnu and 8,000 elephants roam the land. 

The eastern and western tree hyraxes make their homes in dead trees and are strictly nocturnal. They eat and scavenge at night. Their dark brown coats are quite majestic in the sun. These two types of cute creatures are twenty inches long and seven pounds. These two species of dassie make extraordinary sounds. One article said that “their calls are beautiful.” Another article said “they are unforgettable.” They will either be alone, in pairs, or in small groups. The tree hyraxes do not share habitats with rock hyraxes. 

The rock hyraxes are about two feet long and weigh about seven and a half pounds. They have a brown coat on top of their slightly chubby belly. Rock hyraxes turn their heads to the side to munch on plants — in other words they use their molars to eat. They make their colonies in kopjes. Kopjes are large rocks in Africa formed by glaciers. They are home to predator and prey. Hyraxes make their colonies in or under rocks to stay hidden from predators. 

Just like the rock hyrax, yellow-spotted hyraxes make their home in or under rocks to stay hidden from prey. They are one foot long and weigh six pounds. Sometimes when they can’t find food they look in trees and shrubs. Yellow-spotted hyraxes have a bushy gray coat and white eye brows. 

Hyraxes are as curious as any toddler. When their poop comes out it takes the shape of bullets. 

Dassies eat many types of plants. Unlike many mammals, hyraxes don’t use their hands for scavenging or even for defense. The black eagle, leopard crowned eagle, martial eagle, African hawk eagle, tawny eagle, rock python, and black mambas are its natural nemeses. Almost three quarters of pups are killed in the first year usually by black eagles. It is easier to find a group of dassies than one alone because the oldest male alerts the group if there is a predator nearby. 

People pose an even bigger threat than any eagle. We keep expanding our homes and villages where we don’t need to. This threatens hyraxes because these acts make it harder to find shelter, mates, and food. The reason for this is because they have less land on which to look for these three things.    

The reason I wrote this is because I loved how this little tiny creature is related to an elephant. Now I hope when you go to Africa you know there are more animals than just elephants and zebras.  

Bibliography

Barry, Ronald E. “Between a Rock and a Hyrax.” Natural History, vol.118, issue 2, March 2009, pp. 30-35.

Slattery, Derek M. “Kenya the Rock and Tree Hyrax or Dassie.” Natural History, vol. 69, issue 9, pp. 29-31.

Young, Truman P. “Little Criminals.” Natural History, vol.105, issue 6, June 1996.

“Hyrax.” Britannica Academic, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 March 2005.

“Serengeti National Park.” Britannica Academic, Encyclopedia Britannica.

American Wildlife Federation. www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hyraxChallenges.