Study The Cat

The domesticated Orange Tabby.
7 facts about orange cats.

       The  cat  belongs  to  the  order  Felidae,  the  group  to  which  the  lion,  tiger, leopard,  puma  or  panther,  and  lynx  belong.  The  animals  belonging  to this  family  are,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  the  strongest,  fiercest,  and  most terrible  of  beasts.  Their  teeth  and  claws  are  powerful  weapons  of  attack. They  assail  their  prey  by  striking  it  with  their  powerful  fore-paws,  and  do  not, like  dogs,  first  grip  it  with  their  teeth.  Each  fore-paw  has  five  toes,  and  each toe  is  furnished  with a  strong  claw,  which  is  protected,  when  not  in  use,  by being  withdrawn  behind  folds  of  skin.  There  are  only  four  toes,  also  with claws,  on  each  of  the  hind  feet.  Their  strong  muscular  limbs,  small head,  and  slim  body,  and  the  soft  pads  with  which  the  toes  are  furnished enable  these  animals  to  move  very  swiftly,  gracefully,  and  silently.  Cats have  thirty  teeth,  and  these,  especially  the  four  canine  teeth,  are  very powerful  weapons.  Man  has  been  able  only  partially  to  tame  one  very  small member  of  this  family,  namely,  the  domestic  cat.

Requirements for Independent Study: Independent study lessons may be accomplished when the student is away from the classroom. These studies could involve a student's beloved pet or a likely nature study students may participate in when on vacation or during a school closure. Students also may need a lesson or two if they are sick in bed at home. For these lessons I have chosen a few animals that students are likely to be familiar with and therefore comfortable in observing them outside of the classroom.

How to Grade Study Notes For Student Journals: Every student will need a journal to write in weekly for this online nature study series. Teacher will assign the weekly content in advance from the writing list below.

• Make sure the facts are: written in complete sentences, the first word of each sentence capitalized, and a period should be included at the end of each sentence.
• Spell check your vocabulary and write the words correctly.
• Dress up your journal entries with student clip art, drawings of your own in color or in black and white. Students may also include photographs of their own taking.

What to write about in the student journal?

A.) Observe a domestic cat in person or from one of the videos below and answer the following questions.

1. Explain the purpose of rough play between kittens.
2. Explain the purpose of cat whiskers.
3. Why are the claws of a cat retractile and why to they have soft pads underneath these?
4. How does a cat use it's rough tongue?

B.) Write in your journal a brief paragraph describing one of the following comparisons between a cat and other animals or things.

1. Compare the coat of a cat to that of a dog. Explain why the cat's coat is warmer.
2. Compare the pupil of a cat to a window, and explain the advantages of these.

Video Options at Youtube for Students to Watch:

1. The Wonderful World of Cats - HD Nature Wildlife Documentary 
2. Cat Tales by NOVA
3. All about kitten milestones by Jackson Galaxy

What kinds of art/craft projects about cats may a student accomplish on their own and share with their classmates once the return to the classroom?

Option 1. The Life Cycle Wheel Graph: Students will need writing and drawing tools, two white paper plates, scissors, white school glue and one brass-plated fastener. The teacher should supply the two paper plates and fastener per student.

Directions:

1. On one plate cut away a pie shaped ''window'' to reveal a stage of the cat's life cycle and a second one opening directly across from it to reveal a brief description.
2. On the second paper plate, draw a pie shaped grid with 10 slices. In the first five of these pie shaped windows include clip art of the different stages of a cat's life: the newborn kitten stage, the neonatal stage, the juvenile stage, the adult cat and the geriatric cat.
3. Within the remaining five grid spaces, write brief descriptions of each stage. Correct answers should be revealed by the turning of the upper plate windows to reveal the correctly positioned content.  (See a similar illustration of this craft here.)
4. Stack the two paper plates together, cut-away on top, and poke a tiny hole with the tip of your scissors through the centers of both plates. 
5. Insert a fastener through both plates at once in order to join the two paper plates together at their center points only. 
6. Be prepared to discuss these stages of a cat's life with a fellow student or teacher when presenting your hand-crafted wheel graph in class.

Option 2. The Environment of The Cat: Students will need a small recycled cereal box or shoe box, craft paper, scissors, extra cardboard, white school glue and drawing pencils to fashion a diorama environment for a small toy cat. The toy figure may be of a domesticated cat or of a wild cat. Three things that must be included in the cat diorama are listed below.

1. Depictions of the food a cat ordinarily eats.
2. The shelter sculpted or arranged to hide a cat from both danger and bad weather.
3. The inclusion of animals or humans the cat may peacefully tolerate within their own environment.

Option 3. A banner made up of photographs, pictures and collage. These items may be attached to a string with clothes pins, clamps, tape, or paperclips. 
       Hang the banner up across the classroom while sharing the information a student learned while absent from the classroom.

Extended Learning Content: 

• The Bad Kittens -poem by Coatsworth
• Name The Cats - puzzle just for fun!
• The Majestic Bengal Tiger - article
• Belinda - poem by Parker
• A Cat's Birthday Celebration - poem by Jones
• Find even more content about domesticated cats by clicking on this link...
• Felines and canines in life and art - article
• ''Ricardo Cat'' by Niki De Saint Phalle - sculpture
• Old-Fashioned Halloween Mask Silhouettes
• Query after cats at the Crayon Palace!

Free Student Clip Art: Clip art may be printed from a home computer, a classroom computer or from a computer at a library and/or a local printing service provider. This may be done from multiple locations as needed because our education blog is online and available to the general public.

Clip art includes: a cat skull, head with whiskers, eyes in dark,
 eyes in daylight, foot with claws, underside with pads.