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five  toes,  and  each toe  is  furnished  with a  strong  claw,  which  is  protected,  when  not  in  use,  by being  withdrawn  behind  folds  of  skin.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.

The Brave Little Sister

       ''There was once a little boy who had a young, little sister," said daddy. "He was very disappointed that his sister didn't care more for long walks and boys' games and that animals seemed to frighten her.

       "He used to scold her about it instead of helping her to get over her fear. One day these two children were taking a walk. They went into the country along a quiet road. They passed a little house in which lived an old woman who had a great many cats. She was very strange and her cats seemed to be strange too. Anyway, it was said that they hated people they didn't know.

       The little boy didn't believe this, and when his sister tried to hurry by the house, he laughed at her.

       "Oh, come and see this nice cat!" he said. And he tried to pick the cat up.

       "The cat objected to strangers, as all the people had said, and she started to scratch the little boy. With a cry his sister rushed to him. She grabbed the back of the cat and got him off. Then she cried ''Shoo!'' to the cat, which made him go right home, for he didn't care about hurting the little boy. He only would not be played with.

       " 'I shall never make fun of you again, sister,' he said. 'You saved me by taking off that cat, of which you were afraid. I have not been at all a nice brother to you, and I don't deserve such a good sister, for it was love for me that made you forget about your fear. But you may be quite sure I will never make fun of you in the future, for really you are the brave one.' ''

Kitten's Night Thoughts

 Kitten's Night Thoughts
Oliver Hereford

When Human Folk put out the light
And think they've made it dark as night,
A Pussy Cat sees every bit
As well as when the lights are lit.

When Human Folk have gone upstairs
And shed their skins and said their prayers,
And there is no one to annoy,
Then Pussy may her life enjoy.

No human hands to pinch or slap,
Or rub her fur against the nap,
Or throw cold water from a pail,
Or make a handle of her tail.

And so you will not think it wrong,
When she can play the whole night long,
With no one to disturb her play,
That Pussy goes to bed by day.  

Little Tiger Cat

 

Little Tiger Cat
Annette Wynne

Little Tiger Cat with the spotted face,
Do you think you've found a baby-jungle-
place?
Going through the grass, stealthily and slow,
Are you waiting to jump out and scare the
folks you know?
And send them running to the house as fast
as they can go?

Little Tiger Cat, it's no use at all,
No matter what you think yourself, you're
rather tame and small,
And with all your hiding and your stern con-
templation,
You cannot scare a single one of high or
lowly station,
And so, there's no use trying to be like your
wild relation.

Odd Fraternity

Eating soup together.

 

        A gentleman traveling through Mecklenburg was witness to the following curious circumstance in an inn at which he was staying. After dinner, the landlord placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loud whistle. Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, a fine Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat with a bell about its neck. These four animals went to the dish, and without disturbing each other, fed together; after which the dog, cat, and rat lay before the fire, while the raven hopped about the room.

A Singular Interposition

Cat to the rescue!

       A lady had a tame bird which she was in the habit of letting out of its cage every day. One morning as it was picking crumbs of bread off the carpet, her cat, who always before showed great kindness for the bird, seized it on a sudden, and jumped with it in her mouth upon a table. The lady was much alarmed for the fate of her favorite, but on turning about instantly discerned the cause. The door had been left open, and a strange cat had just come into the room! After turning it out, her own cat came down from her place of safety, and dropped the bird without having done it the smallest injury.

The Dinner Bell

        It is customary in large boarding-houses to announce the dinner hour by the sound of a bell. A cat belonging to one of these houses always hastened to the hall on hearing the bell, to get its accustomed meal; but it happened one day that she was shut up in a chamber, and it was in vain for her that the bell had sounded. Some hours after, having been released from her confinement, she hastened to the hall, but found nothing left for her. The cat thus disappointed got the the bell, and sounded it, endeavored to summon the family to a second dinner, in which she doubted not to participate.

A cat in need of her dinner!

The Cat and Crows

The crow defends her young.

        A pair of crows once made their nest in a tree, of which there were several planted round the garden of a gentleman, who, in his morning walks, was often amused by witnessing furious combats between the crows and a cat. One morning the battle raged more fiercely than usual, till at last the cat gave way, and took shelter under a hedge, as if to wait a more favorable opportunity of retreating into the house. The crows continued for a short time to make a threatening noise; but perceiving that on the ground they could do nothing more than threaten, one of them lifted a stone from the middle of the garden, and perched with it on a tree planted in the hedge, where she sat, watching the motions of the enemy of her young. As the cat crept along under the hedge, the crow accompanied her, flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree; and when at last the cat ventured to quit her hiding-place, the crow, leaving the trees and hovering over her in the air, let the stone drop from on high on her back.

Paper Cuts of Farm Animals

        Below, I have restored a few paper farm animals: horse, cow, goat, duck, rooster, sheep, dog, bunny, pig and cat. These may be freely used by students and teachers for the classroom. Silhouettes on my blog are not to be redistributed by alternative websites and are not meant to be sold or purchased.

These paper cuts of animals found on the farm would make great design
elements in a classroom or any other art project a young
student might need them for.

Domestic Cats

       Cat, the name of the commonest of the household pet animals, is also applied to the family to which the cat belongs. This family includes the fiercest wild animals known, including the lion, tiger and panther. 

8 Fast Facts About House Cats:

1. It is believed that tho cat was originally domesticated in Egypt, where it was loved and venerated. The domestic cat belongs to a genus better armed for destruction of animal life.
2. Among the various breeds or races of cats, the tailless cat of the Isle of Man, and the Persian cat, with its long, silky fur, are among the most curious. 
3. The tortoise shell, with its color a mixture of black, white and brownish or fawn color, the large Angora and the blue, or Carthusian, and Maltese cats, with long, soft, grayish-blue fur, are other well-known species. 
4.  The short and powerful jaw, sharp, pointed teeth, sharp claws and strong muscles make it a fierce enemy of birds and other small animals.
5. Birds have no greater enemy, and one cat often drives the beautiful, friendly singing birds from a whole neighborhood. 
6. The cat is usually regarded as less intelligent than the dog, but possibly it has equal intelligence of another kind. 
7. It seems to have little real affection for mankind, though it enjoys being petted and shows signs of jealousy if neglected. 
8. It does become strongly attached to places, and it often will desert its friends who have removed, and return to the strangers who occupy its old home.

More About House Cats:

• Domestic cat information from big cat rescue
• Where do domestic cats come from?
• Craft a Cat Scratching Post for Your Dolls
• Color the things that are black, including a cat...
• The Naughty Kitten-Cat Poem
• Paint a peppermint striped kitty for the Christmas tree
• Raggedy Ann and The Kittens
• Color-by-number: Beware of Cat

Paper Cuts for Halloween of Black Cats

       These little black cats may be used in the classroom and in personal crafts.

Story of A Mouse

       A very neat little Mouse once lived in the same house with an ill-natured old Cat. When this little Mouse left his bed in the morning, he always washed and brushed himself with great care, taking particular pains with his long tail, which he kept very sleek and pretty.

       One morning the untidy Cat had not been able to find her brush and comb, not having put them in their proper place the day before; and when the Mouse ran past her, she snapped his pretty tail quite off because she felt so cross. The little Mouse turned and said, " Please, Mrs, Cat, give me back my long tail!"

       Mrs. Cat answered, " I will give you your long tail if you will bring me a saucer of milk; I always like milk better than tails." The little Mouse had no milk in his pantry, but he took his tin pail and went to the Cow, saying -

       "Please, Mrs. Cow, give me some milk, and I will give Mrs. Cat some milk, and Mrs. Cat will give back my long tail."

       The Cow said, " I will give you some milk, but I must first have some hay." The little Mouse then took his wheelbarrow, and going to the farmer, said -

       "Please, Mr. Farmer, give me some hay, and I will give Mrs. Cow some hay; Mrs. Cow will give me some milk, and I will give Mrs. Cat some milk, and Mrs. Cat will give back my long tail."

       The farmer said, "I would be glad to give you some hay, but my barn door is locked; if you will go to the locksmith, and get me a key, I will unlock my barn, and give you all the hay you can carry on your little wheelbarrow."

       Then the little Mouse took his pocket-book, and went to the locksmith, saying, "Please, Mr. Locksmith, give me a key, and I will give the farmer a key, and the farmer will give me some hay, and I will give Mrs. Cow some hay, and Mrs. Cow will give me some milk, and I will give Mrs. Cat some milk, and Mrs. Cat will then give me back my long tail."

       The locksmith said, "I must have a file with which to make a key; if you will get me a file, I will make the key with great pleasure,"

       So the little Mouse took his satchel, and went to the blacksmith, and asked him, saying - "Please, Mr. Blacksmith, give me a file, and I will give Mr. Locksmith a file, and Mr. Locksmith will give me a key, and I will give the farmer a key, and the farmer will give me some hay, and I will give Mrs. Cow some hay, and Mrs. Cow will give me some milk, and I will give Mrs. Cat some milk, and Mrs. Cat will give me back my long tail." The blacksmith answered, "I need some coal to build a fire before I can make a file. If you will go to the miner, and get me some coal, I will be glad to make a file for you." So the Mouse took his little cart, and went down, down into the dark earth, until he saw a man, with a lantern on his hat, and when he spoke to the man, the man said, "Well done, little Mousie, how did you get so far without a light?"

       Mousie answered that he was quite used to playing in the dark, and now he must work night and day to get his tail again; and then he said-

       "Please, Mr. Miner, give me some coal, and I will give the blacksmith some coal, the blacksmith will give me a file, I will give the locksmith a file, the locksmith will give me a key, I will give the farmer a key, and the farmer will give me some hay, and I will give Mrs. Cow some hay, and Mrs. Cow will give me some milk, and I will give Mrs. Cat some milk, and Mrs. Cat will give me back my long tail."

       Then the miner filled the little cart with coal; and the Mouse trudged up to the blacksmith, who gave him the file, which he put in his little satchel, and then ran as fast as his feet would carry him to the locksmith, who gave him a key, which he put in his pocket-book, and carried to the farmer, who unlocked the barn door, and gave him all the hay he could pile upon his wheelbarrow. Mousie took the hay to Mrs. Cow, who filled his little tin pail with milk, which the Mouse carried to the cat, saying, "Now, Mrs. Cat, please give me back my long tail."

       Mrs. Cat said, " So I will, my dear; but where have I put it?"

       Then this untidy Cat called all the people in the house, saying, "Where could I have put that tail!" "Oh! now I think I know - I believe it is in the upper bureau drawer." But the tail was not in the upper bureau drawer, and the poor Mousie who had worked so hard was nearly ready to cry, and the milk was getting cold. Then Mrs. Cat said, "I must have put it in this closet," and she ran to the closet, pulling down dresses and boxes; but there was no tail there, and the little Mouse had to wink very

hard not to let the tears fall, and the milk was getting blue, when Mrs. Cat shouted, " Of course I put it in the second drawer" ;but she tumbled all the things out of the drawer and found no tail; then the little Mouse had to sing "Yankee Doodle" to keep from crying, and the milk was in danger of getting sour.

       Mrs. Cat now clapped her paws, and said, " Why, I know where it is - I ought to have thought before - I put it here in this lower drawer, in this very box, wrapped up so neatly in pink tissue paper. Yes; hurrah! here it is!" And the Mousie took his pretty, long tail, and ran home as fast as he could to get some glue to stick it on again; and Mrs. Cat ate her milk, thinking she would try hereafter to put things in their places.

The pudding-bag string...

Sing, sing! what shall we sing?

The cat's run away with the pudding-bag string...

Japanese Silhouette Version of Old Mother Hubbard

       Here is a unique set of silhouettes or paper cuts of a Mother Goose Rhyme, "Old Mother Hubbard" done up in a Japanese motif. The silhouettes are mounted on top of an ancient Japanese kimono design.

Fairy Friends Paper Cuts

    These fairies have butterfly wings and companions who play with them inside of a garden. Paper cuts also include flowers, grasses, birds and animal friends.

Classroom paper cuts of black cats . . .

 This black silhouette of a fuzzy cat would make a sweet paper cut for
   those of you practicing your cutting technique. He even has a furry chin.

Here is an additional stencil of a furry cat as well...

 Magic

Three pussy cats who had no tails, (as may be very plainly seen)
Went for a walk and little talk one magic Hallowe'en
Alas, alack! 'Twas very sad and most unfortunate. I ween
To have no tails to wave about on magic Hallowe'en. 

They walked a bit and talked a bit o'er little meadows nice and green

Until they came where cat-tails grow on magic Hallowe'en.

They wished for tails with all their might, with very patient sighs between

When suddenly they got some tails on magic Hallowe'en.

When happy wished come to you

And merry hopes that mean

Much to your blessed little hearts,

Just wish on Hallowe'en!

Just Admiring the Giant, Halloween, Yard Art on A Lovely Fall Day . . .

What on Earth . . . ?

I think I saw this in a movie once or . . . twice.

What's the . . .?

No way.

Wow, that's a really BIG CAT!

Learn about "Boo at The St. Louis Zoo" 

from GmaGpaAdventures

How To Draw a Halloween Cat

How to draw a Halloween cat by E. G. Lutz. Printable instruction sheet.

Once you've mastered drawing the simple cat above, why not try drawing a black cat on top of black paper like the one shown in the video below?

Draw Even More Black Cats:

• Draw black cats using vectors
• Time Lapse video of black cat using pastels

Restored Antique Alphabet Prints

      These restored antique alphabet prints would look charming in a child's nursery/bedroom or a homeschool classroom. I've cleaned and restored them for your next alphabet craft. Enjoy and read the Terms of Use before printing them out.

The above image for pinning please.

A was and Apple, an Archer, an Arrow. B was a Bird, Bear and a Barrow.

C for Cat and D for Dish, E for an Elephant, F for a Fish.

G for Goose and Ha for Ham, I for an Inn and J for Jam.

K for Kite and L for Light. M for the Moon and N for Night. O for Owl and P for Prattle,
Q for the Queen and R for Rattle.

S for Ship and T for Tap, U for an Urn and V for Vat. W for Windmill, for Watch & Wren,
 X stands in English for no word but ten.

Y is for Yew, for Youth and for Yeast, Z is for Zebra a beautiful beast.

More Restored Alphabet Print by Kathy Grimm:

• A Bible Alphabet from Thrifty Scissors
• A Noah's Ark Alphabet at Easter Egg Crafts
• Animal Alphabet Flash Cards at The Crayon Palace

Craft with old-fashioned Halloween silhouettes . . .

      Use these stencils to trace around with a white lead pencil onto black construction paper. Then hang them in your windows or cut them out for cards and stationary.

A black cat with glowing eyes peers into the darkness.

An old hag, witch, flies on her broom at night.

An owl perches on a fir branch with the moon behind.

More Vintage Fall Silhouettes:

• Paper cuts for Halloween of black cats here
  
• Vintage paper cuts for fall
• Paper cuts of more black cats... 
• Halloween silhouettes for paper treat bags
  

Two red-eyed owls perch in a tree in front of a big red moon.

Wise - Owl

At Night the Owl comes out
To sit and look about.
His wife and he 
Live in a tree-
Like other owls, no doubt.

 

At night he's very wise,

But he's blind in the bright sunrise,

And he turns his head

Clear 'round, 'tis said,

As he stares with his owlish eyes. 

 

by George Cassard