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Activities for Cactus Hotel
Read Cactus Hotel to experience the desert. Create a model of the Cactus Hotel. Research an animal that lives in the Cactus Hotel and draw a picture of it.
Buy four cactus plants. Care for one plant as defined in the directions. Give another ten times the amount of water recommended. Water a third plant every day to keep it
saturated. Give one plant no water at all. After a week, cut open the plants to compare the fibers inside. Which method of care was best for the cactus and why?
Record the age and growth measurement of the cactus in Cactus Hotel. For example, after 10 years, it is 4 inches tall. Measure lengths of string that correspond to the heights
of the cactus as it grows. Take the longest (50 feet) outside to see the final height of this giant saguaro.
Discuss the role of the cactus after it falls over. Compare this to snags and nurse logs in a forest. Read Teddy Roosevelt's Elk to see how
plants and animals in another environment are connected. Who eats velvet after it drops from elk antlers? Who chews on the antlers after
they fall? Research to find out more about how natural materials convert from one use to another. Dung beetles and vultures are possibilities. Talk about recycling in our
neighborhoods.
On a map, locate the Saguaro National Monument in southern Arizona. Locate the Olympic Mountains in Washington. Find other national parks and discuss the need for protecting
unique environments.
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