Our Wonder Pet

Is it a mouse? A rabbit? A squirrel?

No... it's a chinchilla! Wait - what's a chinchilla? Keep reading to find out more about our Wonder Pet!

 

 

In the fall of 2013, I officially adopted a 6 week old chinchilla. He was born in Rock Hill on August 22. When I visited him in September, he was so precious and tiny, I thought he was "as cute as a button!" That's when I decided to name him Oliver Button, after a children's book character.

 

While we were waiting for Oliver Button to be weaned, I challenged my first graders to find out all they could about chinchillas. We found a website that was just for kids!  Click here to discover more!

Through our research, we learned that chinchillas are native to the Andes Mountains in South America, specifically Chile and Peru. We located the Andes Mountains on our classroom globe and traced the path from there to our home in North America. The children were amazed by the distance!

We expanded our vocabulary with words like habitat, crevice, predator, density, and crepuscular. We recorded facts such as chinchillas can live to be 20 years old, and they take dust baths in volcanic ash. (Volcanic - that sparked a whole new conversation, as you can imagine!)

Who knew the simple act of adopting a classroom pet would create the perfect Inquiry-Based Learning experience?