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Thursday, November 6, 2014

CARNIVOROUS PLANTS ATTACK!

WHEN CARNIVOROUS PLANTS ATTACK ONE MAGIC CLASSROOM!
THIS IS BROCK. 
BROCK WAS EATEN BY A VENUS FLYTRAP.


Sometime during my childhood (yeah...the 80s) I watched a movie called Little Shop of Horrors .  It's about a florist who raises a plant that eats HUMANS!  You heard right, humans.  We learned all about carnivorous (meat-eating) plants in class, so I thought we might as well dedicate a post to Little Shop of Horrors and get eaten by the plants we learned about.  Makes sense…..right? 

A scene from the movie Little Shop of Horrors (1986).


THE COBRA LILY
Presley was having a wonderful evening trotting to her grandmother's house with cookies, when suddenly….she smelled a wonderful nectar and decided to try it out.  Unfortunately the Cobra Lily lured her down the funnel of darkness, where she was only to become "Presley soup" for this carnivorous plant.  


What is a carnivorous plant?
THE VENUS FLYTRAP

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!
Carnivorous plants are meat-eating plants.  Most catch small insects, but some of the larger pitcher plants can even consume frogs and RATS!  They grow in boggy areas, where the soil lacks nutrients that most plants need to grow.  You'll find more carnivorous plants in the United States than anywhere else in the world!  So don't forget to ask mom and dad for your new plant pet this winter.  Just remember:  Don't feed them fertilizer.  They hate fertilizer!

VENUS FLYTRAP
Madison has no idea Macaulay Culkin already made this face famous in the biggest movie of 1990 HOME ALONE!  This was such a big movie, that my cousin Chris Martin had to sit on the floor (due to lack of seats at a sold out show).  See photo below.
FUN FACT:  Macaulay Culkin now plays in a band called The Pizza Underground.


GIANT AFRICAN SUNDEW
"This is the Giant African Sundew.  It is a carnivorous (meat-eating) plant that grows in all parts of the world.  It eats insects and bugs.  Each leaf has sticky hairs that the insect sticks to.  One interesting fact I learned about the Giant African Sundew, is that the sticky liquid shines in the sun to attract bugs."
-Danielle

Did I mention we wrote INFORMATIONAL ARTICLES as well about our plants?  Well, I'm mentioning that now.  Informational articles are FACTUAL.  That's right, full of totally awesome facts that make you just want to jump out of your seat for joy and yell "FACTS!"


PITCHER PLANT
"This is the Rajah Pitcher Plant.  It is a carnivorous (meat-eating) plant that grows in tropical countries.  It eats flies and small frogs.  It has slippery leaves that the insects can't cling onto, so they fall in!  One interesting fact I learned, is that some can be the size of footballs!"
-Izaiah


And don't forget the…..


BLADDERWORT!
Brady was trapped by a BLADDERWORT!

What you learned from today's lesson:
1.  Carnivorous plants are meat-eating plants.
2.  Carnivorous plants grow in boggy areas, where the soil is poor.
3.  Home Alone was the biggest movie of my childhood (after JURASSIC PARK of course).


"We are all special in our own way, the moment we choose to be."
        -Seth Godin