TECHNOLOGY GETS YOU CLOSE TO ZOO ANIMALS
Nearly 120,000 people watched the Houston Zoo’s elephants get a bath last week.
The sudsy show featuring Tess, Tupelo and Tilly was part of the zoo’s new meet-the-animals series that streams live on Facebook.
Giraffes, goats, mongoose and a cheetah have also appeared in the sessions, which zookeepers film on an iPhone. Families can use the comments section to post questions that get answered in real time.
Last Friday, viewers met Curly, a two-toed sloth.
While Curly hung upside down and snacked on grapes, apples, carrots and hard-boiled eggs, Kamryn Suttinger, the zoo’s supervisor of natural encounters, pointed out his characteristics, including shiny fur that grows in a pattern to allows rainwater to drip off quickly.
Viewers learned that sloths are good swimmers and, contrary to common belief, can be quite quick when being pursued by a predator.
When Curly moved his face so close to the camera that onlookers were looking down his nostrils, Suttinger took the opportunity to explain that sloths sweat through their noses.
Then, a Facebook question led to a lesson around nature’s call. Thanks to a slow metabolism and large bladder — which holds up to a gallon — sloths in the wild only need to relieve themselves about once every two weeks.
Right now, the zoo’s Jackie Wallace says parents are “looking to engage the entire family in smart, fun ways.”
Watching animals in their everyday routines “provides a little bit of a respite from the stress” we’re combating, she says.
The new series is available at youtube.com/houstonzoo.
Black belt in coding
When Ellicia Knolle, co-owner of the Code Ninjas franchises in Tanglewood and Pearland Silverlake, read about a communicable disease spreading across continents, she enacted a plan in case she needed to temporarily close her learning centers.
Based in Pearland, Code Ninjas is an international franchise that teaches kids as young as kindergarten how to code. Teachers are referred to as senseis and children rise through levels using a colorcoded belt system.
Thanks to her staff of recent college grads who studied computer science, Knolle piloted her franchises’ first-ever virtual classes last week.
Hosted on Zoom, each interactive class maxes out at 10 students. Step-by-step instruction allows children to learn programming languages, such as Python and Scratch, as a group.
“Right now, more than anytime, we need our kids to have connection with other kids,” says Knolle.
Virtual classes are priced the same as in-person classes (codeninjas.com/locations/tx-tanglewood).
Chapter and verse come alive
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, locally owned Brazos Bookstore has moved its regular, inperson storytime to a virtual setting on Facebook. Saturday’s session will feature American Sign Language interpretation.
Acknowledging that readers of all ages are feeling cooped up right now, the bookseller is hosting bookmark-decorating contests for both adults and children (brazosbookstore.com).
Teens and tweens can make use of Friendswood Public Library’s new series. Youth services librarian Christina Hicks has been posting her by-chapter readings of the “Upside-Down Magic” series on facebook.com/friendswoodlibrary.
At the Children’s Museum of Houston, educators are strapping on guitars and ukuleles to post music videos teaching concepts such as melody and harmony. In addition, the educators are streaming bilingual storytimes and science experiments (youtube.com/childrensmuseumhou).
ZOOKEEPER BRIAN STUCKY SHOOTS AN UP-CLOSE VIDEO OF A MONGOOSE AT THE HOUSTON ZOO.