Mason+S's+Turtle+Pinata

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The Mating, Birth and Hatching of Sea Turtles The fact that a turtle goes up onto a beach just to have some eggs in a place where sea gulls swarm like mosquitoes is truly amazing. That is why the turtle piñata is the best choice.

The mating age of a sea turtle doesn’t just vary from species but also from different groups of the species. Age may vary from 3 to 50 years in some types. These turtles are believed to be the proper mating age at 30 years of age. It often is related to the size of a sea turtle’s carapace (an upper section of the shell of the turtle). Some sea turtles continue to flourish after they reach the correct age as others stop. Some sea turtles are small while others are enormous.

Fins swooshing, turtles will migrate thousands of kilometers to special places where they mate. Sometimes, lucky turtles only have to travel up the coast to reach their home away from home. A lot of the time nesting occurs from April to November. Most turtles nest at night. In Florida and the Caribbean the egg count can be about 140 eggs. Although sometimes there can be up to 200 eggs. This may not sound like a lot, but just imagine laying 200 eggs in one travel up the beach. Now, it seems like a lot right? These turtles will usually mate in secretive lagoons.Every few years, females will drag their bodies up on to the beach after mating. Usually, that beach was where they were born. An idea on how they get back to their birthplace is their sense of smell. Some of the turtle species will go onto the beach in large groups while others go one by one. They will clear the area of trash and dig a hole in the ground using their back flippers. Usually this hole is larger at the top. Then she lays the eggs and covers them with sand. An interesting fact is while the females are laying the eggs water flows from their eyes. Glands in her eyes begin to get rid of excess salt in her body or maybe she is sad she will never see her darling kids again just like a good mother should. After the hour long process, the turtle goes back to the sea. The baby turtles will hatch about 2 months (60 days) later weighing less than an ounce. The mom sea turtle doesn’t watch the baby turtles. She leaves them on their own.

If their nests are cooler most of the turtles will be boys - really tough boys. On the other hand the warmer nest will mostly be made up of girls. Most of the hatchlings, the cute babies of the ocean, Hawksbill babies are mostly 1 or 2 inches long. That’s basically the size of a crayon. When the babies are young they are a light to dark brown color. At the size of 10 inches they begin to move out to sea. This is a dangerous part since sea gulls will swoop down and chomp on sea turtles for dinner. Once in the sea the sea turtle teenagers are still at risk to sharks and other large fish. Although a turtle’s shell probably doesn’t taste very good to other fish. Only 1 out of 1,000 grows to adult size.

At a final point, sea turtles are at so much risk. The process of finding a mate and finally leaving the children behind is hard but worth it in the long run.

__Material List__
 * 2 sheets of poster board
 * Scissors
 * Shoebox
 * Pencil
 * Packet of brown tissue paper
 * 1 Packet of tan tissue paper
 * 4 Packets of dark brown tissue paper
 * 2 Packets of green tissue paper
 * 3 bottles of liquid glue
 * A foot of fishing line
 * A pack of popcorn
 * 2 paper clips

__How-To Paper__ First of all, make sure that you have all of the supplies on the materials list. Next, trace a picture of a sea turtle on each piece of cardboard. Then, cut out the picture that you traced. Take the tissue paper out of the package and cut the sheets of paper into little pieces. The most important step of all is to roll. Get a small piece of tissue paper in between your two palms. Then begin to move your hands in a motion that is hard to explain but it will come naturally. After you have rolled all of the paper you need to fill all of the turtle (which is a lot), you begin to glue it to the paper. Drop some glue on the poster board and stick your tissue balls onto the glued up area. Do this for all of the poster board. Next, take the shoebox and fill it with popped popcorn. Cut a hole in the side so you can open the hatch to release the "eggs". Next, wrap the shoebox in tissue paper but leave a blank area for the hatch. Attach the mfishing line to the top of the box. Glue the 2 turtle pictures to either side of the shoebox without covering the fishing line. Finally, make sure that the heads are at the oppisite end of hatch.

__Photos __

Unavalible at the moment caused by extreme technical difficulties beyond our control

__Bibliography__

<span style="display: block; font-family: impact,charcoal,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-family: impact,charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">[] <span style="display: block; font-family: impact,charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-family: impact,charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">[] <span style="display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">[] <span style="display: block; font-family: impact,charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">__Sea Turtles written by: Elizabeth Laskey__