Kaitlyn’s mom and dad visited our classroom on Friday February 17th to tell us about the Philippines.  We listened, took notes and then blogged on Kidblog about what we had learned.    Mrs. Todd also read us a book about the Philippines. 

Kaitlyn’s mom  had a power point presentation for us.   Her dad took pictures of us. 

This is some of the things we learned…..

• The Philippines is a country made up of islands.  It’s just like the continent Australia , Hawaii and New Zealand with water all around it.  It is located in the western Pacific Ocean.  Some islands don’t have any one living on them they are so small.  Other islands have mountain ranges, valleys and rivers.  The Philippine islands are located southeast of Hong Kong and northeast of Indonesia.  A few weeks ago we were graphing and looked at our shirts and where they were made.  Several of us had shirts on  that day made in these countries.  The Celebes Sea, South China Sea and the Philippine Sea surround the islands.
• Do you know what an archipelago is?  It’s the Philippines
• The Philippines are about the size of Arizona.
• They have active volcanoes just like  New Zealand does.  Mount Mayon is the most active.  Mount Pinatubo is another active volcano.    It was asleep for six hundred years.  In 1991 it began erupting. 
• They have no snow.
• They have two seasons–one wet and one dry.  It’s called the monsoon when it’s wet.  Winter is dry from December to April.  Summer is wet from May to November.
• Flooding is common during the wet season.
• It’s warm or hot  all year. 
• Typhoons are like our hurricanes.
• Manila is the capital and largest city.
• Seaports are where people trade.  The ships sail in and out with products.
• They have pythons, monitor lizards, and tree frogs in the mangrove swamps.
• They have birds.
• Orchids grow wild on the island.
• People call it a tropical paradise if they are tourists.
• We learned that they speak Philipino language and English.  It might be spelled Filipino by some.  It is based on an old language called Tagalog.  Children in school speak English in the classroom. 
• They celebrate Christmas from September to December.  They don’t have Thanksgiving but do celebrate Halloween.  They like some of the same candy that we do.
• They have different traditions from many different countries.  They may eat Spanish and Chinese foods.  They eat rice at most meals.  They eat roasted pig with an apple in it’s mouth for big celebrations.  The favorite dessert is rice cakes.
• They play baseball, basketball, flying kites  and Sipa.  It is like volleyball but players do not use their hands.  They must keep the ball up and going.
• About half of the people live on small family farms and rice is the most important crop.  It grows in flat fields the can be flooded easily.  Farmers living in the mountains also grow it on terraces.  Streams are used to flood it.  They also grow sugarcane to sell to others.  Fruits such as pineapples, oranges, mangoes, and bananas are important exports. 
• Farming isn’t the only way to make money.  They have textile weaving.  People weave beautiful  baskets from the pineapple and palm leaves.
• Tourists like to scuba dive and see the coral off shore. 
• Jeepneys are a cross between a jeep and bus and people use these for travel and bicycles.                                                                                                                                                            
• They have technology but cost of it may prohibit widespread use of it. 
• Children learn many of the same subjects as we do.
• They have the smallest monkey about the size of your hand.