As the Sun goes down and day shifts to night across Earth, many animals such as humans and other primates will usually go to sleep while it is dark. However, there are many other creatures that are just starting their daily routine and the night is where they have adapted best. Animals that spend the majority of their time active throughout the night are what we call nocturnal. Often, they will have such behavior to enjoy the pleasures of the nighttime, predator evasion, foraging or hunting specific food items, raising their young, and just ultimately living their best life in the dark!

Nocturnality has evolved within a variety of species for many different reasons. These animals also have some of the most awesome adaptations such as heightened senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Kind of like superheroes of the night, if you ask me!
An animal's daily routine or circadian rhythm (the physical, mental, and behavioral changes over 24 hours) are not only reflective for organisms when light is present although many may depend on it for various factors within their own biological needs like heat, light, or food availability. How cool!

The animals we learn about in this class often go unnoticed if we don't know what to look and listen for. Sometimes even leading to some super wild myths and misinformation! Nighttime is innately interesting and generates our curiosity or perhaps even fear, as it is not usual for humans to be active then. I'm here to help set the record straight and educate you in order for you to gain a greater understanding of something we may not know all to much about, especially for our wonderful animals of Earth that have adapted to the dark!
When we can understand more about this part of the day and the animals that are active during it, we can alleviate much of that fear and shift that to respect instead! 

Exploring in safe ways during the night is an amazing way to experience nature! Identifying frog calls near freshwater sources, watching bats fly and hunt, hearing birds call to one another, looking for various insects and invertebrates like scorpions, spiders, and others are all wonderful ways to enjoy when done safely! You can even go for a hike during the day to look for signs of various species that may have came out through the night by finding footprints, feathers, and more.
Please do your own individual research (and ask me more!!!) and ask an adult to accompany on your adventure outdoors wherever/whenever it may be!

This is a class all about the different animals that are active in the dark or at night across Earth's ecosystems. Learners will learn about specific notable species as well as overall groups of animals that have shifted their evolution towards the benefits of nighttime living.

There will be plenty of facts provided on these animals as well as their characteristics, species diversity, and what makes them so special! We will work on broad (all encompassing) and narrow topics. There will be a focus on each groups natural history/biology, anatomy, and unique adaptations.
Certain classes we may have video clips to watch, activities like games/coloring pages/etcetera, and discussion about these creatures.

*Classroom is Night Themed-Various Effects/ Lights/ Sounds/ Animals*

*Certain weeks will have animal guests like snakes, lizards, chinchillas, hedgehog*
*August 27-no class* Tuesday EST 1 week behind*

Current Schedule:

October 7- Week 1: Cave and Blind Salamanders, Nocturnal Amphibians
October 14- Week 2: Black-footed Cat, Sand Cat, Pallas's Cat
October 21- Week 3: Binturong (Bearcat), Banded Palm Civet, Large Spotted Genet
October 28- Week 4: Crickets, May Beetle, Firefly, Nocturnal Stick and Leaf Insects, Cicada
November 4- Week 5: Bats (Insect-Eating Bats, Fish-Eating Bats, Fruit Bats, Vampire Bats)
November 11- Week 6: Sun Bear, Sloth Bear, Kinkajou
November 18- Week 7: Kiwis and other Nocturnal Birds of New Zealand
November 25- Week 8 Wombats, Gliding Possums, Bandicoot
December 2- Week 9:Boas, Pythons, and other Nocturnal Snakes
December 9- Week 10: Cuscus, Tree Kangaroo, Koala
December 16- Week 11: Sloth, Tamanduas and Anteaters
December 23- Week 12: Old World Porcupines, New World Porcupines, Hedgehogs
December 30- Week 13: Nightjars, Frogmouths, Potoos, Oilbirds
January 6- Week 14: Naked Mole Rat, Chinchillas, Flying Squirrels
January 13- Week 15: Fennec Fox, Ringtail, Raccoon Dog
January 20- Week 16: Tasmanian Devils and Tiger Quoll
January 27- Week 17: Aardvark, Armadillos, Bushpig
February 3- Week 18 Mata-mata Turtle, Snapping Turtles, Sea Turtle Nesting 
February 10- Week 19: Aardwolf, Pangolins, Hippopotamus 
February 17- Week 20: Pygmy Slow Loris, Red Slender Slow Loris, Potto, Greater Bush Baby (Galago)
February 24- Week 21: Night Monkeys, Aye-Aye, and other Nocturnal Primates
 March 3- Week 22: Moths, Scorpions, Spiders
March 10- Week 23: Owls and other Nocturnal Birds 
March 17- Week 24: Nocturnal Geckos and other Lizards, Nocturnal Crocodiles
March 24- Week 25 Raccoons, Opossums, Badgers
March 31- Week 26: Clouded Leopard, Jaguar, Ocelot


Students will also learn about these animal's conservation/ preservation, concerns, and threats as habitat loss amongst many other impacts affect these species. EDUCATION is the first step in conservation!

This is a lecture style, interactive class with many opportunities to ask and answer questions from myself or other students. 
No prior knowledge or experience is needed to take this course. A love for nature is most definitely appreciated :) Flexible Age Range!!!