Amazing Facts About Cows

Written and Illustrated by Class 2-218

Ms. Trupia

Dedications

Ms. Shaw

I would like to dedicate thisbook to my friend Ms. HamSweeney who died ofcancer one week beforeThanksgiving. Ms. Sweeneywas also a TechnologyTeacher who did thisanimal book project withher 2nd graders at PS 315in Brooklyn.

She loved being a teacher andspending time with familyand friends. Her hobbieswere reading, takingpictures with her digitalcamera, and traveling tointeresting places.

She inspired all who knew herto be brave in the face ofdanger and to alwaysbehave with integrity.

The Children

We would like todedicate this bookto our familiesbecause they help usout with so manythings likehomework, keepingour room clean,caring for us whenwe are sick andreading to us.

We hope you enjoy thisbook. When youread this book it willknock your socks off.

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Table of Contents

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Introduction . . . 4What does a cow look like? . 5What does a cow eat? .. . 6How do cows have babies? . . 7Where do cows live? . 8How do you milk a cow? . . 9What happens when a cow gets sick? . 10How do cows help farmers? . . 11What foods come from milk? . . 12What foods come from cows? .. 13What does “Holy Cow” mean? .. 14What is cow hide? . . . 15Amazing Facts . . . 16Glossary . . . 17More to Know . . . 18About the Authors . . . 20

Introduction

This book represents the culminating activity of an inquirybased research project that integrates technology withliteracy and science.

Every child participated in the process of posing questionsand researching material. Children learned the value ofreading for information from books, web sites andmagazine articles and working together in groups. Theyalso learned important nonfiction skills such asorganizing information into chapters, illustrating textwith diagrams, defining new vocabulary words in aglossary and referencing source materials.

In addition to the administrative support we received fromMrs. Connolly, our Principal, and Ms. Impieri, Ms.Kostopoulos and Ms. Rudolph, our Assistant Principals,many teachers outside the computer lab supported thiseffort and I wish to take this opportunity to thank themfor their contribution. They are Ms. Trupia, Class 2-218,Mr. Monahan, Science, Ms. Komae Library and Ms.Schiavi, Art.

Next, Nancy Rivera and volunteers from our wonderful PTAwere gracious enough to bind the books for us.

And finally, we are all very grateful to our Councilperson, Ms.Diana Reyna, for our beautiful new computer lab.

Heartfelt thanks to each and every one.

Nancy ShawTechnology Teacher

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What does a cow look like?

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A cow is a mammal. A cow is black and white and brown. A cow weighs about 1,600 pounds.

Avy and Raul

What does a cow eat?

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Cows eat grass. Cows eat hay. And the baby cows drink milk. When cows eat grass they swallow first. A couple of minutes later they have to spit it out and then they have to chew it again.

Jonathan and Katelynn

How do cows have babies?

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The mommy cow is pregnant for nine months. She can have two babies at a time but usually she has only one. A baby cow is called a calf. A calf weighs 80 pounds when it is born. A calf drinks milk from the mommy’s teat.

Ignalin and Tiffeny

Where do cows live?

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Cows live on a farm. Cows sleep in a barn.

Shervin and Jenny

How do you milk a cow?

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You have to put a bucket under the cow. Then you squeeze the teat and milk will happen.

Farmers have a machine that squeezes the cow’s teat and put the milk into plastic gallon jars.

John and Omar

What happens when a cow gets sick?

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When the cow gets sick they go to the vet which is short for veterinarian. The vet gives them a vaccine to protect them from getting a disease.

Jakub and Besnik

How do cows help farmers?

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Cows work on a farm. They pull the plough. When you go on a school trip you can see cows. Farmers can sell milk to the store. After the cow dies the farmer can make meat and sell it to the store.

Eduardo, Jazlyn and Eddy

What foods come from milk?

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You can make

John and Omar

You can make cheese.

You can make milkshakes and

You can make yogurt.

What foods come from cows?

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Cows give us meat. You can make roast beef sandwiches, hamburgers and steak.

Loknath and George

What Does “Holy Cow” Mean?

14Jasmine and Alicia

In India people don’t kill cows for meat. They treat their cows nice because they believe that the cow is holy.

What is cow hide?

15Annabelle and Karla

Amazing Facts

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1. Wild cows and calves are always together in a herd.

2. Cows can take aspirin but they can’t take antibiotics.

3. Cows can drink up to 35 gallons of water a day.

4. Cows can smell something up to 6 miles away.

5. Cows do not bite grass: they curl their tongue around it.

6. The oldest cow was Bertha. She died just 3 months before her 49th birthday!

7. Cows can eat 40 pounds of grass a day.

8. Different cows make different kinds of milk.

9. Cows eat more than people do.

10. Cows use their tail to hit the flies.

Glossary

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Bacteria Many little organisms that are made of only one cell

Beef cow meat

Cowhide cow skin that is made into leather

Cud the part of food that a cows returns from the first stomach to her mouth to chew a second time.

Heart girth measurement that starts in front of the ribs and goes around the behind the shoulder. A healthy cow’s heart girth is nice and round.

Rumen a cow’s first stomach

Teat Part of the cow’s udder

Veterinarian animal doctor

More to Know

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AIPL Kid’s Cornerhttp://www.aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/cowfacts.html

All About Cows for Kidshttp://www.kiddyhouse.com/Farm/Cows/

Anatomyhttp://www.animalcorner.co.uk/farm/cows/cow_anatomy.html

Ask http://www.askkids.com/web?q=cows&search=&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir

BBChttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/09/080908_cows.shtml

Britannicahttp://www.school.eb.com/all/elementary/article?articleId=352928&query=cow%20life%20cycle&ct=null

Cattlehttp://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0810900.html

Cow Powerhttp://www.cvps.com/cowpower/

Cows for Kidshttp://www.cowsforkids.org/

More to Know

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Dairy Cowshttp://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/general/barnyard/dairybn.htm

Dairy Farminghttp://www.dairyfarmingtoday.org/DairyFarmingToday/Home/

Dictionaryhttp://dictionary.reference.com/?o=100074

Electronic Zoo - NetVet

http://netvet.wustl.edu/cows.htm

Enchanted Learninghttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mam

mals/farm/Cowprintout.shtml

Heart Girthhttp://www.ddffa.org/judging/Beef/beeftwo/ajsteerheartgirth.html

PBShttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/holycow/hinduis

m.html

About the Authors

We, the students of 2-218, wrote this book so you could learn about the nature of a cow. In the beginning we created a KWL. First we wrote what we already know. Then we wrote down our questions. Finally we checked out websites for information and pictures. We even saw a video about how a cow digests food.

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http://www.wpclipart.com/animals/C/cow/cows_and_calves.png.html