Panda What?

We are now deep in the heart of our Asia unit.  We've counted to ten in Mandarin, thanks to the help of some former students fluent in the language, we've also drawn some chinese characters, and today we discussed the Giant Panda.  Did you know that some scientists believe pandas are related to raccoons??  Take a look at the Red Panda and you'll see why:

Some other interesting tidbits: pandas are considered carnivores even though 99% of their diet is bamboo.  They also have five fingers and a thumb to help them grip the bamboo.  The children wanted to see the pandas in action, so we logged on to the San Diego Zoo's PandaCam to see what they were up to:
PandaCam

After China, we'll venture over to Japan to discuss origami and kite-making.  I'll be putting our Japanese Sand Garden out on the peace shelf for all to try.  It's a wonderfully therapeutic activity that adults enjoy just as much as the children:  Sand Garden.  Then on to Tibet and India.  Any moms from my classroom interested in teaching us how to wrap a Sari?