Welcome to Peru!
Before we head to Peru, you may want to watch The Emperor’s New Groove; Dora and the Lost City of Gold; Paddington (2014); Raiders of the Lost Ark; Tad, the Lost Explorer; Pachamama; or Max is Missing.
It sure took us a long time to Get to Peru from India. It is practically on the other side of the world. Notice that Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere and the United States is in the Northern Hemisphere. They are divided by the equator, which is the imaginary line that cuts the Earth directly in half.
60% of Peru is in the Amazon rainforest. It has the worlds largest number of bird species. People in Peru grow more than 3,000 different kinds of potatoes and 55 types of corn. They also grow over 3,000 types of orchids.
Fun Sites to See
Peru is a sight to be seen. Take a look at these videos for fun things to see.
Landmarks
Kids Tour the Amazon Rainforest
Virtual Field Trip of Amazon Rainforest
Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca
Sunset Exploration of the Sand Dunes of Huacachina, Peru
Music
Dance
Still More Peruvian Folk Dance
People & Culture
Peru’s Quechua Indians: Culture and Family Traditions of the Inca Descendants
Animals of Peru
Alpacas, llamas, Vicunas, Guanacos
Penguins in Peru, Who Knew?
The total world population of Humboldt penguins currently stands at around 12,000 breeding pairs, with about 8,000 pairs in Chile and the remaining 4,000 pairs in Peru.
The population is currently undergoing a serious decline, and the major causes are thought to be over-fishing of prey species, entanglement in fishing nets, and commercial guano removal.
Penguin Pal
Materials
- Egg carton
- Black paint
- Paintbrush
- White and orange cardstock
- Scissors
- Googly eyes
- Glue
Instructions
1. Paint your egg carton pieces black and let them dry.
2. Using the orange cardstock, cut out a tiny triangle for the beak and 2 tiny ovals for the penguin feet.
3. Cut out a circle from the white cardstock for the belly of the penguin.
4. Glue on belly, googly eyes, feet, and beak.
Paper Plate Weaving
Materials
- Paper plate
- Ruler
- Pen or pencil
- Scissors
- Yarn
Instructions
1. Using a pen and a ruler, draw 8 lines that cross through the center of the plate to make 16 equal sections. If you want a loser weave, draw less lines; for a tighter weave add more sections.
2. Label each line starting at one and ending at 16.
3. Use scissors to cut the edges of the plate at each number.
4. Fasten the end of yarn on line 1, stretch yarn across plate and fasten at line nine.
5. Wind the yarn behind plate and fasten to 10.
6. Continue winding yarn across the plate and fastening in the given order: 2-3-11-12-4-5-13-14-6-7-16-15-8-9
7. Tie in middle
8. You should know have a yarn wheel with 17 yarn spokes (line 9 should have 2 yarn spokes). You have now made your loom.
9. Get a different color yarn and tie it to the middle.
10. Start threading the yarn through the spokes. Going over, under, over, under. Because of the odd number of spokes, the pattern will reverse when you get to line 1 again.
11. Try not to pull the yarn too tightly so that it will remain flat.
12. When you get to the end of the yarn, tie next piece on to the end of the yarn and keep going.
13. When finished tie end of yarn to one of the yarn spokes and take yarn spokes off the plate (if the yarn spokes are to loss you can cut each loop in half and tie together tighter.
Butterfly
Peru has the most types of butterflies in the world. There are approximately 3,700 different kinds of butterflies in Peru alone. Oregon has 153 kinds of butterflies for comparison.
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Materials
- Colored paper (one color for body and two colors for wings)
- Googly eyes
- Black marker
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions
1.Trace your hands, 2 handprints per color, (4 handprints total)
2. Cut out a circle for the head of the butterfly
3. Cut out an oval for the body, make sure it is long enough to extend to bottom of the handprints
4. Cut out 2 small ovals for the antennas
5. Position 1 handprint with thumb on top, rotated up a little
6. Position other color rotated down a little
7. Place the top hands over the bottom just a little bit and glue it on
8. Glue the head, body, and antennas together then glue the wings on the back
9. Glue on eyes
10. Draw a mouth
Rainstick
Rainsticks are thought to originate in Latin America. People made them by drying a cactus (which is naturally hollow) and driving the needles into the cactus to smooth off its surface.
Materials
- Long cardboard tube
- Aluminum foil
- Rice
- Clear tape
- Colored paper
- Paint (optional)
Instructions
1.Take 10 feet square foil and twist into snake like shape
2. Next wrap foil around something like broom handle to make a spiral.
3. Take small piece of foil, about 7 feet long and twist into skinny wire like shape.
4. Twist small foil around spoon handle to create spiral.
5. Put smaller spiral in larger spiral.
NOTE: The above steps have already been done for you.
6. Place one end of the paper towel roll on a piece of paper and trace a circle. Then draw a slightly bigger circle around it.
7. Do step 6 again for the other side of the tube.
8. Cut out the circles and then cut lines going from the outer circle to the inner circle.
9. Tape one circle to the end of the paper towel roll. Place roll on circle and tape flaps to the sides.
10. Insert the foil spirals into tube (they should already be inside of your tube).
11. Put the rice inside the tube.
12. Place the other circle on the open end of the tube and tape it on the tube.
13. Make sure the ends are secured well with tape.
14. Wrap a piece of colored paper around the tube and tape on, or paint it with your acrylic paint.
15. Add any other decorations you want.
Birds
Peru is home to more than 1,800 bird species, 120 of which are found nowhere else in the world. At least five new species have also been discovered as of this year and are still waiting official scientific description.
Nearly 500 species of birds have been recorded in Oregon. Of these, there are approximately 275 species that regularly breed, and another 85 that regularly migrate through or winter.
Materials
- Construction paper
- Tape
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions
1.Pick out the base color for the bird’s body
2. Draw the body on the paper, start with a long horizontal line, then do a small bump going down for the head, then connect the head and the back of the line with a bigger bump for the body like you see in the picture.
3. Cut it out
4. Next draw and cut out a halve circle of another color for the bely, tape on to main body
5. Using the same color as the body, make the tail and wings, fold the paper in a fan like pattern, tape the tail on to the back
6. For the wings, once the fan pattern is folded, cut in half opposite the way of the folding to make 2 equal wings, tape them on
7. Cut out triangle for beak, tape it on
8. Glue on eyes
And, voila! You have finished making your Peruvian bird.
Rainbow Mountain
The reason we see the rainbow coloration in the layers of the Ausangate Mountain is mostly due to weathering and mineralogy. The red coloration of sedimentary layers often indicates iron oxide rust as a trace mineral.
This “painted mountain” is notoriously difficult to find and get to, requiring several days of hiking to reach its peak deep within the Andes by way of Cusco. The mountain sits at an elevation of 6,384 meters and is located approximately 100 km southeast of the major city Cusco.
The local area is rich in geology, from uplifted granitic cliffs to glaciers which have eroded large valleys and the cretaceous limestone “forest” nearby.
Materials
- Colored sand
- Jars
Instructions
1.Put a layer of colored sand in jar.
2. Add another layer of a different color.
3. Continue with different colors until the jar is full.
4. Seal the jar with the lid.
Llamas
Llamas are related to the camel and are the oldest domesticated animal in the world. The llama was used both as food and as a pack animal by the Incas. Llamas are not the same species as their smaller, fluffier cousin the alpaca. They can live between 15 and 25 years, with some living as long as 35. Llamas spit when they are agitated, so watch out. Llamas have three stomachs and eat grass, weeds, and other plants. They are very social and can make great pets.
Materials
- Pipe cleaners
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pom poms
- Felt,
- Back marker
- Wool roving
- Ricrac
Instructions
1.Starting at one end of the pipe cleaner, go a little inward then bend a section up and then down again, moving back towards the end, then do this again right next to it then twist the extra around to keep it secure. These will be the ears.
2. Go further down the middle of the pipe cleaner for the neck, then bend sideways for body, then down again.
3. Take the bottom section of this pipe cleaner and bend up and then down again to make legs, stick a little off the back for a tail then wrap the remaining length around body.
4. Make front legs and twist them on to secure it in place. Twist all the extra around the body. The second pipe cleaner will be used for this.
5. Glue matching pom-pom onto the neck and let it dry.
6. Take a piece of wool and fluff it out a little with your hands before wrapping it around the body and the neck, it may take some fiddling to get the wool how you like it. Add a little glue to the end to secure it in place.
7. Glue ricrac to felt to make the blanket, then glue the blanket on the back of the llama
8. Paint on the face. Note: Marker does not work.
Peruvian Bead Necklace
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Materials
- Cording
- Watercolors
- Clay
- Wood beads
- Bamboo skewer
- Waxed paper
- Scissors
- Pencil
Instructions
1.Cover the work area with waxed paper.
2. Take a small amount of clay about the size of a walnut, roll in your hands to form a ball. Dip your finger in water to smooth the sides and ends if needed.
3. To create a hole, carefully insert the bamboo skewer through the bead, twisting to make a hole slightly larger than the skewer. Let the clay dry.
4. Use a pencil to sketch out your design on clay.
5. Use black marker to outline the lines.
6. Use watercolors to paint on your design.
7. Cut the cording to where it fits around your neck. Knot it twice so that it does not slide through the hole.
If you want to make an adjustable sliding knot for your necklace, here’s how.
Sliding Knot Instructions
1.Cross both ends of cord, so the left cord is in front of the right cord.
2. Wrap the left cord around the right cord.
3. Wrap around the right cord again, making one complete loop. Be sure to keep these loops loose while wrapping.
4. Continue wrapping around the right cord.
Peruvian Instruments
According to archaeological findings, the Incas played many musical instruments such as the pan flute, drums, bells, seashell trumpets, and tambourines.
In the picture is a zampoña, This traditional Andean panpipe is handcrafted. There are many styles of the zampoña; some are six feet long and are played standing on a chair.
Make a Pan Flute
Materials
- Straws
- Cardstock
- Scissors
- Tape
Instructions
1.Cut the straws into different lengths.
2. Tape them all so their tops line up.
Nazca Lines
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The Nazca Lines are a group of very large geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people making depressions or shallow incisions in the desert floor, removing pebbles and leaving differently colored dirt exposed.
The figures vary in complexity. Hundreds are simple lines and geometric shapes; more than 70 are zoomorphic designs, including a hummingbird, spider, fish, condor, heron, monkey, lizard, dog, and a human. They were made by removing the top layer of reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles to reveal a yellow-grey subsoil.
Make Your Own Nazca Line
Materials
- Sand
- Glue
- Cardstock
- Paintbrush
- Red and brown paint (optional)
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Instructions
1.Mix red and brown paint and glue. Use half as much glue as the paint.
2. Using a thick brush, spread the mixture over paper.
3. Before the paint dries, use the end of a watercolor brush to etch your design in the paint. You can either copy a real design or make your own.