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A L Li G aTo RA cTi vi ty B o O KFun Facts, PuzzlEs and GamEs aboutFlor i da’s StatE REpt i lE!
A LLi GaToR FaCTs :1The American alligator and dinosaursare cousins. Both alligators and dinosaursdescended from a common ancestor morethan 200 million years ago.2An alligator can live in fresh or brackishwater (a mix of fresh and salt water).This includes canals, lakes, marshes,swamps, rivers, creeks and ponds.has five toes on its front feet3 Anandalligatorfour webbed toes on its back feetwhich help it swim.4675An alligator can live for more than 50 yearsin captivity. The oldest alligator in captivityis over 76 years old and lives in a zoo in Siberia.There are around 1.2 million alligators in Florida.A female alligator canlay up to 50 eggs at a time.9An alligator mainly eats fish,turtles, various mammals, birdsand other reptiles.8The American alligator is the officialState Reptile of Florida.An alligator has roughly 80 teeth in its mouth at one time.As the teeth wear down they are replaced with new teeth.An average alligator can go through 2,000 to 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.male alligator can grow as large1 0 Anas 14adultfeet and weight more than 1,000 pounds.bask in the1 1 Alligatorssun to keep warm.are differences between alligators and crocodiles.1 2 ThereMost noticeably, when an alligator’s mouth is closed you cannotsee its teeth; when a crocodile’s mouth is closed the fourth toothon its lower jaw sticks out.13An alligator can rip and swallowits food but it cannot chew.15214An alligator can stay underwaterwithout air for more than two hours.Never approach or feed and alligator.Feeding alligators makes them lose theirfear of humans. Feeding an alligator isagainst the law.
G aTo RG a LL ERYBaby American alligators, showing the distinctive yellowstripes found on young alligators.Wikipedia.orgAn alligator capturing a frog.Credit: Andrea Westmoreland, Wikipedia.org.A female alligator guards her eggs in the nest she built from vegetation.State Archives of Florida, Florida MemoryMale alligators bellow during thespring to attract females and to warnaway other males.A large male alligator basking in the sun.State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.comA close look at an alligator in Florida’s Gatorland.Wikipedia.orgAlligators can leap upward from the water to capture food.3
MESSAGEin t heMUD!The alligator has written a message in the mud on this riverbank, but he wants youto guess one word of the message!Guess another word for each wordin the list of clues, and theletters in the green boxes willgive you the missing wordof the message!BlossomFairyGreenSunrisePuzzle answerson page 8.Find you r way th rough the Puzzle, then COLOR ME!4
A l l i G a t orW O r d F i ndCan you find thewords below HIDDENin the Puzzle ?BiteReptileEggsSwampNestTeethAlligator BaskLakeJawPuzzle answers on page 8.Alligator Word ScrambleCan you unscramble the color words belowto fill in the blanks?litpsere revsri rtluets wolswla kbsa hetetAlligators areand like to live in,lakes and swamps. They eat mainly fish,,andsome mammals. They can rip andtheir foodbut not chew. Alligatorsin the sun to keepwarm. An alligator has about 80that arereplaced as they wear down.5
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Color Me!Can you Matchthe Words?Match the r ightword to the correctanswe r! Write theL ETTE R of the wo r d onthe line next to theANSWE R you thinki s co rr ect!An alligator can live in fresh and this kind of water.An alligator’s back feet are this.B: ReptilesFor up to two hours an alligator can stay here.C: DietAlligators are cousins of these.D: WebbedFish, turtles, various mammals and birds areE: Feetsome of this for an alligator.F: BaskAlligators can’t do this to their food.G: Dinosaurs This is what alligators like to do when the sun is shining.H: Underwater Feeding alligators can make them lose fear of these.I: BrackishAn adult male alligator can be up to 14 of these.An alligator is one kind of these.J: HumansA: ChewPuzzle answers on page 8.7
Alligator Word Find, page 5www.Florida-Alligator.comAlligator Wordlitpsere revsri rtluets wolswla kbsa hetetScramble, page 5 reptiles rivers turtles swallow bask teethAlligator Word Match, page 7I An alligator can live in fresh and this kind of water.A: ChewD An alligator’s back feet are this.B: ReptilesH For up to two hours an alligator can stay here.C: DietG Alligators are cousins of these.D: WebbedC Fish, turtles, various mammals and birds areE: Feetsome of this for an alligator.F: BaskA Alligators can’t do this to their food.G: DinosaursFThis is what alligators like to do when the sun is shining.H: UnderwaterJ Feeding alligators can make them lose fear of these.E An adult male alligator can be up to 14 of these.B An alligator is one kind of these.Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesDACS-P-?8I: BrackishJ: HumansSwamp Maze, Page 6BlossomFairyGreenSunrisePuzzleAnswersPuzzle On Page 4Message in the MUD, page 4E RF L O WE L F R A L DEME ND A W
its food but it cannot chew. An alligator can stay underwater 13 14 without air for more than two hours. Never approach or feed and alligator. Feeding alligators makes them lose their fear of humans. Feeding an alligator is against the law. 15 An alligator has ve toes on its front feet and four webbed toes on its back feet which help it swim. 3 2
