ICADnis the annual five-day-long celebration of the most intelligentninvertebrates (animals without backbones) in the world. Tomorrownnight is Nautilus Night, Wednesday is Squid Day, Thursday is “Releasenthe Kraken!” Day (a day to celebrate the fantastic cephalopods ofnmyth and legend), and Friday finishes off with Cephalophossil Dayn(coordinating with National Fossil Day, this day celebratesncephalopod fossils).
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAnd today isnOctopus Day!
n
n
n
n
n
n
Whatndo we do on Octopus Day?
Whatndo we do on Octopus Day?n
n
n
n
n
nWencelebrate all the eight-armed-and-no-tentacles cephalopods! (Squidnand cuttlefish have eight arms but also two tentacles, so they haventen long, flexible appendages.)
n
n
n
n
n
nWait…what’snthe difference between an arm and a tentacle? n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Cephalopodntentacles only have suckers at the end, and cephalopod arms havensuckers along their entire length. n
Cephalopodntentacles only have suckers at the end, and cephalopod arms havensuckers along their entire length. nn
n
n
n
n
nButna lot of sources I am finding use arms and tentacles in the same way.nSo you’ll read in some places that octopi have eight tentacles andnsquid have ten tentacles, for example.
n
n
n
n
n Wait,nwait, wait…what’s a cephalopod?
nn
n
n
n
n
nThenGreek word part “cephalo-” means “head,” and “-pod” meansn“foot.” So the name of this group of animals means “head-footed.”nThat is because these mollusks have larger, more important heads andnlarger brains than other mollusks such as clams and snails. And that’snwhy these creatures are smarter.
n
n
n
n
n
nMostncephalopods are hunters, and you have to be smart to be a successfulnhunter. (A few cephalopods are scavengers rather than hunters. Innother words, they eat scraps of dead bodies.) n
n
n
n
n
n
nCelebrate!
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
- Donsome octopus arts and crafts.
n
n
n
nn
n
n
- n
- Eatnspecial Octopus Day foods, like octopops and “octopus” soup (don’t worry—it’s not made with octopus!—heck, it’s not even soup!).
n
n
nn
n
n
- n
- Playnoctopus games, or watch some awesome videos.
n
n
n
n
n
- n
- Speaking of awesome videos, have you seen the one of the octopus who steals a video camera—while it’s still recording?
n
n
n
n
n
- n
- And I particularly like this video showing an octopus using its amazing camouflage skills!
n
n
- n
-
nSingn”Octopus’s Garden“!
n
n
n
nnn
nAlsonon this date:
n
n
n
n
n
n
National Pierogi Day
National Pierogi Day n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nAnniversary of the demonstration of the first “permanent wave”
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
