If you haven't read "What's in the Ocean?" Activities for Kids - Part 1, you'll want to read that first. There are a lot of FREE downloads you won't want to miss!
This week, we continued our exploration of what exactly is in the ocean.
I'm going to show you a ton more activities (including free downloads) that you can use with your students.
But before we dive in, let me show you an Ocean Themed Color-By-Number Resource that you can download right now for absolutely FREE!
Check out this FREE Ocean Color-By-Number Download.
Use it for fast finishers, recess time, to reinforce number and color recognition, or just for fun!
We also took a look at the land that borders the ocean. You know it best as...
THE BEACH! Woo-hoo!
I found an adorable little series called Stella and Sam by
Mary-Louise Gay that I definitely will be using again in the future. The
one I used for this theme was Stella Star of the Sea.
Stella and her little brother spend the day at the sea.
Stella has been to the sea before and knows all its secrets,
but Sam has so many questions!
We talked about the various things you would find as
you walked along the beach. Starfish was one of the
first answers the kids gave. I found that the kids mostly only know
that a starfish had five arms and "stuck" on to things!
I found some neat videos that helped the students
understand more about them:
We learned that although we call them "starfish", their real name is
"sea stars" and they are not a fish at all! They do not have gills, scales, or fins like fish do and they do not move the same through the water.
Fish use their tails to push them forward in the water,
but a sea star uses tiny tube suction feet to
help them move along.
Watch how they move.
(Click to the side of the play arrow.)
help them move along.
Watch how they move.
(Click to the side of the play arrow.)
This next video shows how a starfish uses its rays (or arms)
and the suction tube feet underneath to flip over.
We learned an amazing ability that the sea stars have...
They can RE-GROW their arms!
This one shows a starfish being fed.
We also learned that...
Starfish have spines on their backs that they use for protection.
We made a craft that emphasizes these spines.
First, we painted the starfish a tan color from the
Then we painted it again and sprinkled rice
on it to represent the starfish's spines.
I made a sentence template for the kids to
cut out so they could glue on:
"The spines give the sea star protection."
They turned out great! We hung them around our classroom for decoration:
We also spent some time exploring jellyfish.
Did you know...
… some jellyfish are bigger than a human
and others are as small as a pinhead?
… people in some countries eat jellyfish?
… jellyfish have no brain but some kinds have eyes?
… that jellyfish are mainly made up of water and protein?
… a group of jellyfish is called a smack?
Learned something new, didn't you?!
I found this great link on
that let us really explore jellyfish.
We got to read about them, watch a short video, see a map, print out a trading card, and even email an e-card to our principal!
We watched some really neat videos that let us see jelly fish in action.
...saw a jellyfish get eaten by a sea turtle...
We made our very own jellyfish using balloons and streamers!
First, we cut strips of streamers into skinny strips.
I taught the kids how to use a tape dispenser...
they don't have that lesson in the curriculum! (wink)
Then we taped them onto the bottom half of the balloon.
We added some eyeballs...even though
we know jellyfish don't have eyes.
Before you knew it, our classroom was swarming with jellyfish!
First, we cut strips of streamers into skinny strips.
I taught the kids how to use a tape dispenser...
they don't have that lesson in the curriculum! (wink)
Then we taped them onto the bottom half of the balloon.
We added some eyeballs...even though
we know jellyfish don't have eyes.
Before you knew it, our classroom was swarming with jellyfish!
Did I mention we got a new class pet?!
Why, it's a jelly fish, of course!
Hard to see it, but it's in there!
First, fill one of the bottom corners with water and rubber-band it closed.
Now, I should say that the directions I used were unclear as to
how big the corner of water should be. Just think to yourself that
it has to be able to squeeze into a 2 Liter jug.
Then we cut the remainder of the baggie into strips.
And trimmed some to be shorter than others.
The kids decided his name was going to be "Squishy."
So we stuffed Squishy into the empty 2 Liter jug.
Then we filled up the bottle to the top with water and added a few
drops of blue food coloring to accent the look.
(Shout out to the wonderful teacher across the hall
who loaned me her blue food coloring since I forgot mine!)
Get your very own Jelly Fish in a bottle directions here.
I also sent home instructions on
how to make jelly fish flashlights!
Click here to make a flashlight for yourself!
We didn't make these...but I thought about it!
Maybe next year.
Meanwhile, author Jane Clarke introduced us
to a new friend named Gilbert.
I love how this book enhances the learning we did on remoras as well.
We followed up with a great sequel:
We followed up with a great sequel:
And on a different day, we read another book
about our new friend titled:
Continuing our exploration of sharks, we worked on one about our new friend titled:
of my favorite labeling activities....
First we used the smart board to
learn andtalk about the various parts of a shark.
Then we spread out on the carpet
with clipboards and filled in our sheet.
We also cut out the parts and glued them on.
Go to Regina Davis's store to find this shark labeling writing activity.
Have you seen this awesome shark video before?
(Click to the side of the play arrow.)
I could sing that song all day long! Ha!
In this next book...
...Stanley the fish encounters a scary shark as
he is searches for his school of friends.
Most of all, I love the vivid colors author/illustrator,
Matt Buckingham, uses in this book.
One of our writing times brought out all kinds of fishy stories!
These are some of Deanna Jump's writing sheets that
we've been using this year.
I gave the students the following prompt:
If you could be any ocean animal in the world, what would you be?
And what would you do?
Here are a couple of responses!
and this one...
I don't know what a yarn fish is...so don't ask!
In other beach-y news...
I buried a bunch of different types of shells in the
bottom of a foil pan and covered them more with sand.
Then we explored and compared/contrasted the different
shells as we found them. I had enough so that the kids could
each pick one to take home.
Some pieces of coral were even found in there!
I also had ordered these fun sandcastle picture frames
from Oriental Trading. This craft is a great activity for practicing
patience and self-control with glue! Ha!
First we punched out all the pieces.
Then we slowly started putting it all together.
Before we knew it, it was done!
We had a guest teacher come in and give us a little demonstration and tutorial on how to use and put on scuba equipment!
The kids were absolutely thrilled! They listened completely
bug-eyed and had a million questions for her!
It was quite a special treat!
Well, this diver is wiped out from all that ocean exploration we did!
There are 8 more days left of students in attendance.
14 more days til summer break.
(Not that I'm counting...)
Til next time...
patience and self-control with glue! Ha!
First we punched out all the pieces.
Then we slowly started putting it all together.
Before we knew it, it was done!
Wrapping things up,
We had a special visitor today...
We had a guest teacher come in and give us a little demonstration and tutorial on how to use and put on scuba equipment!
The kids were absolutely thrilled! They listened completely
bug-eyed and had a million questions for her!
It was quite a special treat!
Well, this diver is wiped out from all that ocean exploration we did!
There are 8 more days left of students in attendance.
14 more days til summer break.
(Not that I'm counting...)
Til next time...
