After our class on salt water habitats, we studied seashores. To connect the two classes, we began with a worksheet entitled "What Belongs in the Open Ocean" from Habitats: Science Works for Kids Series, Evan-Moor, page 57. The children discussed which animals they thought swam in the deep waters and which animals stayed closer to the shore.
Since we are only an hour or two from the seashore, the children shared some of their own personal experiences visiting the beach. By a show of hands, it was determined that everyone had been to the beach at least once. This made it quite easy to trade stories and experiences about the seashore.
Next, I presented some of the key points from lesson 14 of Properties of Ecosystems, by Debbie and Richard Lawrence. These included:
- inter-tidal zone
- tides
- dynamic equilibrium
- seashore flora
- seashore fauna
The two types of seashores: sandy and rocky, were then compared. Once we began to explore the rocky beaches more closely, I explained tide pools to the children. Since the beaches near us are sandy, most of the children had not seen, or explored a tide pool.
To further understand tide pools, I guided the children to construct the "Seashore" booklets found in Animal Habitats: Grades 2-3, by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, pages 66-70. As the children constructed the booklets, they read about tides and tide pools.
{my Kindergartner's paper sea gull}
Afterward, the children made their own sea gulls from one piece of copy paper and a pipe cleaner. We following the instructions in Animal Habitats! by Judy Press.
As is typical of our classes, I finished by reading a book to the children. This time, the book was Along a Rocky Shore. Interesting photographs and short explanations helped nicely summarize the lesson.
Resources:
Beachcombing: Exploring the Seashore, by Jim Arnosky
Along a Rocky Shore, by Judith E. Rinard
Examining Tide Pool Habitats, by Zelda King
America's Seashores: Guide to Plants and Animals, by Marianne D. Wallace
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