Aquarium Field Trip...Thanks to TARGET!

Thanks to TARGET for fully funding our trip to the Aquarium!
Our class has been studying Ocean life and each student selected an animal to research ( it had to be at the Aquarium) and will do a final report-presentation at the end of March. The kids have done an amazing job and were SO EXCITED about the grant, research, trip, cameras...oh yeah, and family work night!!!

Recording important information about the seahorse

Petting the Sting Rays

More pictures and information to come!

Ocean Animals- Part 2

All about JELLYFISH!!!!!

I learned as much if not more than the kids did this day!

Ms. Van Dyke you are a great Teacher!!!

1. Jellyfish live for 6 months
2. Jellyfish do not have a brain, heart, or backbone

3. Jellyfish are luminescent

4. Jellyfish eat and dispose of waste out if their mouth...eww.

5. Sea Turtles eat Jellyfish and are unharmed by their venomous stings

The kids wrote about " Why I am Glad I am NOT a Jellyfish" and made their own Jellies to accompany their writing. I was waiting for a....I am glad I am not a Jellyfish because my mouth and hiney would be the same thing....but my 2nd graders didn't even go there. Good for them!!!

Ocean Animals - Part 1

We have officially begun our unit on Ocean Life

So DIVE IN!!!!

First Up....Oil Spills and how they affect Ocean Life
We are extremely lucky to have Ms. Van Dyke in our class this year. She is developing the lessons for this unit and doing an amazing job. Her first lesson taught about Oil Spills and how they negatively affect animals in the Ocean. The student's then had to put on their handy dandy safety goggles ( because they were an adorable addition) and come up with a way to clean feathers which had been soaked in oil. They were shocked at how "slimy" they were.

Once they figured out water wasn't going to work they had to brainstorm other ideas. We discussed how much harder it would be to clean an actual animal than just the feathers.