Tide Ticklers Educator Guide

Transcription

1 Regional Parks 490 Atkins Avenue Victoria, BC, Canada V9B 2Z8 T: F: Tide Ticklers Educator Guide Program Description The beach is home to many fascinating animals and should be treated with gentle care and respect. Grade: Subject: Duration: Setting: Preschool Science 1 hour Seashore (sandy and rocky intertidal zone) This Program Supports BC s Early Learning Framework A Sense of Well-Being and Belonging Children will develop curiosity and a sense of wonder about, and a deeper connection to the seashore and the animals that live there. Children will have the opportunity to experience and remember the enjoyment that natural parkland can provide. Exploration and Creativity Children will explore the seashore environment through play and discovery, using all of their senses Language and Literacies Children will share of their experiences at the beach through song, stories, play, and exploration Social Responsibility and Diversity The Tide Ticklers school program will foster an appreciation that the beach is a home to animals who have needs similar to our own The program will encourage respect for and gentle treatment of the seashore and its inhabitants

2 Background Information for Teachers The seashores of the Capitol Regional District are a fabulous place for young children to explore and learn through play. In this program, children have the opportunity to experience the beach adjoining a CRD Regional Park using all of their senses - to feel the sand, taste the salty sea air, hear the ocean waves, and to see the fascinating animals that live at the shore who have lives so different from our own human ones. Of all the creatures found at the beach, crabs are the ones that often generate the most excitement among children exploring the intertidal zone (that is, the area between low and high tide on a beach). As a result, crabs are one of the intertidal animals most at risk of harm through mishandling or removal from their natural environment. In this program, children will have an opportunity to search for and handle these exciting creatures and some of their relatives. Through play and exploration, students will be taught to handle crabs properly and to treat these animals and their homes with care and respect. Many different types of crabs live in the waters off our Vancouver Island coastline. In this program we will focus on the common and abundant shore crabs found under rocks, and hermit crabs found in shallow tide pools along the shore. We will also examine some of their relatives, such as barnacles and beach fleas (beach hoppers). Crabs and their Relatives

3 Key Word Definitions barnacle a type of marine crustacean with feathery appendages used for gathering food. Barnacle larvae are free-swimming but as adults they have cone-shaped shells that they permanently cement onto rocks, wharves, boat hulls or even the bodies of whales. camouflage - markings or colouration that make an animal or object blend in and make it difficult to distinguish from its surroundings. clam - a group of bivalve (2-shelled) mollusks that live partly or wholly buried in sand, mud, or gravel. Clams have siphons used for filter feeding and a hatchet-shaped foot used for digging. crab - a crustacean with a flattened body, small abdomen, eyes on stalks, and five pairs of legs, one pair of which is modified to form grasping claws, called pincers. See hermit crab and shore crab definitions, below. hermit crab - a crab whose lower abdomen is soft and curled; it uses the empty shells of snails to protect itself. Hermit crabs have hook-like appendages at the tip of their abdomen to grip the shell. As hermit crabs grow, they must find larger shells to live in. pincers - a modified pair of legs adapted for grasping food and also used in defense. seaweed The common name of many types of algae that are found at the ocean or in other bodies of water. Seaweeds have plant-like features but are actually not plants, nor animals, but are in a separate group of organisms called protists. Seaweeds have many uses to humans (e.g. foods, cosmetics, agricultural and industrial uses), and are critically important as a food source and shelter for other marine life. Marine algae produce more than half of the Earth s oxygen. shore crab One of several species of small crab commonly found under rocks in the tidepools at Island View Beach and Witty s Beach. Shore crabs are highly variable in their colour, often camouflaged with the rocks, and they eat seaweed. tidepool a pool of water left behind on a rocky or sandy shore when the tide is low and which is submerged during high tide. Many animals are able to survive in tidepools, such as barnacles, crabs, anemones, and some types of fish such as sculpins. Suggested Pre-Trip Activities Have a sharing circle to talk about experiences that the children have had when they ve been to the seashore and what they animals they saw there. Talk about how the children feel about crabs and what they know or may have heard about them. Show photographs of some of Vancouver Island s local marine life, such as

4 shore crabs, hermit crabs, shrimp, and barnacles. Make a beach habitat on a sand table with rocky areas, tide pools, toy seedweed and toy animals that live at the beach. Have children draw pictures of the seashore and the animals that they predict they will find on their field trip to the CRD Regional Park. Read storybooks about crabs and other animals that live at the beach. Suggested Follow-Up Activities Have the children revisit and play again at the sand table. How is it different or the same as the beach on their field trip? Have children make a Witty s Beach or Island View Beach mural with pictures of their experiences and the animals and habitats that they saw. Have a follow-up sharing circle to talk about their field trip experience. Go outside and role play being at the seashore and being crabs. Walk like crabs, show off your pincers if a seagull comes near! Find a rock (hiding place) to protect yourself! Sing songs about the ocean; CRD Regional Park Interpreters always welcome student letters, comments and drawings relating to the field trip. Teacher References Some useful field guides to our local marine environments include: Harbo, Rick M. Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing, Sept, Duane J. The Beachcomber s Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing, Revised Edition Sheldon, Ian. Seashore of British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1998 Snively, Gloria. Exploring the Seashore in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. A Guide to Shorebirds and Intertidal Plants and Animals. Vancouver: Gordon Soules Book Publishers, Coulombe, Deborah A. The Seaside Naturalist. Touchstone Press, Snively, Gloria. High Tide, Low Tide: A Children s Colouring, Story and Activity Book.

5 Kingfisher Press, Student References and Storybooks Carle, Eric. A House for Hermit Crab. Aladdin Publications, Coombs, Kate. Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, Himmelman, John. Who s at the Seashore? Taylor Trade Publishers, Hopgood, Tim. Tip Tap Went the Crab. MacMillan Children s Books, Lewis, Paul O. Grasper: A Young Crab s Discovery. Vancouver: Whitecap Books, McClear, Kyo. The Specific Ocean. Kids Can Press, McDonald, Megan. Is This a House for a Hermit Crab? New York: Orchard Books, McFarlane, Sheryl. Moonsnail Song. Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, Peet, Bill. Kermit the Hermit. HMH Books for Young Readers, Ryan, Pam Munoz. Hello Ocean, Demco Media, Sayre, April Pulley and Sayre, Jeff. One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book. Candlewick Press, St. Pierre, Stephanie. What the Sea Saw. Peachtree Publishing, Zoehfeld, Kathleen Wiedner. What Lives in a Shell? (Let s-read-and-find-out Science 1). Harper Collins, 2015.