Preparation: Copy cards on card stock and laminate. Cut apart.

Transcription

1 Our Amazing Coast: I am Who has? Game Grade 3-5 Grade 3 Goal - Students continue to build on previous concepts including evidence, explanation, measurement, order and organization, and change. Grade 4 Competency Goal 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding of animal behavior and adaptation. Objectives 1.02 Observe and record how animals of the same kind differ in some of their characteristics and discuss possible advantages and disadvantages of this variation. Grade 5 Competency Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build and understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals. Objectives 1.01 Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment) Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem. Producers Consumers Decomposers 1.03 Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature and soil composition in an ecosystem s capacity to support life Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem Explain and evaluation some ways that humans affect ecosystems. Habitat reduction due to development. Pollutants Increased nutrients Determine how materials are recycled in nature. Preparation: Copy cards on card stock and laminate. Cut apart. Directions: 1. Distribute entire set of cards to students (some students may have more than one card). 2. Game begins with any student reading the descriptive paragraph printed at the bottom of their card, beginning with I am and ending with 3. The student who holds the card that names the thing described calls out I have and then says I am and reads the description on their own card. 4. Game continues until a full circle is made back to first student and all cards have been read.

2 Alligator I am a larval stage of a blue crab. I float from the estuary to sea and back again before changing into something resembling an adult. Alligator Hole I am a common sight in southern wetlands, rivers, and swamps. By the early 1970 s, I was hunted to near extinction for my meat and skin. Blue Crab I am a large depression in the bottom of a pond or a marsh. Fishes, birds, frogs, and mammals can rely on me during times of drought. Cow Killer I am a member of the Order Decapoda, meaning that I have five pairs of legs. I get my name from the bright coloring along my frontal area. Diamondback Rattlesnake I am a wingless wasp, also called a velvet ant. I am a shocking shade of red with two black bands on my abdomen. Who has me? Kingfisher I am the largest and deadliest of the world s thirty-two species of rattlesnakes. Like other pit vipers, I give birth to live young. Diamondback Terrapin I hunt with my beak, not my feet. When I catch a fish, I stun it by hitting it against a tree, then toss it into the air and swallow it whole. Cabbagehead Jellyfish I live in brackish marshes and estuaries. I was hunted almost to extinction for my succulent meat, but now am protected in certain states.

3 Southern Stingray I am a spherical jelly, also called a cannonball. Although I sting my prey, humans don t usually feel pain when they contact my tentacles. Ghost Crab I am related to sharks, but I am not aggressive. I protect myself with my toxic barb. I crunch crustaceans and mollusks that live on the bottom. Mosquitofish I am a fleet-footed, nocturnal, scavenger. I blend into the sand with my grayish-white coloration. My burrow above the high-tide line protects me. Hooded Pitcher Plant I play a role in pest control with my diet of mostly mosquito larvae. Because I am small, I can feed in shallow areas where large fishes can go. Glasswort I lure insects inside my tubular leaves with the promise of nectar. Unsuspecting victims end up in a pool of fluid where they drown and decompose. Knobbed Whelk I am a succulent marsh plant, green in the summer and fiery red in the fall. I add a salty crunch to any salad. Opossum I am one of the largest marine snails on the coast. As a predator, I feed on bivalves by prying open their two shells. Who Longleaf Pine Forest I am North America s only marsupial. I play dead to confuse my predators. My siblings and I ride on mom s back when we re babies.

4 Marsh Periwinkle I am a cluster of the state tree of NC. My tall trees attract lightning and the resulting fire destroys seedlings of competing species. Octopus I am not a flower, but a gastropod that can be found at the base of smooth cordgrass when the tide is low. As the tide rises, so do I. Oyster I am a shy cephalopod with the ability to change colors. My chromatophores allow me to blend into my background. Who Laughing Gull I am used in many ways: my meat is a delicacy; my shiny lining and irritating sand grains are decorative; and my shell is a building material. Plankton I have a black head during the summer, and my call is a piercing ha ha ha. Perhaps that s where my name comes from. Who has me? Portuguese Man-of-War I am a bunch of wanderers: a wide variety of drifting plants and animals, ranging in size from a single cell to a huge sea jelly. River Otter I am beautiful, yet armed and dangerous, so steer clear of me! Guess I should say us, since I am a colony of animals, not an individual. Sargassum I am a playful aquatic mammal living in rivers and marshes throughout the coastal area. I am a top carnivore, feeding on fishes, frogs, snakes, etc.

5 Sea Cucumber I am a type of brown algae that floats freely on ocean currents. With my air bladders, I serve as a habitat for baby sea turtles and more. Horseshoe Crab I am related to sea urchins and sea stars, but I look very different. I have tube feet that help move my flabby, cylindrical body along the bottom. Sea Oats I am called a living fossil because I date back 250 million years in my present form. Native Americans used my tail as a spear tip. Leatherback Sea Turtle I trap sand and help build and stabilize sand dunes, so I am sometimes called a pioneer plant because of that role. Who Smooth Cordgrass I am the world s largest sea turtle, reaching 6-8 feet in length and weighing as much as 2,000 pounds. I feed only on jellies. Whelk Egg Casing I am an indispensable salt marsh plant. I filter out heavy metals and toxins; I provide habitat; and when I die, I m food for lots of animals. Yaupon Holly I am a string of coin-shaped disks that might be found on the ocean beach. I hold hundreds of eggs and protect them until they hatch. Zoea I am only native American holly that contains caffeine. I grow wild along coastal dunes and marshes. My scientific name is Ilex vomitoria.