The Biologian: At the Tank--Sea-to-See Job Notes

This is part two of a two part series cataloging a portion of what I did with my job at FSU's Sea-to-See which is a program that travels to local elementary schools giving a marine biology presentation replete with touch tanks, interactive activities and video. Keep in mind it is for kids as young as second grade (it's pretty darn basic stuff and I write it down here mostly to keep for future reference if I ever do something similar again.). :) At that age the biggest thing is just to get the kids touching stuff and making observations.

Sea Urchins

Hold in hand

Feel movement of spines and tube feet
What are spines for? (Defense)
Why do you think urchins put shells etc. on top of them?

Some interesting research has shown that it could be for UV protection--much like applying sun tan lotion
Other possibilities?

Camouflage

Pedicellaria--tiny pinchers to clean bod with.

Turn over

Find mouth

Count how many parts its beak has
Notice pentaradial symmetry

Can you find anything else in the tank with five of something? What do you think that might mean about them? (Sea star. They're related.)

What do you think it might eat? (Algae and sea grass.)

Where are its eyes?

All over!

Concentrated on tips and base of suction cups
Ask who wants to be a sea urchin?! Have kids close eyes, look toward a light source and wave hand above eyes. A shadow will be cast by hands simulating what it is like to see in only shadows like echinoderms.

Sea Stars

Pick up

Touch top

How feel?
Sea stars often move in the direction of the arm opposite their madreporite (mother pore) (the trivium arm, as opposed to bivium arms).

Flip over

What do you think that orange stuff is? (Tube feet)

Touch and watch arm "zip" them up

Why? (Protect the delicate tube feet.)

Who wants to "be" a sea star with me? (Kids raise hands.)

We move by contracting muscle on bones, but the sea star has a very different way of moving--kind of like the exact opposite way!! Instead of contracting muscles he inflates his arms!!! (Water vascular system)
Have kids lift arms above head and retract them all the while making sucking noises (to fill up arms as they extend) and farting/deflating noises (upon contraction)

Guess how they breathe--through their feet! Can you imagine if you breathed through your feet!!? Wouldn't that stink, literally!!!
They also taste with their feet!! Imagine tasting your shoes right now! Or the floor!

Can anyone find mouth? (At center of arms.)

How might a scientist test to make sure that really was the mouth? (Put some food there and see if it gets eaten.)
Discuss how sea star eats by extruding mouth outside of body

Can you imagine eating that way!? Imagine your lunch table if you were all sea stars and there where slimy stomachs all over the place!

Sea Cucumbers

Pick up sea cucumber

How do we know it's not dead? (Since it totally looks that way!)

Kids will eventually say if it moves

How many sides does it have? (Five)

What else in the tank has that and what do you think it means? (Related to the other pentaradials)

How do you think it defends itself?

No spines, no shell, no pinchers, super slow. How do you think he protects himself??!
Who here likes scary movies? (Kids love to act tough and say they do.)
What you'd do if you were a sea cucumber and you got scared is you'd barf up your guts!!! Can you imagine if everyone in a movie theater was a sea cucumber and they all got scared and there were guts flying everywhere!!!?!?
Why do you think they do that?

Maybe because predator loves guts, eats them and gets full--sea cucumber gets away scot-free
Or, maybe the guts taste/smell really awful and the predator gets the heck out of there!