What an exciting week we've had! Students have had two amazing opportunities this week to extend their ocean animal learning (and we have one more tomorrow!) On Monday, Mrs. McInnis shared some fascinating information about whales: how they communicate, how they eat, why they migrate, how we identify them, and much more. Then we met Nile!
Our class climbed inside Mrs. McInnis's inflatable whale Nile to learn about the inside of whales. I learned that the humpback whale's heart weighs between 400-450 pounds! Ask you student if they know how long a humpback can hold its breath.
On Wednesday, we had special guests from NOAA at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester visit and bring along some hands on stations to teach us even more about ocean life.
Students experimented using their sense of smell at the Sturgeon Station. Sturgeon use their sense of smell to locate and return to their old spawning ground each year.
In the next station, children got to listen to whales and dolphins communicate through echolocation. Students then played a game and guessed which ocean creature they heard. They each received a fun whale and porpoise pamphlet to take home as well!
After our visit early this week by Mrs. McInnis, students could easy tell the scientist at the whale station all about toothed and baleen whales! They each got to experiment eating like a toothed and baleen whale using different tools. Ask your child which they thought was easier!
At the turtle station, students learned about the difference between land and sea turtles. Did you know they have different ways to use their protective shell to defend themselves? Ask your child about it! The children also learned that turtles only use their mouths to eat. They practiced pinching different food items with different kinds of pinchers, just like the different turtles use their unique mouths to eat different foods. Students practiced acting as loggerheads, leatherbacks and Kemp's ridley turtles using different instruments. Turtles have many unique adaptations!
In the last station, students got to touch some fish that are local to our area in the northwest Atlantic. We learned about the anatomy of popular fish such as haddock and bluefish, and how special features on their body are used for protection! Students then got to see a fish dissection! Mr. Gilbert took out the ear bone (otolith) of a flounder and showed the kids how scientists use this to collect information on the age of each fish.
We loved having NOAA visit us this year! They brought incredible artifacts and hands-on experiments to help teach the children about the ocean life that lives in their area. We look forward to learning more from our special visitor tomorrow and on our field trip next week to Gloucester!
Sincerely,
Mr. Kilham
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