For the past two weeks, as part of our Sharing the Planet inquiry, our explorers set off on an exciting ocean adventure as we dived into the fascinating world of ocean habitats .
To start, we made our very own submarine portholes using shiny aluminum foil to represent a real-life material like metal. We looked through the portholes to explore the ocean just like real deep-sea explorers! These windows into another world sparked tons of curiosity and creativity.
🔍 What did you see through your porthole?
As the children created their portholes, they got to work imagining what they’d see outside in the deep blue sea. Each child had a different idea! Some drew schools of colorful fish, others crafted glowing jellyfish, and a few even spotted giant whales swimming by. The children further explored by using the classroom library and everyone had their own favorite ocean topic to dive into!
One child was especially curious about bioluminescence. Others were captivated by the spikes of pufferfish, sea turtle shells and the scales of fish!
There was also a lot of excitement around cephalopods – after Mr. Squid made a surprise visit to our classroom! The children were especially interested in how squid can change color, squirt ink to escape danger, and their special ability to blend in with their surroundings.
Delving deeper into the children’s curiosity about cephalopods, the children used a dropper and squirted “ink” onto colorful drawings of squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish creating beautiful abstract art representing ink dispersing in water.
🌐 Special Features and Unique Habitats
As we talked about these ocean animals, the children became more and more curious about how these amazing creatures live in their habitats. They wondered: How does a pufferfish live in the coral reefs?Why do squids like to live in the deep, dark ocean? The more we explored, the more the children understood how each animal’s special features help them survive in different ocean environments, from bright coral reefs to the dark, mysterious depths of the ocean.
💬 Here’s what some of our explorers said about what they saw:
🗣 “Pufferfish have spikes for protection!”
🗣 “A big whale is swimming by my submarine. He’s so big!”
🗣 “I see lots of fish! They have rainbow scales. Why do they have scales?”
Through our exploration, we discovered that the ocean is full of wonders – from the smallest glowing creatures to the biggest, most majestic animals. The children’s curiosity continues to inspire us as they learn about how we can care for the ocean and all the amazing creatures living there.
🌎 We can’t wait for our next adventure as we continue to explore how we can share and care for our planet!
