Young Explorer Day - Ocean Appreciation

We had a great day in the aquarium today for the last Young Explorer program of the summer.  As well as touring the aquarium and spending time at the touch tank, the students did experiments, crafts and games all centred around the deep sea.  Here are some pictures of our day.

The students made deep sea landers that sunk to the bottom and then came back up.

They tested ways to get the lander to stay at the bottom longer before coming to the surface. 

The group made angler fish and learned about bioluminescence.

We had some hands on time with molluscs and one echinoderm.

Wet hands = smiling faces!

We also discussed hydrothermal vents and made yeti crab crafts.

A basket star from the ocean floor.

Young Explorer Day - Lobsters

This week the theme of our Young Explorer Wednesday program was lobsters and other marine arthropods such as crabs, barnacles, hermit crabs and sideswimmers.  We explored the beach in search of arthropods, observed live lobsters, hermit crabs and barnacles, played a game and made some fun crafts.  Check out the pictures from our day.

Next week will be the last Young Explorer program for the summer.  The theme is ocean appreciation and we will be focusing on the mysterious creatures that live in the deep sea.

On the hunt for arthropods in the intertidal zone.

Found one!  A green crab.

Taking a look at the specimens from the beach.

We saw other arthropods, barnacles, feeding!

Making a barnacle craft.

We got up close and person with this lobster, who is a left-handed boy.

Time to study hermit crabs.

Hmm...what colour are the eyes?

Made a hermit crab craft using our observation of the live creatures.

Young Explorer Week

Over the past week we've had Young Explorers at the aquarium for a marine biology day camp which included Whale Wednesday.  Here are some pictures of our experiments, crafts, games and explorations.

Just a few more Young Explorer Days this summer, with themes including lobsters (and crabs) and ocean appreciation (deep sea).

Aquarium scavenger hunt.

Making a tide craft.

Exploring the intertidal zone.

We found lots of sideswimmers.

And quite a few green crabs as well.

Having a closer look at the green crabs. 

The kids were so excited to find out that one of the crabs they had collected at the beach had moulted overnight! On the right is the moult and on the left is the crab with its very soft new exoskeleton. Note the size difference.

Cutting up herring to feed to the touch tank animals.

Feeding the fish, crabs, sea stars, etc in the touch tank.

Making a field guide of the animals we collected on the beach.

Playing Crab Survival!

What can we find in the sediment?

A clam worm!

Conducting an experiment to learn about deep sea pressure.

Making a bioluminescence craft.

The finished product in the light...

and glowing in the dark!

A basket star from the deep sea.

Collecting plankton.

Wow! There are things moving in there!

A copepod we collected in our plankton sample (40x magnified).

Studying our catch using the microscopes.

Making our own phytoplankton.

Testing out our plankton in the water.

Young Explorer Day - Whales

We had a lab full of Young Explorers at the aquarium today learning about whales of the Bay of Fundy.  Throughout the day the students played games, got hands-on with some whale items, made a craft about whale blow patterns and did some experiments.  It was a great day!  

We had a chance to see and feel whale teeth, baleen, vertebrae, ribs and skulls. 

Making whale puppets.

Whales have different blow patterns; humpback - bushy, right whale - v-shaped.

Playing whale bingo.

Which will cool faster a whale or a mouse?

Conducting an experiment to see if whales could fit inside the boardroom.

Young Explorer Day - Sharks

Yesterday we had a lab full of Young Explorers eager to learn about sharks and marine biology.  Next week we are offering a week long marine biology program or just Whale Wednesday.

Observing skates, a cartilaginous relative of sharks.

Checking out what the skate looks like on the bottom.

Exploring the intertidal zone.

What can we find under this rock?

A sideswimmer!

Digging for shark teeth to identify.

Wow, look at all the layers of teeth in the silky shark jaw!

Drawing lifesize sharks.

It took all of us to make up the huge megalodon shark!

Making shark fact bookmarks.

Not all sharks use their teeth to eat, some like the basking shark use their gill rakers to filter food from the water.