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.