sea life for schools years habitats & adaptations · habitats & adaptations sea life for...
Post on 03-Apr-2020
12 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Habitats & Adaptations
SEA LIFE for Schools
ContentsIntroduction 2
Teacher’s map 3
Teacher’s notes 4-10
Student exploration sheets 11-12
1
Self-guided learningThis guide provides you with information and
student activities linked to key displays throughout
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium that can be used to
explore the topic of Habitats & Adaptations during
your visit. By drawing out the points included in this
guide, you will be able to introduce or recap on the
key learning outcomes and provide students with a
fantastic real-life context for learning.
SEA & Discover classesIf you would prefer an interactive, hands-on lesson
led by a marine expert and speciically tailored to match the Australian curriculum, then a guided SEA
& Discover class is a great choice. Students will
embark on an underwater journey through SEA
LIFE Sydney Aquarium’s 14 amazing themed zones
and learn about the unique animals on display, their
interconnectedness and survival.
Other topics in this series:• Food Chains & Ecosystems
• Behaviour
• Conservation
Learning objectivesBy completing this tour students will
learn:
• Living things have basic needs, including food
and water.
• Living things live in different places where
their needs are met.
• The growth and survival of living things are
affected by the physical conditions of their
environment.
• Living things have structural features and
adaptations that help them to survive in
their environment.
YearsK-6
What is a habitat?
A habitat is the natural home or environment of an
animal, plant or other organism. It provides all the
things needed for survival. Let’s start by thinking
about our own habitats…
What do you need to stay alive?
The most important thing we all need is food.
We also need somewhere that can keep us warm
enough and sheltered from rain or snow. Can you
ind both of these things in your home? Then it makes a good habitat for you!
How about the Gentoo Penguin that lives in
the Antarctic – what do you think it needs
from its habitat?
The Gentoo Penguin actually needs the same
things we do: food and shelter. However, the food
and shelter it needs are very different. It eats ish and crustaceans like krill, which it catches while
swimming. This means it needs to live close to the
water. It has a thick layer of body fat that keeps it
warm and means it is happy to live in the freezing
cold Antarctic. The only time when it needs to
be able to ind good shelter on land is while it is waiting for its eggs to hatch.
So now we understand a bit more about what a habitat is we can start our trip around the SEA LIFE aquarium and have a closer look at the
different habitats that marine creatures live in.
Remember to hand out exploration sheets to each student - these will be needed for activities on the tour.
Questions:
Use the questions on this page to introduce this topic to students before starting your tour.
Introduction
Habitats & Adaptations
2
Sydney Harbour• Fascinating facts
student activity• Seahorse discussion notes (p4)
Bay Of Rays• Which ray? student activity• Rays discussion notes (p5)• Rays talk times:
10.00
12.30
South Coast Shipwreck• Octopus anagrams
student activity• Octopus discussion notes (p6)• Little Penguin feed time:
15.00
Teacher’s map
3
Dugong Island• Dugong wordsearch student activity• Dugong discussion notes (p7)• Dugong talk times:
13.30
16.00
Shark Valley• Adapted for life
student activity• Sharks discussion
notes (p8)
Discovery Rockpool• Who’s at home in the
rockpool? student activity• Rockpool discussion
notes (p9)
Clownfish Garden• Spot the habitat student activity• Clownish discussion
notes (p10)
Reef Theatre• Shark talk times:
11.00
17.00
Habitats & Adaptations
Activities
You can help!Never buy dried seahorses as souvenirs
or medicines and other products made
from seahorses.
Activity: Fascinating factsAsk students to look out for other fascinating facts
about seahorses as they look around the displays.
Discuss these as a group.
Do you know why it is called a seahorse?
The seahorse gets its name from its long snout
that looks a bit like a horse’s.
What do you think a seahorse uses
its long snout for?
The long thin shape of a seahorse’s snout is very
useful for helping it to catch food. They can use it
to get food out from tiny cracks in coral and rocks
or even suck up food by breathing in quickly.
What does a seahorse use its fins for?
Like most ish it uses its ins to swim, but what is unusual is that the seahorse is one of the only ish that swims upright. This means it isn’t very quick.
According to Guinness World Records seahorses
are the slowest ish in the ocean!
Look at the unusual shape of its tail – how do
you think this helps it to survive?
The seahorse spends most of its life clinging on to
seagrass or other perches with its strong tail. This
prevents it from being swept along by currents and
allows it to eat the other tiny animals that are swept
past it. This is vital to its survival, as it isn’t a very
strong swimmer.
What makes the seahorse different
to nearly every other animal?
Unlike most other animals, it is
the male, not the female, which
incubates the eggs the female
lays. Each male has a special
pouch for carrying fertilised
eggs until they hatch. A seahorse
is also a very loving animal –
most choose one partner
and stay with it for life.
Questions:
Seahorses are one of the most fascinating creatures in our oceans. There are nearly 50 different species that have evolved over 40 million years. Seahorses can normally be found in tropical and temperate waters that are shallow and sheltered.
Visit Area: SYDNEY HARBOUR
SEAHORSES
4
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTA seahorse can look forwards and backwards at the same time!
FACTThe bony spine on a
seahorse makes it
unappetising to
predators.
You can help!We can help by supporting campaigns to set-up
Marine Conservation Zones across the globe.
Try to avoid eating skate, it’s a member of the
ray family.
Activity: Which ray?Ask students to look at the information screens around the aquarium and
try to identify the different species of rays on display. Discuss how they
differ.
Why do you think rays have such flat bodies?
Most rays use their lat bodies to loat close to the sea loor. This means that they can suck their food (mussels, clams and oysters) off the seabed and if
they need to, they can bury themselves in the sand
to hide from predators.
How do you think the colour of the Fantail
and Maskray’s skin helps them to survive in
their habitat?
The grey and blue colouring on their skin helps to
camoulage them once they settle on the ground. This makes them invisible to predators. Their
blue spots also warn predators that the rays are
poisonous.
Can you think of any other simple ways rays
might avoid predators?
Rays have been know to reduce their activity at
times when the threat from predators is highest.
Do you think rays always use their eyes
to hunt?
Scientists don’t think so. Rays use special sensors
called ampullae of Lorenzini, which can detect the
tiny electrical charges given off by their prey.
Do you think rays are dangerous?
Most rays aren’t dangerous as they don’t have a
venomous stinger (called a spine) on their tail, but
some rays like the Spotted Eagle Ray do, and can
use it to defend themselves against predators.
Questions:
Rays are strange lat looking creatures that use their wings to glide through the ocean. They live in oceans and seas all over the world, mostly on or near the seabed. Some species choose a habitat close to the shore, whilst others live over 3,000 metres beneath the surface in the deep ocean!
Visit Area: BAY OF RAYS
RAYS
5
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTRays and sharks are part of the same scientiic family - the Elasmobranchii.
FACTThe Manta Ray
is the biggest of its
species with ‘wings’
that can span almost
7 metres across!
You can help!Be careful when on the beach or in the sea not to
disturb creatures and their habitats. And always
use a recyclable bag instead of a plastic one.
Activity: Octopus anagrams Octopuses have some great ways to avoid getting caught by predators.
Ask students to solve the clues and unscramble the anagrams.
The correct answers are 1. Ink 2. Colour 3. Bones.
Where do you think an animal as big
as an octopus could hide?
The octopus’ body is boneless so it can squeeze
into really tiny spaces the size of a dollar coin to
hide from predators.
An octopus is very intelligent and can solve
problems. How do you think it solves the
problem of defending its home?
An octopus will collect shells and other objects
to construct a fort around its home for extra
protection.
Can you guess what predators
octopuses have?
The octopus’ most common predator is the Moray
Eel. Some seals, whales, sharks and even sea turtles
eat octopuses too!
The octopus also has some other amazing
ways of avoiding predators; do you know
what these are?
It can change the colour of its skin instantly to
camoulage against any background, or even just to display its mood! And if an octopus is threatened
by a predator it can spray ink to cloud the water,
helping it to escape.
Questions:
The octopus can be found across a really wide range of waters - from the east coast of Australia to as far as New Zealand. It’s a master of survival and can live in lots of different environments. It particularly likes rocky areas where there are plenty of places to hide.
Visit Area: SOUTH COAST SHIPWRECK
OCTOPUS
6
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTSome octopuses crawl along the seabed, tucking their arms into small openings to search for food.
FACTA female octopus
can lay over 150,000
eggs at one time!
You can help!We can help by avoiding anchoring close to sea
grass beds, so we don’t damage dugong feeding
habitats. And ish responsibly - don’t discard used lines, nets or other equipment in the water.
Activity: Dugong wordsearchAsk students to ind the dugong habitat and adaptation related words in the wordsearch on their exploration sheet:
warm, coastal, luke, tusk, manatee, elephant.
Can you think why dugongs only like to live in
warm shallow waters?
Dugongs have very slow metabolisms, and only a
thin layer of fat - so they feel the cold even more
than we do! Plus the dugong’s favourite food, sea
grass, only grows in shallow coastal waters.
What animals are dugongs related to?
Dugongs are closely related to manatees and are
distant relatives of elephants. They have tusks
similar to elephants and luked tails similar to dolphins.
Why do some dugongs have tusks?
Male dugongs have short tusks similar to their
distant relative, the elephant. They can use them
against other dugongs, particularly during breeding
season.
Where does Australia’s most significant
dugong population live?
The protected waters and plentiful sea grass
meadows of Shark Bay in WA and Moreton Bay in
QLD are perfect for the dugong, the world’s only
marine mammal herbivore.
How can dugongs sleep underwater if they
need to breathe?
While it is sleeping, a dugong will wake up every
few minutes to take a breath of air.
Questions:
Dugongs live in warm coastal waters stretching from East Africa to Australia, including the Red Sea, and the Indian and Paciic Oceans. Torres Strait has the largest, most stable population of dugongs in Australia.
Visit Area: DUGONG ISLAND
DUGONGS
7
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTBecause sea grass
is hard to digest,
the dugong has an
extraordinary large
intestine. It’s 8 times as
long as a dugong’s
body!
FACTThe dugong’s heavy skeleton helps it stay on the sea loor while feeding.
You can help!We can help sharks by supporting campaigns to
set-up Marine Conservation Zones across the
globe. We should also never buy products made
from sharks or eat shark in soup.
Activity: Adapted for lifeWhen you arrive at Shark Valley, identify two different sharks and ask
students to draw a picture of each on their exploration sheet. Discuss their
similarities and differences and explain how these help sharks survive in
their habitats.
What do you think the Blacktip Reef Shark
eats?
A better question is what don’t they eat! These
hungry predators eat more or less anything they
can get hold of, whether it is small ish, an octopus, prawns or even a sea snake.
The Wobbegong Shark is from Australia. Its
Aboriginal name means ‘shaggy beard’. Why
do you think it is called by this name?
When you look at the lattened Wobbegong Shark it has strange seaweed-like growths hanging down
from its mouth. This ‘beard’ attracts small ish who swim in amongst it thinking it is seaweed. The
Wobbegong Shark spends much of its time resting,
well-camoulaged by its patchy colouration, on the rocky bottom of the sea loor waiting for its prey.
If you look closely you’ll see a spine on the
front of the Port Jackson Shark’s dorsal fins.
Why do you think it has these?
The Port Jackson Shark has adapted to help protect
the important parts of its body from being attacked
by larger predators. Port Jackson Sharks have the
ability to eat and breathe at the same time. This
ability is unusual for sharks, many of which need to
swim with their mouths open to force water over
their gills.
Questions:
There are over 450 species of shark in the world, living in all kinds of different habitats from warm tropical waters to icy polar seas. Some live in the deep, dark waters of the ocean, while others prefer sunlit waters close to the surface.
Visit Area: SHARK VALLEY
SHARKS
8
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTTo help disguise themselves, sharks have a dark top half and a pale belly.
FACTSharks never run
out of teeth - some
get through as many
as 30,000 in their
lifetime!
How do you think the sea star manages
to survive in this difficult environment?
It has thousands of tiny suckers under each arm
which it uses to attach itself to rocks and hide in
nooks and crevices.
Crabs are animals that can’t attach
themselves to rocks. What do you think helps
protect them against predators?
They use their claws and are well camoulaged against the rocks, making them hard to ind. They also have a tough shell for protection.
As you know, one of the most important
elements of an animal’s habitat is that the
right sort of food is available. What do you
think sea stars eat?
Sea stars can eat a range of different things,
including mussels. They use the suckers on the
underside of their arms to pull food towards the
mouth in the centre of their body.
What about mussels. How do you think they
get food?
Mussels get all of their food by iltering the water around them for tiny animals and plants called
plankton. Rockpools are perfect places for them
to live as new plankton is brought in every time
the tide ills the pool.
We can see that the animals in the rockpool
depend on the other animals for food. What
do you think would happen if all of the
mussels in a rockpool died out?
With no mussels for food the sea stars would die.
All of the creatures in the rockpool are part of
one ecosystem. It is delicately balanced with each
creature playing an important role.
You can help!We should always take our litter home after we’ve
visited the beach. We should also be respectful of
any animals we might ind in a rockpool and make sure that they are left undisturbed.
Activity: Who’s at home in the rockpool? Ask students to identify the creatures they can see in the rockpool and
then colour them in on their exploration sheet. Students can then touch
creatures under the guidance of a SEA LIFE expert.
Questions:
Rockpools are very dificult places for creatures to survive - with huge waves, strong currents, changing water temperatures, harsh sunlight and lots of predators! Creatures commonly found in this habitat include sea stars, sea cucumbers, crabs and urchins.
Visit Area: DISCOVERY ROCKPOOL
ROCKPOOL
9
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
You can help!Don’t touch anything if you go snorkelling and
never buy products made from coral or other
marine creatures.
Activity: Spot the habitatClownish live amongst the poisonous tentacles of the anemone on coral reefs. Ask students to identify the correct habitat on their exploration sheet
and then draw a clownish within it.
An anemone might sound like a strange
place to live but can anyone tell me why this
makes a perfect habitat for the clownfish?
The clownish is immune to the anemone’s poison so can live there without fear. But more than that,
the anemone’s tentacles also provide protection
from other predators that might try to eat it.
Can you think of anything else that a
clownfish needs to survive that it can
get from the anemone?
The clownish can also ind food. It feeds off the leftovers of other ish the anemone catches. They have even been known to eat the dead
tentacles from the anemone!
This immunity to the anemone’s poison is
called an adaptation. Does anyone know
what an adaptation is?
An adaptation is a feature which an animal develops,
normally over millions of years, which makes it
easier for them to survive in a speciic environment.
Can you think of any other adaptations?
How about the penguin’s thick layer of fat which
allows it to live in cold areas or the octopus’ ability
to squeeze into tiny spaces?
Questions:
Clownish live on sheltered coral reefs found in the warm tropical waters of the Indian and Paciic Oceans. Within their habitat they ind a very unusual place to hide - amongst the poisonous tentacles of sea anemone!
Visit Area: CLOWNFISH GARDEN
CLOWNFISH
10
Habitats & Adaptations - Teacher’s discussion notes
FACTAll clownish are born male!
FACTIf a female dies, a
male clownish in the group can change sex
to take her place.
Name:
Class:
Find out about habitats
11
Habitats & Adaptations - Student exploration sheet
Shark
Who’s at home in the rockpool?Find out which of these creatures live in the rockpool and colour in their shape when you spot it. Be careful – some of these deinitely don’t live in rockpools!
1 2
Octopus
JellyfishSea star
ClownfishPufferfish
Which creatures did
you touch?
The Grey Nurse Shark often swims with its mouth out
of the water!
Adapted for lifeThere are many different types of sharks whose bodies have changed over the years to perfectly suit their habitats. Draw two sharks that have different bodies.
Sea cucumber
Urchin
Find out about habitats
12
Habitats & Adaptations - Student exploration sheet
Which of my friends did
you see?
Where do I live?
Dugong wordsearchHome sweet homeClownish have a very unusual habitat, but what is it?Choose the right one and draw a clownish in it.
Can you ind these words about dugongs above?
COASTAL FLUKE MANATEEELEPHANT TUSK WARM
Octopus anagramsUnscramble these words about octopuses.
Which ray?Write down the names of the ray species you found in the aquarium.
BS
O EN
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
C LOR OU
2. To camoulage themselves they can change:
K IN
1. Octopuses defend themselves by spraying:
_ _ _
3. They can also squeeze into tiny spaces as they don’t have any:
Sea grass
Beach Anemone & coral
Rockpool
M S N O B U N D S X A H
O R S Y K S U T R Y C L
C Q A F C D P I Z E M X
S O M W Z O K M U S A M
W Y A V T F K R Q K N I
I X N S L S I R D L A Y
U Z E U T X P O T O T U
Z T K X S A O J J T E J
I E K C F K L O R R E X
T H N N T E L I Z Q T H
N B U R I A A Y V U X U
E L E P H A N T S B T P
top related