This post contains affiliate links. Have you enjoyed Beach Week here at The Homeschool Scientist? I don’t know about you, but it made us really want to figure out a way to get our land-locked selves back to the ocean!
I loved this week! Our kids really liked studying the ocean, because it was so new and different to them. They were inspired by our trip to the Gulf Shores area of Alabama. We don’t find many white sandy beaches or sea shells in the middle of these corn fields!
Here is just a bit of what we learned from our beach and ocean study.
What We Learned This Week
- In The Lab Report, sponsored by Apologia Science, we learned how waves affect the shape and appearance of sandy beaches.
- We saw what a live Sand Dollar looks like compared to the sand dollar skeletons most of us find washed up on the beach.
- Sand Dollars are echinoderms, just like star fish.
- Stef, from Educating Laytons, gave us lots of great resources for studying sharks and other sea life, including a shark word hunt!
- Sea Shell Identification resources
- Animals from the Phylum Mollusca create the shells you find washed up on the beach.
- Phylum Mollusca, also, includes octopus and squid, although they do not create shells.
More Resources For Beach and Ocean Study
Here are some bonus resources to use for further study:
- We studied sea turtles before leaving for vacation, because they nest on the beaches were we stayed. We never saw turtles, but we did see some nests!
- Follow NOAA’s ocean explorations and their discoveries.
- A NOAA ocean study site just for kids
- Learn just about everything you’ve ever wanted to know about sharks from National Geographic.
- At Apps For Homeschooling, I found out about this awesome Shark app for the iPad.
- Beach Unit Study from CurrClick.com and Homeschool Learning Network
A Question For You
Thanks for joining us for Beach Week! It was lots of fun! I have a question for you. Do you like theme weeks? Would you like to see more theme weeks here at The Homeschool Scientist? I want to publish what you want to read! Linking up to the Weekly Link Up at WeirdUnsocializedHomeschoolers.com.