Sharks vs. Whales: It's a Tie! They are both awesome!

Augie: I really like exploring the ocean.

Augie's statement seems to reflect the groups interest.

Judah: Look I am stamping shells with Sadie. 

These are invertebrates, but the sea horse is a fish.

Nora: We are building a boat but it is a castle boat that floats as a castle.

From a floating castle boat you may see sharks. 

Morah Katie: What should I know if I see a shark?

Clara: Whale sharks are gentle.
Abe: They are the biggest fish.

Matan: Big sharks hunt and bite. They have backbones. It's going to eat this fish up!

Evan: Whale sharks eat plankton and go slowly.

Abe: Great white sharks are hunting sharks.

Augie: Whale sharks can be as long a school bus.

Judah: There are so many sharks, 400 different kinds.
Augie: When a shark loses its tooth it falls to the bottom of the sea and the shark grows a new one.
Judah: Sharks are always losing teeth and regrowing them.

Judah: This is a big boat you can take on the water.

While on a boat you may also see whales.

Morah Katie: What should I know about whales?

Evan: Blue whales have backbones and can be as long as 2 school buses. 

Its like THIS LONG. So long.

Evan: But where are it's teeth?

Clara: They don't have teeth. 

Morah Katie: They have Baleen.

Clara: Baleen is like a strainer. They don't bite their food.

Evan: They eat krill like whale sharks eat krill but they aren't sharks.

Sadie: It is blue.

Judah: Some whales have teeth.
Morah Katie: Judah you have a sperm whale, it is a toothed whale, what does tell you about it?
Judah: It eats things like squid and fish.
Matan: They use teeth to bite and hunt.

Clara: I'm black and white, now I'm an orca!

Nora: I'm an orca too!

Morah Katie: Why are orcas black and white?

Abe: To hide and hunt so they can't be seen. They are camouflaged.

Ari: They are good hunters.

Clara: This is my orca spouting water.

Morah Katie: Narwhals and orcas are both toothed whales, but how are they different?

Judah: Narwhals are gray and orcas are black and white.

We discovered that whales and dolphins like to play.

They live in family groups and enjoy leaping in the water.

Olivia: The mommy is helping the baby whale breathe air.

Clara: The whales are not fish. They are swimming together. 

They breathe air. But they have backbones like fish.

Evelyn: The sharks have gills and have to keep moving. And I know that whale sharks move really calmly.

Augie: Half of them sleeps and then the other half sleeps.

Abe: One of it sleeps and the other keeps it moving.

Morah Katie: Scientists think that a shark can rest half of it's brain, the other half will keep it moving so it can get the oxygen it  needs as well as rest. 

Scientist think that the sides of the brain take turns. 

Otherwise the shark would never sleep! 

Abe: That wouldn't be good.

Becoming Marine Biologists

Morah Katie: What do oceanographers study?

Augie: The Ocean.

Morah Katie: Scientists who study and learn about the life living in the ocean are called

Judah: Marine biologists.

Vertebrate vs. Invertebrate

We put our hands on our backs to feel our backbones. Animals with backbones are called vertebrates.

We colored the backbones of animal skeletons red.
Judah: I sorted them by ocean vertebrates or land vertebrates. The birds are ocean and land because some birds fish in the ocean. The fish are ocean animals of course.

We played a sorting game to help us distinguish between marine vertebrates from marine invertebrates.

Ari: My crab does not have a backbone.

Matan: Does my polar bear have a backbone?

Kids: Yes, It's a vertebrate!

Sadie's sea star is an invertebrate.

Judah: My seahorse is a fish, so it is a vertebrate.

Evelyn: Well my penguin is a bird but it swims to catch fish.

Morah Katie: Would you like to look at our vertebrate chart? 

Evelyn: Yes.

Morah Katie: What do you see?

Evelyn: Birds DO have backbones! It is a vertebrate.

Matan: I have a tiger shark, it has a backbone.

My octopus doesn't have a backbone.

Nora: The whale has a backbone. I  do too, only it's hiding behind my belly.

Angler fish are particularly exciting fish. They live in the abyss.

Augie: The angler fish has a backbone.

Nora: It has sharp teeth.

Ari: The bulb lights up.

Evan: It is hard to see in the dark so it makes light to catch food.

Morah Katie: Can you tell me about an invertebrate?

Judah: Mollusks are invertebrates. 

Morah Katie: Can you name a mollusk for me?

Judah: A squid.

Ari: Octopuses don't have backbones, neither do jellyfish.

Judah and Ari wrote a short story about their favorite invertebrates.
Judah: A mollusk is an animal. A squid is a mollusk.
Ari: A jellyfish is an invertebrate. It does not have a backbone.

We rearranged our ocean mural to better depict our understanding of squid and octopuses.

Morah Katie: Why did we have to move our ocean around?

Judah: Because octopus hide because they are soft and don't want to get eaten by tigers, tiger sharks I mean.

Evan: They live in dens.

Morah Katie: Octopus and Squid are similar. Can you tell me how?

Augie: They both have tentacles.

Evan: They are both invertebrates.

Abe: They squirt ink.

Morah Katie: How are squid different from octopuses?

Abe: They swim out in the open ocean.

Augie: They have  10 tentacles. Two of the tentacles they use to catch food.

Morah Katie: Can you tell me about other marine invertebrates?

Judah: Sea stars are invertebrates. Their mouth is underneath them and they spit their stomachs out on their food and then pull the whole thing inside again.

Olivia S.:They move really really slowly.

Matan: (with a slight cry) My star fish lost it's leg!

Ari: That's ok Matan because it can just grow it back. 

Augie: Sea anemones are invertebrates. 

Abe: They are like jellyfish because their tentacles zap their food.

Augie: But not the nemo fish

Morah Katie: Clown fish.

Judah: Why?

Morah Katie: Clown fish and sea anemones work together, the clown fish brings back food and the anemones keeps it safe from bigger fish.

 Augie: I know that the ocean has different zones.
Judah: I know that there are thousands of animals in the ocean.
Olivia S.: I know that dolphins have backbones.
Evelyn: I know that whales spout water out.
Abe: I know that squid live in the deep dark water and squirt ink and are similar to octopuses.
Maya: I know that sea turtles have backbones.
Asher knows that jellyfish don't have backbones.
Evan: I know that squid don't have a backbone, they are invertebrates. Their heads look oval.