Crustacean Lab
Ever wonder what it means to be a crab? Get up close with crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans as you explore their amazing life cycles and characteristics. Your students will be excited about their crabbing adventure down at the beach, the fact that they got to touch exoskeletons, and meet real live crustaceans!
TIDE DEPENDENT PROGRAM
(You may choose any date but there are dates when your students will be able to actually go onto the beach and look for crabs. Other days we will still go down to view the crab habitat, but the tide will be too high to get on the beach. See Ideal Dates Here )
PROGRAM LENGTH:
4 hours, 9:30am-1:30pm
PLEASE PREPARE YOUR STUDENTS
We have chosen one lesson for you to do with your students before you come, titled CRAB-O-BOTICS so they will have the optimal experience when they are here. Please use it to prepare your students. Please teach the second lesson, titled CRUSTACEAN LIFE COMIC STRIP and corresponding COMIC STRIP and RUBRIC, within a week of completing your Coastal Education Program to expand on the material learned during the Crustacean Lab Program. There are many more resources for you and your students listed below as well!
PLAN OF THE DAY: (If only one class, just see 9:30am-11:30am Group A)
Your students will be able to participate in the Crustacean Lab Lesson, a Docent-led Tour around the Living Coast to see birds, turtles and touch stingrays, complete a scavenger hunt and go for a hike or listen to a Read Aloud. Half of the day you will be with a Teacher or Docent and the other half of the day you will be leading your class through provided activities.
EXAMPLE SCHEDULE - Detailed Schedule link (Actual schedule may vary)
Additional Resources
Below are other optional activities and resources related to the Crustacean Lab Program.
Student Information:
Teacher Background:
Background Information on Crabs
Background Information on Crayfish
Background Information on Spiny Lobsters
Background Information on Arthropods
Background Information on Marine Algae
Background Information on Wetlands
Background Information on Animal Life in Tidal Mudflats
Activities and Lessons:
Crustacean Life Comic Strip & Comic Strip & Rubric
Crab and Crayfish Venn Diagram
Games, Songs and Crafts:
Standards:
NGSS
3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
LS3.A. Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
Common Core
ELA-Literacy.
SL.3.1b,c,d. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on other's ideas and expressing their own clearly
SL.3.3. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
SL.3.6. Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification
L.3.6. Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.