Beach Science

Introduction to Beach Science

I created these beach science projects as an enrichment program for Jack’s school. We practiced them at home first and had a great time learning about science at the beach! Since we live at the beach in the mid-Atlantic, I thought it was important that the kids understand more about it.

Many of the items used in these lessons can be collected directly from a marine environment (as long as you are not harming the flora and fauna and as long as it is legal to take the items). If you do not live near the beach, many of the items can be purchased on the Internet. If you live in an inland, freshwater environment, or on the Pacific Coast, you can probably do many of the lessons, tweaking them to fit your local flora and fauna.

Please enjoy these 15 Beach Science lessons for FREE by clicking Curious Little Classroom’s Beach Science image below!!!

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Lesson 1: Sonar Boxes

This is the first of our lessons about beach science. We took a CLEAN litter box and filled it with sand (don’t let your cat see it though!)

Then we used string and tape to superimpose this grid of the North Atlantic on the litter pan.

We were using Sonar to find the Titanic. I buried that at approximately 41.726931° N and -49.948253° W, I did some other small toys, then I finished covering the box with string and tape.

We went over the rules first.

Then we picked places to send down our Sonar signal, simulating the Sonar with a pencil.

Yay! We found something!

We marked on our paper where we picked each time to send down our Sonar.

Lila found the Titanic!

Lesson 2: Cookie Tides

This lesson explores spring and neap tides using Oreos, Nilla wafers, and vanilla icing dyed with blue food coloring.

After I dyed the icing, I put it in a plastic bag. We used this to pipe the icing onto the plate after setting up our cookies.

It is easiest to hand out the paper plates with this template already written on them, espeically if you are working with young children.

You can also pipe some icing onto the spots below the writing so the kids know where to place their cookies.

Have the kids place one Nilla wafer in the middle of the plate to act as the Earth and four Oreos around the Earth represeting the phases of the moon.

Use a plastic knife to create the proper phases of the moon by scraping off the cream from the Oreos as shown below.

Pipe a lot of the icing around the “Earth” when it is a new and full moon to show that these moon phases create very high and very low tides. Pipe a little of the icing around the “Earth” when it is a 1st and 3rd quarter moon to show that these moon phases create not to high and not so low tides.

Have some fun eating your Cookie Tides!

Lesson 3: Bioluminescent Plankton

Our third lesson was all about bioluminescence. First we learned about marine organisms that are bioluminescent.

For our project, we made biolumunescent plankton out of 10 oz water bottles.

I mixed neon blue paint with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Then we painted the bottles.

Look! They glow like bioluminescent plankton!

Lesson 4: What’s Hangin’ on the Wrack?

For this lesson, we collected wrack from the local beach.

Wrack is the line of seaweed and debris that runs along the beach where the last tide dropped it off. We learned about the organisms that take advantage of this unique ecosystem.

We began by examining our wrack samples closely.

Then we looked even more closely using a hand lens.

Then we went on a little scavener hunt to find these isopods and amphipods, which love living in the wrack!

Lesson 5: Seashell Art

Although this is an art lesson, we first learned the names of the common seashells of the mid-Atlantic.

Then we went to the beach to collect local seashells.

We got out our paint and other art supplies and started to create art out of our seashells.

The hot glue gun was for adult use only!

I used it to glue little magnets to the finished products.

This is our finished seashell art!

Lesson 6: Horseshoe Crabs

This lesson was all about horseshoe crabs. First we learned a little about these magnificent, ancient creatures.

Then we made our own horseshoe crabs using markers, a stapler, and tissue paper.

First we colored these print outs.

Then we cut them out.

Next, we stapled them together, leaving an opening at the top.

We stuffed a ball of tissue paper into the opening at the top to make the horseshoe crab 3 dimensional!

After stapling the rest together, we got our finished product!

Lesson 7: Dissect a Shark

This lesson is the cornerstone of all of these beach science lessons. The kids got to have some friends over to dissect a real (not living, of course) shark! You might wonder, “where in the world can I get a preserved shark from?” Amazon.com has them! I actually purchased our shark and dissection kit through Nasco on Amazon and I was very pleased with their service. You can get a real dissection tray to lay the shark in or you can just use a large aluminum pan like we did.

We put on our gloves, safety goggles, and aprons to get started.

I have done this dissection many times before when I was teaching marine science. I began with a little discussion of the external anatomy of the shark.

Here are some pics of the ventral (belly) surface of the shark.

Now we are ready to cut it open!

Is this shark a boy or a girl? And how do you cut it open? Watch this video to answer these questions!

Jack is holding the shark’s heart in his hand!

What’s inside the stomach!? And how did Jack get that heart out of the shark?

Are you ready to dissect the shark brain?

Check out our brain dissection video!

What a fun play date!

Lesson 8: Blubber, Fur, and Feathers

Have you ever wondered how animals that live in cold ocean water stay warm? This lesson explores how blubber, fur, and feathers protect marine mammals and birds. We learned a little about these animals before getting started on our project.

For the project, we used 2 vinyl gloves, margarine or butter, 2 rubber bands, cotton balls, a plastic knife, 2 plastic bags, and a large bowl of ice water.

First we spread the butter onto the glove using the plastic knife. Then we put cotton balls on top of the butter.

Then we flipped the glove over and did the same thing.

We then put the buttered cotton ball glove on one hand. We covered it with a plastic bag and secred it with a rubber band around the wrist. On the other hand, we just used a plain glove covered in a plastic bag.

Let’s find out which hand stays warmer when weput our fingers in ice water!

Lesson 9: Marine Debris

This very simple lesson using only a single rubber band, is very impactful. It teaches the kids how harmful it is to wildlife when debis is floating in marine environments.

First, we wrapped a rubber band around one of our hands.

Then, we attempted to perform some everyday activities using the hand wrapped in the rubber band.

Jack didn’t have an easy time starting up the iPad without his thumb available. Lila had a hard time coloring and writing her name.

Other suggested activities include:

Tying your shoe

Writing your name

Eating a snack

After completing the simple project, we learned a little more about how marine debris can affect wildlife.

Jack noticed it was hard to hold a cup to drink water and Lila noticed her hand started to hurt.

These things would affect wildlife as well if they had debris, such as fishing line or plastic, caught on them.

Lesson 10: Magnetic Sand

Sand is made up of very small bits of eroded rocks. Depending on where you live, the makeup of the local sand will vary. The sand of the mid-Atlantic is made up of the feldspar, quartz, and magnetite pieces eroded from the Appalachian Mountains.

We first put our sand on the Sand Sorting Worksheet and examined it closely using a toothpick and magnifying lens.

Woah! Sand looks cool up close! Do you see those little bits of black? Those are the magnetite pieces. Small bits of magnetite happen to be able to be picked up by a magnet.

Let’s see how Lila does picking up the little black bits of magnetite with a magnet.

Lesson 11: Beach Replenishment

This lesson is so important to us as shore residents. We lived through Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and we understand the importance of protecting our shoreline. This lesson uses a large shallow container filled with sand, Lego Duplo blocks, or Mega Bloks, large flat rocks, an evergreen bough, thick dowels, and 2 buckets of water.

First we built a small dune and placed the blocks behind it.

Then we dumped water to test how well the dune worked to protect the block “houses.”

Then we built a reinforced dune using the rocks and evergreen bough. We also raised the “homes” on the dowels.

We dumped another bucket of water to see if our reinforcements worked better to protect the block houses.

Lesson 12: Field Trip! Let’s Go Seining!

It’s still winter here, check back in a month or two to see pics of us using our seine net!

Lesson 13: Field Trip! Plankton Collection

Check back in a month or two to see what we find in our new plankton net!

Lesson 14: Field Trip! Seashell Collection

Check back in a month or two to see what types of seashellswe collected! In the meantime, you can get prepared for your own seashell collection by making a simple collection bag using a produce net and duct tape.