Beach Day!

Today was my last field trip with Summer of Hope. Can't believe the summer is over already!
We've been learning about tide pools this week, and today we moved our learning into real time as we visited the beautiful tide pools at Laguna Beach. We had a blast!

I don't have any pictures of the actual tide pools because I was so busy showing the kids all sorts of different animal life. We saw so many things! Mussels, barnacles, clams, sea snails, hermit crabs, tiny fish, sea anemones that had the kids screaming with glee, and sea urchins that had them leaning in for a better look. They learned the difference between a univalve and a bivalve (and the hand motions that helped them remember), what a "hollow" in a tide pool is, the difference between high and low tide (and got to witness it over the span that we were there), and how to closely observe the wildlife without tampering with it or causing harm (or at least, that was the idea!)

They've been researching tide pools all week. We made an awesome bulletin board about it, and I'll have to remember to take pictures and post them!

Anyway, here are some pictures from today...


After spending about an hour roaming through the tide pools, we moved the kids to an area where they could be more active and enjoy the beach.





Jessica found a crab! But...a seagull found him first.




That looks really yummy, Matt...





Mary was our hero and came along at the last minute--we had too many kids and not enough seats!




Pretty pattern...maybe lobster?




Barnacles




I loved how interested the kids were. They were learning all on their own!



:o)




Everyone with their "treasures" (which were promptly returned to their places)



All in all, it was a great day. We had a blast at the beach, had lots of stories to tell on the way home, and a lot of impressive things to tell moms and dads when the kids got picked up.

I love days like these!