| Ocean Unit |
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| Swimmy by Leo Lionni The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert Big Al by Andrew Clements A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle Crinkleroot's 25 Fish Every Child Should Know by Jim Arnosky Just Grandpa and Me by Mercer Mayer |
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| Ocean Math Activities |
| Graph Favorite Ocean Animal Have the children decide on their favorite ocean animal. Give each child a paper fish and let them place it under their favorite. (sharks, whales, seahorse, octopus, etc.) After the graph is complete, have the children interpret the graph. (What is the favorite ocean animal? least favorite? How many in all?) Goldfish cracker addition and subtraction Use goldfish crackers as manipulatives for the children to make up word problems. ie, 3 goldfish were swimming and they saw 2 beautiful goldfish swimming nearby. The 3 goldfish asked the 2 goldfish to swim with them. Now how many goldfish are swimming together? Have the children record their equations. Fish Estimation Fill a fish bowl or jar with gummy fish or goldfish crackers. Let each child estimate how many fish are in the bowl. Record their estimations. As a group count the fish. Discuss the number of fish in the bowl. Enjoy eating the fish! Hungry Shark Ocean Concentration Provide matching pictures of ocean animals. Have the children lay the cards face down and take turns finding matches. Have 1 shark. The child that finds the shark card gets an extra turn each time until the game is over. |
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| Ocean Art Activities |
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| We begin our Ocean unit by reading"The Magic School Bus, On the Ocean Floor," by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. The children then create an ocean mural. |
| Ocean Mural - Hang dark blue bulletin board paper on the wall for the ocean floor and lighter blue above. Have the children paint on seaweed and corals. The children then add sea animals to the mural. We have sea animal sponge cutouts and pictures of ocean animals that the children colored with markers. Title the mural, "Under The Sea." |
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| Aquariums Paper Plate Aquariums Each child will need 2 paper plates. Cut the center out of one of the paper plates. Trace around the center circle on blue construction paper. Glue the blue circle to the other paper plate. Add fish stickers or pictures to the blue circle. Add glitter to the bottom of the ocean circle. Cover the ocean scene with blue plastic wrap. Glue both paper plates together. Wax Paper Aquariums Have the children draw and cut out different ocean animals, plants, seaweed, and corals. Provide each child with two pieces of wax paper. Have them arrange their sea life pictures on one piece of the wax paper. Sprinkle different colored crayon shavings to the ocean scene. Place the other piece of wax paper over the ocean scene. Using a warm iron, melt the crayon pieces and seal the wax paper. Add construction paper strips around the edges. Hang in a window so the the light can shine through! Idea from www.thelearningleap.com Paper Plate Hermit Crabs |
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| Culmination Activity - Ocean Luau! To culminate the ocean unit have an ocean luau. Provide bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Let the children draw ocean pictures on the sidewalk. Eat gummy fish and goldfish crackers and hawaiian fruits. Do the hula and the limbo. See photos of our Ocean Luau! |
| Ocean Reading and Writing Activities |
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| Ocean Journals Provide each child with an ocean journal. As the various sea animals are discussed, have the children record with pictures and words in their journals what they have learned. Read Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer This is the story of grandma's and little critters's trip to the beach. Have the children write a story about an outing they have had with grandpa or grandma or another family member. Make an ABC Ocean Book Brainstorm ocean words from a - z. Have each child draw a picture to illustrate one ocean word. Put the pictures in abc order and bind the pages together to create a big book. |
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| Ocean Windows Have the children paint the windows of your classroom ocean blue and add paper fish. Lots of fun! |
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