We have finally made it to the animal kingdom! Students explored the diversity of the animal kingdom with an activity on Monday. Students had to list animals that fit into given categories, and then as students shared answers with the class, they had to cross off any animal that was listed by another group. We discovered that there are WAY more animals than we could have anticipated. Remember, though....most animals (more than 95%) are actually invertebrates!
We discussed simple invertebrates (sponges, corals, jellyfish, flatworms, and roundworms) on Tuesday, and students were able to see video clips of them "in action." Students will be expected to remember the phylum names for each of these groups!
On Wednesday, students did a Porifera (sponge) lab. Students conducted an experiment to see whether natural or artificial sponges held more water. Our class results varied quite a bit. Every natural sponge is a bit different, so it isn't surprising that our results were not consistent throughout the day.
Even though our band students left us on Thursday and Friday, the students who remained did more explorations of invertebrates. They watched video clips of the major phyla and even played the "guess the invertebrate" game. Students had to put a sticker of a given invertebrate on their back or forehead (so they couldn't see it), and then had to ask yes/no questions to other students in order to guess which invertebrate was printed on their sticker. It was quite humorous watching the students ponder which questions to ask next!
Next week we will explore the mollusk and annelid worm phyla and begin examining the internal and external anatomy of the earthworm. Our first dissection is rapidly approaching!
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