University of Maine Cooperative Extension   4-H Earth Connections "Creating Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century"
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AGE LEVEL = 9-12 (7-13) DURATION = 30-40 min. LEARNING STATION = Forest, Coast RELATED ACTIVITIES = ←→ Envirolopes, Kim’s Game WHEN =

PURPOSE: To explore and discover the world of the seashore

INTRODUCTION: This is a fun exercise that can be done anytime

MATERIALS:

• Tidal Pool Scavenger Hunt List

• Pail or bags for collecting

• List of items to be found

• Pens or Pencils

• Clipboards (see Activity A)

PREPARATION: Have copies of the scavenger hunt checklist ready to distribute. Review the ecological concepts covered in the hunt.  Do the scavenger hunt at the learning station yourself before introducing it to the children.

LESSON:

Warm-up: Divide the group into teams of three to five persons. Explain that they will be going on an unusual scavenger hunt in which they must decipher the meaning of each clue before they find the object. You may want to go over an example clue to help the group understand.

Activity: Discuss some rules and guidelines for collecting items. If it’s attached to the ground, a plant or a rock, it can not be collected. For items that are not collected, the name of the item should be written on the checklist. If live animals are collected, they should be kept alive and promptly released after the hunt.

Set down boundary lines and a time limit (usually 20 to 30 minutes). With boundaries, the children have a greater opportunity to use their observation powers to discover clues.

Hand out a clipboard, pencil, and list to each group. Let them explore while you circulate from group to group and answer questions and provide further clues as needed.

Wrap-up: End the scavenger hunt by regrouping in a sharing circle to discuss discoveries. Focus the children’s comments on natural cycles, interdependence and changes. The wrap-up discussion will depend on your spontaneity and ability to weave the discoveries into the child’s level of environmental awareness.

OPTIONS AND FURTHER EXPLORATIONS:

1. Instead of dividing the children into groups, have each child collect three or four items on the scavenger hunt checklist to report on.

2. Allow the children to make up their own scavenger hunts and try them on each other.

PROCEDURE:

1. Divide your group into teams of three to five persons.

2. Ask each group to find all of the items on the scavenger list.

3. Set a time limit. When time is up, call everyone together to examine their finds.

SCAVENGER HUNT LIST

piece of kelp black rock with white stripe all around clam shell animal that feeds on algae barnacle blue mussel wormy piece of driftwood clump of Irish moss shell of sea urchin ten pieces of manmade garbage hermit crab

star fish rockweed - two types green crab two sand fleas slipper shell animals which feed on barnacles and mussels rugosa rose flower beach pea (pod, flower or leaf) find something that might be a creature's home one day one filter feeding animal

TIDAL POOL SCAVENGER HUNT ANSWERS:

Plants: 1. sea lettuce 2. sausage weed 3. sea potato 4. bladder wrack 5. knotted wrack 6. Irish moss 7. calcareous algae

Animals: 1. mussel 2. periwinkle 3. dog whelk 4. barnacle 5. limpit 6. insects, birds, and so on 7. starfish

TIDAL POOL SCAVENGER HUNT CHECKLIST
By Kathy Remmel, Two Lights State Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

FIND A PLANT THAT: 1. looks like lettuce ____ 2. looks like hollow sausages ____ 3. looks like popcorn ____ 4. has a midrib and a bladder ____ 5. looks like a thick string with many knots ____ 6. looks like parsley, but red and curly ____ 7. has white “frosting” ____

FIND AN ANIMAL THAT: 1. is enclosed by two dark blue shells ____ 2. has one rounded shell ____ 3. has a pointed shell and a groove on its opening ____ 4. looks like a tiny volcano ____ 5. looks like a flattened cone ____ 6. moves on the water ____ 7. moves on suction-cup like feet ____