“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”
Jacques Yves Cousteau
Our third science unit of the year is DONE and it was maybe my favorite one EVER! I loved this unit. We learned so much, it was engaging, and filled with fun.
The Good and the Beautiful creates beautiful curriculum. The images that were used in this were gorgeous. We were all really sad to take down our science wall at the end!
One of the best things about this unit is that you can get it completely FREE. WHAT?! That is so generous and I cannot recommend it enough.
What is covered?
- Ocean Characteristics
- Tides and Intertidal Zones
- Marine Life
- Coral Reefs
- Marine Invertebrates (2 Lessons)
- Marine Reptiles
- Fish
- Sharks
- Marine Mammals (2 Lessons)
- Marine Birds
- Ocean Exploration
Vocabulary
The vocabulary words covered in this unit were:
- Marine Biology
- Ocean
- Oceanic Pelagic Zones
- High Tide
- Low Tide
- Tide Pool
- Intertidal Zone
- Continental Shelf
- Continental Slope
- Benthic
- Pelagic
- Coral Polyp
- Coral Colony
- Coral Reef
- Zooxanthellae
- Fringe Reef
- Barrier Reef
- Atoll
- Invertebrates
- Vertebrates
- Schooling
- Shoaling
- Migration
- Toothed Whales
- Baleen Whales
- Echolocation
Supplies
This was a unit where I felt like I needed to be checking my supplies each lesson. There is quite a lot of supplies needed to do the labs and demonstrations. I felt like all of the labs and add-ons were really great and worked out for us and so I wouldn’t skip them if you can. I would just make your life a little easier and gather them all before you start your unit and then you won’t be trying to gather them each lesson.
Their is a complete supply list provided at the beginning of the course, as well as a list of the supplies needed for each individual lesson at the beginning of the lesson.
Science Journal
As with all science units, it is required that you have a science journal for each one of your kiddos. This could be as simple as a folder or notebook where they can keep all of their papers and information that they gather.
I prepare a notebook at the beginning of the year with ALL of our units included. Find what works for you!
Read Alouds
This unit has a LOT of read aloud suggestions. These are some of my favorite parts of our science unit so I go all out! These are not necessary but I think it adds a lot of wonderful depth to your study.
ALSO, my kids were all obsessed with the books that we got. They are constantly looking at them. It was a total win for me.
The unit comes with a LARGE list giving lots of options for each subject. These are the ones we used for this unit:
- A Day in the Deep by Kevin Kurtz
- The Usborne Big Book of Sea Creatures by Minna Lacey
- Coral Reefs: A Whole New World Under the Sea by Baby Professor
- Jellyfish (A Day in the Life: Sea Animals) by Louise Spilsbury
- An Octopus is Amazing by Patricia Lauber
- Follow the Moon Home by Philippe Cousteau
- Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth
- The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
- If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams
- Oceans by Johnna Rizzo
- Amazing Giant Sea Creatures by DK
- A Day in the Salt Marsh by Kevin Kurtz
- Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne
Independent Reading
For this unit, I also had Jacob read Dolphin Adventure and Dolphin Treasure by Wayne Grover. These two books are apart of a series {there is also a third one but we don’t have it} and tell a great story about a man’s interaction with a dolphin. I would recommend it for Levels 2-4 or ages 7-9.
Length of Unit
Some of these lessons are pretty lengthy. There was more than one that we did over two days – so decide and go with what is working for your family. I would plan on it taking seven to nine weeks to complete.
Our Favorite Activities
Oh there were SO many fun activities in this unit. I tried to narrow it down to our favorites!
Ocean Characteristics – salt Content and its affects on ocean currents and how it creates buoyancy
Ocean Characteristics – light and how most marine life lives in the upper layers where the rays of light are brighter
Intertidal Zones – changes that occur with the tide
Shell Observation
Marine Invertebrates Booklet (Cnidarians, Echinoderms, Sponges, Mollusks, and Crustaceans)
Sea Turtle Craft
Videos – There are TONS of videos you can use to supplement and add depth to this unit.
Shark Senses – Sharks sense of smell compared to ours
Blubber Protection – THIS WAS MY FAVORITE! Loved it!
Seabird Feeding – different beaks make a difference!
Jacob picked to do a Marine Animal Report on Great White Sharks – he did a GREAT job!
Final Thoughts
This unit was incredible. I honestly think it was one of my all-time favorites. I would recommend it to anyone. It really helped deepen my love for the ocean and yearn to experience and help it.
Our kids have never been to an ocean before and we were so excited to go on our family trip to New Jersey in May to experience the ocean first hand. Sadly, due to the coronavirus, we have had to cancel our trip. But we will get to the ocean someday and we can’t wait for that day!
Here are some of the other science units we have done and LOVED:
- Arthropods
- Botany
- Energy
- Kingdoms and Classification
- Mammals
- Meteorology
- Maturation & Sexual Reproduction
- Safety
- Space Science
- The Human Body
- Water and Our World
