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Grades 4-5

Fossil Fun: Traces of Ancient Life (90 minutes)
Students examine a varied collection of fossils and learn about the ancient animals and plants preserved in each specimen. They learn about different ways fossils can form and then make a simulated “fossil” to take home, using impressions of modern day marine shells.

Sands Mysteries (90 minutes)
Students examine the microscopic characteristics of sand to discover clues about its origins. Did the sand beneath their feet come from a volcano, a coral reef, or a desert? They learn how sand is formed and why sand from different places is so varied.

The Great Gray Whale (90 minutes)
Students assemble the complete skeleton of a 24-foot gray whale, comparing it to their own skeletons. They learn about its anatomy and adaptations to its environment. Students become familiar with the life history of this remarkable species that migrates up and down our coast.

Plankton Lab (90 minutes)
Students use a net to collect plankton and then examine their collection using microscopes. As they draw plankton and use resource materials to identify the phytoplankton/zooplankton collected, they learn about plankton’s importance to Puget Sound food webs.

Birds of Shore and Sea (90 minutes)
Students examine bones, feathers, pictures and information in the Natural History Exhibit for clues about how marine birds have adapted, both in body design and in behavior to living in the marine environment. Weather permitting, this class includes bird-watching at a nearby beach.

Who Eats Whom? (60 minutes)
Students spend time at the touch pools using their senses to become familiar with marine fish and invertebrates. They learn about the preferred foods of these animals by feeding them, observing their behaviors and sharing their observations.

On the Beach: High Tide, Low Tide (90 minutes)
Students learn about tides and investigate their effects on a cobble beach. Students study marine communities of animals and plants, identify and group them by their locations between the high and low tide zones.

The Big Four: Introduction to Invertebrates
(90 minutes)
Students learn about the major groupings of familiar marine animals. They observe and draw animals in touch pools and learn about characteristics of the predominant marine phyla .

Earthquake! (90 minutes)
Students learn about earthquake waves using recordings from our on-site seismometer, slinky experiments and discussion. They work in small groups designing buildings and testing their ability to withstand an earthquake as a way of investigating earthquake resistant construction.

Reading the Rocks (90 minutes)
Using the natural materials on our beaches and hands-on activities that simulate how rocks are formed, students explore the dynamic earth processes exhibited along the Northwest Coast. They use tectonic diagrams and geologic maps to locate each type of rock and understand the processes that brought them here.