Exquisite Echinoderm Program

Do your young home school learners wanna know more about some of their favorite tide pool critters? Here at the Shaw Institute we will be offering a class to talk about all things echinoderm! These are the family that makes up sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers! We give a brief lecture to describe the group and its natural history and then visit our 200 gallon touch tank to get hands on with some of our native echinoderms! This is a true hands-on experience … providing fun and science/environmental education all at the same time.

Grades 1st-8th(+) 

Duration- 1.5 hours

Participants- up to 12

Presentation:

• What echinoderms are
• When they evolved
• Why are they important

Touch Tank:
Hands-on lesson on the types of echinoderms and how to identify them at the Shaw Institute.

Craft:
After learning what echinoderms are and what makes the separate groups unique, students will make their own sea star, sea urchin, sand dollar, or sea cucumber using modeling clay and craft supplies!

Wrap up:
Quiz to test the students’ knowledge