hands-on activities

Cool facts about mollusks, ideas for amazing activities, and a tutorial for a decoupaged oyster shell are just a portion of what I have for you. Also, look at my page Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook for more hands-on ideas.

Mollusks are a fascinating group of animals that live mostly in water and have soft bodies, often protected by hard shells.

They are invertebrates, which means they don’t have backbones.

And they belong to the phylum Mollusca, one of the largest groups of animals in the world and there are over 85,000 known species of mollusk.

We loved this book About Mollusks: A Guide for Children.

Next, look at more books to add to your study.

MOLLUSKS BOOKS FOR KIDS

I prefer living books when I can find them.

8 Books About Mollusks

Add some of these books to your home library or to your unit study for the day.

About Mollusks: A Guide for Children

The book uses simple, easy-to-understand language to teach children what mollusks are, how they look, how they move, what they eat, and where they live. The beautifully detailed, realistic paintings of noted wildlife illustrator John Sill introduce readers to a variety of mollusks—from the small garden snail to the giant Pacific octopus. An afterword provides more details about the animals in the book.

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Giant Squid (Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor (Awards))

The giant squid is one of the most elusive creatures in the world. As large as whales, they hide beyond reach deep within the sea, forcing scientists to piece together their story from those clues they leave behind.An injured whale's ring-shaped scars indicate an encounter with a giant squid. A piece of beak broken off in the whale's belly; a flash of ink dispersed as a blinding defense to allow the squid to escape-- these fragments of proof were all we had . . . until a giant squid was finally filmed in its natural habitat only two years ago.In this beautiful and clever nonfiction picture book about the giant squid, Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann explore, both visually and poetically, this hidden creature's mysterious life.

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Matisse's Magical Trail

A young snail's artistic trail inspires a whole class of children to be creative too!

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The snail's spell

"Brilliant illustrations and a short text invite an unnamed sleeping, pajama-clad child into a garden teeming with wildlife. The boy gradually shrinks until he is so small he experiences things as a snail would. The incredibly detailed drawings and the idea of shrinking to enter another world should capture children's imaginations

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Escargot

Escargot is an adorable French snail who only wants two things: 1) To be your favorite animal, and 2) To eat the delicious salad at the end of this book. Except this delicious salad has a carrot in it. And Escargot hates carrots. But when he finally tries one―with a little help from you!―he realizes that it’s not so bad after all.

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The Snail House

Here is the story Grandma tells one evening on her wide veranda steps. It has Michael and Hannah and the disappearing baby in it, a tigerish bird, raindrops like sacks of water, and the hugest apple you ever saw. Oh yes . . . and the Snail House. So gather round, climb up now into Grandma’s lap. Darkness is falling, the air is still, and the story is just about to begin.

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Snail in the woods (A Nature I can read book)

A snail's life from the time it is hatched to the time it lays its own eggs.

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The Biggest House in the World

A young snail dreams of having the biggest house—or shell—in the world. Then one day, his wise father tells him the story of another snail with the same dream. He grew and grew, adding bright colors and beautiful designs, until he found that his house came at a terrible cost. The young snail decides that a small, easy-to-carry shell might be best for a life of adventure and exploration.

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Today we are going to look at the 3 main types of mollusks-bivalves, gastropods, and cephalopods before we begin our craft.

3 MAIN TYPES OF MOLLUSKS

BIVALVES

(“Bi-” means two)These mollusks have two shells hinged together, like a book. They are usually filter feeders and don’t have a head or much visible movement.

• Scallops – Can “swim” by clapping their shells together
• Oysters – Create reefs and sometimes pearls
• Clams – Live buried in sand or mud and use a foot to dig
• Mussels – Attach to rocks using strong fibers called byssal threads

GASTROPODS

(“Gastro” means stomach and “pod” means foot—because they move on their stomach-foot!). This is the largest group of mollusks. Most have a single, spiraled shell, though some (like slugs) have none at all.

• Snails – Found on land and in water, with a coiled shell for protection
• Slugs – No shell, but covered in mucus to keep from drying out
• Sea Hares – Large marine snails with soft bodies and beautiful colors
• Whelks and Conchs – Marine snails with beautiful spiral shells.

CEPHALOPODS

(“Cephalo” means head and “pod” means foot—because their feet (tentacles) come out of their head!) Cephalopods are the smartest and fastest of the mollusks. Most don’t have external shells, except the nautilus, and can change color and texture.

• Octopuses – Eight arms, high intelligence, and the ability to squeeze into tiny spaces
• Squid – Ten limbs (eight arms, two longer tentacles) and fast swimmers
• Cuttlefish – Similar to squid but with a special shell inside (the cuttlebone)
• Nautiluses – Have beautiful, coiled shells and many tentacles, but lack the speed of other cephalopods

8 COOL FACTS ABOUT MOLLUSKS

1. Cephalopods like squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish use special skin cells called chromatophores to change their color and pattern for camouflage, communication, and to scare off predators.
2. In ancient times, people harvested murex snails to make a deep purple dye known as Tyrian purple, used in royal clothing. It took thousands of snails to make just a small amount, which is why it became a symbol of wealth and power
3. Oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, they do this to extract food and minerals from the water.
4. Octopuses can open jars, use tools, and even solve puzzles!
5. Scallops have dozens of tiny blue eyes along the edge of their shell.
6. Some oysters produce pearls- a smooth, shiny ball formed when a grain of sand gets trapped inside their shell.
7. Giant clams can grow over 4 feet wide and weigh more than 500 pounds.
8. Some sea snails have shells that spiral in different directions—right (dextral) or left (sinistral).

Also, look at my post How Do Mollusks Breathe | Easy Pipe Cleaner Snail Craft.

Finally, look at how to do this fun decoupaged oyster shell.

HOW TO CREATE A DECOUPAGED OYSTER SHELL

You will need:

• Decorative napkins or tissue paper
• Mod Podge (or white glue mixed with water)
• Small paintbrush
• Scissors
• Optional: gold paint or a gold paint pen

If you are using shells you found on the beach (or collected from a seafood restaurant) clean the shells to make sure your oyster shells are free of dirt and debris.

You can scrub them lightly with soap and water.

Using a paintbrush, coat the inside of the shell with Mod Podge.

Separate the thin printed layer from the white layers.

Gently press the paper onto the Mod Podge-coated shell. Smooth it out carefully to avoid wrinkles.

While still wet carefully tear away the excess away from the edges all the way around the shell.

Once everything is dry, paint the edges of the shell with gold paint for a polished, elegant look or use any color you like to finish off the edge.

Here are a few of the creative ways you can put your decoupaged oyster shell to use. To hold your sea glass collection…

For spare change…

Next to the sink to hold your ring while you do dishes…

For hairpins…