Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

ocean

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

| 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a shark unit study, an easy shark STEM activity, and free shark notebooking pages. Also, grab more ideas on my best homeschool unit studies, Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook, and Coral Reef pages.

A shark unit study is a fun way to learn about these creatures of the deep even if you don’t live near the ocean, I would prefer not to study them up close anyway.

We can get up close and personal through videos, hands-on activities, fun facts, and fantastic books.

Did you know that, unlike many other bony fishes, sharks do not have a swim bladder that gives them buoyancy?

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

To help overcome their tendency to sink there are large amounts of oil in their liver that is less dense than seawater.

 Also, sharks are made of cartilage rather than bone which is considerably lighter.

To demonstrate why that helps sharks float we are going to create a couple of sharks and perform a fun STEM Experiment.

First, look at some facts for your shark unit study.

Shark Unit Study Shark Facts

  • There are over 500 species of sharks.
  • Shark skin feels very similar to sandpaper.
  • The fastest shark is the Shortfin Mako Shark, clocked at 31mph with short bursts of speed up to 46 mph.
  • The largest shark is the Whale shark while the smallest is the Dwarf Lantern Shark.
  • Prehistoric sharks were called Megalodons.
  • Sharks are found in almost every ocean habitat from coral reefs to the arctic sea.
  • Sharks do not sleep as humans do, but instead, they have active and restful periods.

What are Sharks

Sharks are the ocean’s ultimate predators. Some sharks live in the cold polar waters and others prefer the warm tropical seas.

And a shark is a fish because it swims with fins and has gills.

However, it is a cartilaginous fish and not a bony fish.

Shark Food

Additionally, sharks vary in their diet and in the way they hunt prey.

For example, the tiger shark is famous for eating, anything even license plates.

And the white-tipped shark stays in deep water and is famous because it ate shipwrecked sailors during World War II.

In addition, sharks have larger brains than other fish and can have advanced hunting techniques.

Too, many sharks rely on camouflage and being able to sneak up on their prey.

Moreover, others are filter eaters. They swim with their mouth open, suck in water, and filter the food from the water.

Their meal consists of tiny animals and plants called “plankton” floating in the water.

Also, here are some shark vocabulary words.

  • pup – baby shark
  • dorsal fin – a fin on the back of a fish.
  • caudal fin – the tail fin.
  • pectoral fin – paired fins toward the front of the shark
  • cartilage – tough connective tissue which is not bone
  • marine biologist – a scientist who studies marine (ocean) organisms
  • cartilaginous fish – skeletons are made of cartilage like sharks, rays, and eels
How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Next, unit studies are best remembered by doing hands-on activities.

Shark Unit Study Hands-On Activities

Homeschool Shark Unit Study Resources

Add one or two of these fun shark books and resources to your study about sharks.

Too, I have some fun free shark notebooking pages.

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

So, look at the title of these 4 notebooking pages.

  1. Sharks – What Are Sharks and About Shark Senses
  2. What Do Sharks Eat
  3. Shortfin Mako and White-Tipped Sharks
  4. Great White Shark and Tiger Shark

In addition, here are more homeschool unit studies.

More Best Homeschool Unit Studies

MORE SHARK ACTIVITIES

Finally, look at this fun sharks float STEM a;ctivity.

Shark Unit Study – How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity

You will need:

  • 2 water bottles.
  • Craft foam
  • Sharpies
  • Vegetable oil
  • Water
  • A large container.

Fill two water bottles with the exact same amount of liquid – one with water and one with vegetable oil.

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Decorate the bottles if you’d like to make them look more like sharks.

Use craft foam to make teeth and fins and then you can draw the details like eyes with a permanent marker.

Use hot glue for a quick secure drying adhesive but apply it to the foam rather than the plastic bottle and avoid touching with the metal nozzle.

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Once everything has dried on your “shark“ you’re ready to test them out in the water.

A large storage tote is perfect for this experiment, fill it halfway full of water and drop in your sharks.

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Now it’s time for observation and determining the results. What did you notice? 

While the one with water stays somewhat afloat it is more weighted, the oil field shark floats much more effortlessly.

How Do Sharks Float STEM Activity Free Shark Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Pop in some plastic sharks and turn your tub of water into a fun sensory play activity as well.

How to Get the Free Shark Notebooking Pages

Now, how to grab the free shark notebooking pages. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

| 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I have a hands-on way to show a sea turtle life cycle activity. Add my fun From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook to make it for multiple ages.

This sea turtle life cycle activity lets your child create a unique art project while also including some marine science in their lessons. 

Gather up a few supplies including a book or two and sit down with your little ones to create the full life cycle and then use it as a tool to teach as well.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Ocean Anatomy gives a simple overview of different types of sea turtles as well as their life cycle, and some conservation information.

It is a great book to add to your library for all its wonderful content.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

7 Facts about Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

  1. Baby turtles use a small tooth called a caruncle to break out of the shell before heading to the water.
  2. Once they are fully grown, they go back to where they were born to mate and start the cycle all over again.
  3. The female sea turtle climbs ashore, digs a body pit and nest (or egg chamber), lays her eggs, and then covers the nest with sand.
  4. It takes about six or seven weeks after being laid for the hatchlings to emerge and then head to the water.
  5. Most species nest several times during a nesting season, every 2-4 years.
  6. While it is not known exactly how long sea turtles live in the wild, scientists believe that their life span may be as long as a century.
  7. There is not much known about their first few years. During the time they head to sea as newly hatched babies until they return to coastal shallow waters, up to 20 years. They are called the lost years because not much is known about this period in their life cycle.
Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Then add a few more resources to your marine life study.

Resources to Study the Sea Turtle Life Cycle

10 Sea Turtle Resources

Add some books about sea turtles and hands-on resources to your lesson or unit study to bring it to life.

Next, look at these videos

More Sea Turtle Resources

Also, add more hands-on learning ideas.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

You will need:

  • Cardboard egg carton
  • Green and white craft paint
  • Green cardstock, construction paper, or craft foam
  • Black permanent marker
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue or craft glue

Cut out 5 cups from your egg carton (more if you want several eggs for the “nest”).

Paint 3 cups with various shades of green to make them unique, let your child add spots, etc.

Paint the remaining two cups white.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Allow all the paint to dry completely. While you are waiting, cut out 3 sets of 4 fins from green paper making them in 3 different sizes.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Set 1 white one to the side and leave it alone, this is an unhatched egg.

Cut one of the green cups down to a little more than half its size and glue it into the other white cup to create a hatching baby. You can even distress the egg a bit to show he is breaking it open.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Draw on little black eyes with a marker and glue the smallest fins as if he is pushing his way out of the egg.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Cut the second green cup down by about ⅓” and glue the medium-sized paper fins into place beneath the cup and add eyes. This is your juvenile turtle.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Finally, add the largest fins to the largest green cup and add eyes for your adult sea turtle.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

They are ready to be a cute part of your lessons.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

To give a better understanding of the life cycle you can use blue and beige paper or even sand if you have it placed on a tray to represent the water and sand.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Once you have that set up it is easy peasy to demonstrate the life cycle of sea turtles.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Share how sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach then head back to the water, then the babies hatch and head for the water until they are grown, and the cycle starts all over again.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

| Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these edible beach crafts for teens for fun summer learning. Also, look at my page Seashore Watching Unit Study and Beach Lapbook for more fun beach ideas.

Does your teen love to cook and craft?

If you are looking for a fun summer craft for a teen which is also edible, you’ll love the edible beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

This edible beach glass is adorable and delicious. It’s a great way to learn how beach glass is made.

Then there are the life skills cooking teaches, and some science and math worked into the simple recipe as well.

I also think it’s a great art project.

Whether the edible beach crafts are to be used as part of a unit study or for a fun summer-themed snack there are plenty of great ideas here.

So, include these excellent facts about beach glass.

5 Fun Facts About Beach Glass

  1. Beach glass is the debris left behind by broken bottles and jars which have been broken. The pieces are worn smooth, have a frosted appearance from the combination of the waves, and the sand wearing them down.
  2. There is a glass beach in Fort Bragg, California, but they don’t let you take souvenirs home with you.
  3. Beach glass is also known as sea glass, mermaid’s tears, and sea pearls.
  4. Common colors to find are clear, brown, green, and blue. Rarer to find are colors turquoise, yellow, and pink. Occasionally even red.
  5. Sea glass/beach glass can be found in many parts of the world. It is commonly found along the coasts of England and New England, North and South Carolina, Kauai Island in Hawaii, and California. There is also sea glass along the beaches of the Great Lakes, but it does look different than the glass found tossed about in the ocean.

5 MORE Facts about Beach Glass

  1. To age sea glass look at the tint- a light purple shade will be newer as manganese is added to the glass and turns purple with sun exposure, a green shade indicates that the glass is older.
  2. Sea glass is highly collectible and is used in jewelry, glass mosaics, wind chimes, to decorate frames or even just stored in a mason jar.
  3. It is much harder to find beach glass these days. More people are hunting for it on the beaches and many glass items packing items have now been replaced with plastic.  
  4. Due to more storms and the reshaping of the shoreline, the best time to find beach glass is spring.
  5. While often used interchangeably sea glass and beach glass are not the same thing. Sea glass is found on saltwater beaches, and beach glass on freshwater beaches.  The main difference in appearance is that the lakes aren’t as rough so there is not as much tumbling, making it less frosted and might even still have some shine to it.
10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Too, look at these other edible beach crafts for teens.

10 Edible Beach Crafts for Teens

  1. Let them get creative with these Strawberry Sea Creature Snacks and see what they come up with.
  2. Delicious for a hot summer day- Ocean Blue Lemonade Popsicles. I have added these Shark Attack Cheesecakes to my must-make recipe list, don’t they look amazing?
  3. What a great art and cooking project this Edible Sugar Seashells and Sand recipe is.
  4. These sand dollar cookies are just too precious.
  5. Simple but these Beach Pudding Cups are a tasty and cute beach-themed treat.
  6. Pinchable cute Beach Crab Sandwiches look delicious.
  7. Learn how to Make a Sandcastle Cake.
  8. Semi-healthy and a fun theme- Beach Ball Fruit Pizza.
  9. I bet these Butterscotch Crunch Starfish are amazing.
  10. Make a Fun Edible Coral Reef

More Beach Crafts for Teens Activities

Summer Crafts for Kids

Also, add some summer crafts to keep summer fun for teens.

Grab a copy of Ocean Anatomy, not a heavy textbook, but rather a fun and beautifully illustrated flip-through full of great facts about the ocean and all that is in it.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Finally, look how to make fun edible beach glass.

Beach Crafts For Teens Make Edible Beach Glass

I highly recommend using flavorings coconut, mango, and banana to add a little something extra to your edible beach glass but it is delicious with just the sugar flavor as well.

You will need:

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Directions:

Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of a medium-sized pan so that it doesn’t quite touch the bottom.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup into the pot and stir together.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature on the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

At this point, you must work very quickly so be sure to have all your add-ins ready to go with the caps removed, heat-safe bowls, silicone mat, food coloring, and flavorings.

Carefully remove from the heat and divide ⅓ of the mixture into 2 heat-safe containers like these Pyrex measuring cups.

Quickly stir a bit of green and blue food coloring as well as a bit of the flavoring oil into two of your containers. Leave the third clear but feel free to add flavor.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Pour the mixture from the pan and your containers onto your silicone mat quickly.

Beach Crafts

You don’t need to be neat just make a large blob shape. If it has started to set up, you can place the pan back on the heat for a minute or the glass cups into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the mixture.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Allow it to cool completely until hard, this should only take 10-15 minutes but you can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process a bit.

Transfer the hardened pieces to a zipper bag or cover them with waxed paper and hit them with a little mallet or against the counter to break them up into smaller pieces.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Add pieces to a separate ziploc bag and add a few spoons of powdered sugar, shake to coat everything. This keeps them from sticking together and gives your beach glass the dull frosted appearance of real beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Dust off excess powdered sugar.

Check out this side-by-side of real beach glass and edible beach glass, you can hardly tell the difference!

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

| Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This free ocean lapbook and homeschool unit study is a topic that is a fun topic to do with multiple ages. Too, I have more ideas on my pages Oceans and Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

Whether your children want to focus on exploring the ocean, marine life, or wrecked ships, there are no shortage of topics to learn about.

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

I’ve gathered some of the best resources and I have a free ocean lapbook to add more hands-on ideas to your study.

The oceans cover more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface.

Though the waters on the earth are really one world ocean, they are referred to by many names: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern.

Ocean Themed Resources

Add some of these books to your study which can also be used as a spine if you’re not wanting to purchase curriculum or a textbook.

16 Ocean Books for Kids Who Love to Read and Be Read To

Choose a few of these ocean themed books to go along with your study of the Oceans. Whether you're looking for a spine for a unit study or literature, you'll love this roundup.

Too, look at RMS Titanic Unit Study and Free Lapbook and Coral Reef Unit Study and Lapbook.

Marine Life Resources and Crafts

Next, look at some of these ocean life resources.

And here are a few more:

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

Additionally, look at these hands-on ideas.

Hands-on Ocean Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

The best way to learn any topic is hands-on. So, I’ve gathered some hands-on ideas for multiple ages below.

Yum. Edible Ocean Layers @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Edible Ocean Layers Activity

Moreover, add these other ideas.

Videos Ocean Resources

Also, you’ll love these other activities.

Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas
Free Ocean Lapbook and Fun Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

Finally, look below how to grab the free lapbook.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE OCEAN LAPBOOK

It’s a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list and get this freebie NOW and my emails .

 2) Grab your freebie.

3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you as a follower of me by email updates.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

| Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Begin your ocean unit study with this salt water density experiment for ocean science experiments for kindergarten. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

While there are many fascinating animals, plants, and shells in the ocean there is so much more to learn about.

As a matter of fact, only 5% of the ocean has even been explored.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

But beyond that for simple learning purposes there is much to cover beyond sharks, fish, and coral.

There are also the tides, ocean depth zones, and currents.

And today we are going to learn about salt water density and the effect it has on objects in it.

I have a fun but simple hands-on science experiment to learn about saltwater density.

Before we dive in, here are my suggestions for must haves for an ocean unit kindergarten to make it fun, immersive, and memorable.

Books for Kindergarten Ocean Unit Study

Kindergarten Ocean Unit Study Resources

Add a fun ocean unit study resource for kindergarten to your study for the day.

Also, add in some hands-on ocean activities while learning about ocean science experiments for kindergarten.

Ocean Unit Study Hands-on Ideas

Edible Geography Sea Levels
Edible Geography Sea Levels

Too, look at more kindergarten homeschool curriculum and craft ideas below.

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum And Crafts

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

Finally, let’s do a hands-on easy salt water density experiment.

Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten Salt Water Density

So no special supplies needed.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

You will need:

  • 3 clear cups
  • Salt
  • Warm tap water
  • 3 raw eggs
  • cardstock/pen
Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

Place 3 clear cups out, you can use plastic or glass just make sure all 3 are the same.

Add equal amounts of warm tap water in each cup.

Measure 1 Tablespoon of salt into one cup, 2 teaspoons in another, and put nothing in the third.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

Stir to combine the salt into the water completely.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

Make a label for each of the cups to keep them straight and place it in front.

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten

Carefully drop an egg into each cup.

Why happens?

The egg in the cup with the most salt water floats near the top because the density of the water is greater than that of the egg.

The water with less salt water sits about halfway in the water because the density ratio of water vs. object is close.

The raw egg in plain water sinks quickly to the bottom, the reason this happens is because the egg has less density than the water.

Ask your child some questions to get them thinking – Which egg is floating?

What happened to the egg with no salt in the water? Why do you think that happened?

Quick Unit Study & Easy Salt water Density Ocean Science Experiments For Kindergarten