Beach theme STEM activities are a wonderful way to bring some learning into a fun experience. Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook.
As a homeschool mom you know that learning can take place anytime, anywhere, even on the beach.
There are many ways to learn during a simple trip to the beach, even just through observation.
Your child will take in and process so much information.
However, there are still many ways to be more intentional about the learning.
I have an easy and quick sunscreen painting experiment.
You need two simple items.
This will demonstrate a simple concept on the sun’s harmful rays.
And what we can do to protect ourselves when we are at the beach.
From edible beach treats that incorporate math to learning all about shark vocabulary I have gathered up plenty of awesome beach theme stem activities.
These activities make your surf and sand theme unit study full and fun.
Beach and Ocean Books for Kids
First, look at some of these books about beaches and oceans.
Add them to your home library.
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.
Join Danny Meadow Mouse, Jimmy Skunk, and Reddy Fox as they explore the seashore and take a closer look at the habits and habitats of the creatures they find. Discover the Seahorse, Shrimp, Crab, Anemone, Gull, and so many more.
The Burgess Seashore Book for Children is a wonderful way to introduce young ones to the fascinating world beneath us and is a perfect compliment to earlier books in this series, the Bird, Animal, and Flower books.
This edition is complete and unabridged with all of the beautiful illustrations by W.H. Southwick and George Sutton
Seaside Naturalist is an illustrated guide to marine plants and animals includes the characteristics of protozoa, arthropods, sponges, mollusks, reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals.
The book opens by explaining how different types of animals are able to breathe and survive underwater, and the different families to which they belong. Subsequent pages are dedicated to specific creatures, including sea turtles, whales, sharks, stingrays, and seahorses, and show varied life in specific habitats, such as a coral reef or deep sea bed. The Big Book of the Blue also explores the underwater world thematically, looking at animals in danger, learning how to spot creatures at the beach, and discovering how to do our part to save sea life. Beautiful and filled with fascinating facts, young, curious readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from the page.
Island of the Blue Dolphins begins with a young girl named Karana who is living on the Island of the Blue Dolphins (fancy name, right?) with her younger brother, Ramo, and sister, Ulape. One day, a group of Russian hunters (Aleutians) land on the island to hunt for otter. This is when the trouble really begins.
Once upon a time in France, a baby was born under the summer sun. His parents named him Jacques. As he grew, Jacques fell in love with the sea. He dreamed of breathing beneath the waves and swimming as gracefully as a fish. In fact, he longed to become a manfish. Jacques Cousteau grew up to become a champion of the seas and one of the best-known oceanographers in the world. In this lovely biography, now in paperback, poetic text and gorgeous paintings come together to create a portrait of Cousteau that is as magical as it is inspiring.
A beautiful edition with 110 images from the 1875 English edition. Use Amazon's Look inside feature to compare this edition with others. You'll be impressed by the differences. Don't be fooled by other versions that have no illustrations or contain very small print. Reading our edition will make you feel that you are traveling the seas with Captain Nemo himself.
More than 100 original illustrations by Louis Rhead. You want to read this book with illustrations.
An introduction by W. D. Howells.
Nicely formatted text in an easy-to-read font.
A beautiful cover from the 1891 edition.
Embark on a captivating tour of the waters that cover 70 percent of our planet! See our oceans come to life in mind-blowing detail. This is the ultimate children’s visual encyclopedia about the awe-inspiring blue planet!
How did a nineteenth-century dressmaker revolutionize science? Jeanne Power was creative: she wanted to learn about the creatures that swim beneath the ocean waves, so she built glass tanks and changed the way we study underwater life forever. Jeanne Power was groundbreaking: she solved mysteries of sea animals and published her findings at a time when few of women’s contributions to science were acknowledged. Jeanne Power was persistent: when records of her research were lost, she set to work repeating her studies. And when men tried to take credit for her achievements, she stood firm and insisted on the recognition due to her.
Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages.
Do you know a kid who’s captivated by what goes on beneath the ocean’s surface? This amazing entry into ocean books for kids is packed with hundreds of incredible facts for hours of underwater exploration. Pages of full-color pictures feature life in and around the sea including fish, dolphins, and shipwrecks!
Dive into the mesmerizing world of bioluminescence with "All About Bioluminescence." In this captivating book, readers embark on a journey through the depths of the ocean to discover the extraordinary glow-in-the-dark creatures that inhabit its mysterious realm. From the enchanting sea angel to the infamous anglerfish, each page is filled with stunning illustrations and fascinating facts about these luminous beings.With a focus on deep-sea dwellers, readers will uncover the secrets behind bioluminescence and learn how these creatures use light to communicate, camouflage, and lure prey. But the adventure doesn't stop there! "All About Bioluminescence" also includes hands-on activities like a glow stick experiment, allowing readers to experience the magic of bioluminescence firsthand.
One of the most enduringly popular adventure tales, Treasure Island began in 1881 as a serialized adventure entitled "The Sea-Cook"in the periodical Young Folks. Completed during a stay at Davos, Switzerland, where Stevenson had gone for his health, it was published in 1883 in the form we know today.Set in the eighteenth century, Treasure Island spins a heady tale of piracy, a mysterious treasure map, and a host of sinister characters charged with diabolical intentions. Seen through the eyes of Jim Hawkins, the cabin boy of the Hispaniola, the action-packed adventure tells of a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble for buried treasure on an exotic isle.
In Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids readers ages 7 though 10 dive into the underwater world of some of the most amazing landscapes on Earth. On this amazing underwater adventure, kids experience the ocean’s tropical reefs and spot crabs, sea sponges, and thousands of kinds of fish darting in its crags and folds. They’ll meet a giant squid with eyes the size of dinner plates and an mbrella-like bioluminescent jellyfish.
From both a historical and scientific point of view, above and below the surface, this engaging guide brings the world’s oceans to life through fun facts, illustrations, and in-depth information. Interactive activities appear throughout, ranging from making solar stills and simple fishing spears to experimenting with a homemade diving bell and figuring out how much water it really takes to survive. With the oceans being the least explored environment on Earth, this reference illuminates some of the most incredible and surprising plants and animals as well as how to survive and navigate these vast expanses.
An intricate study of tide pool life is presented in text and pictures through the story of Pagoo, a her-mit crab.
Next, look at these hands-on beach activities.
11 Awesome Beach Theme STEM Activities
- Cooking definitely falls under STEM by covering science and math, Make Your Own Edible Beach Sand And Shells: A Creative And Delicious Recipe.
- Check out this awesome Epic Sand Volcano for some explosive beach STEM fun.
- At home, create your own beach model (or diorama) to demonstrate the creatures that make their home in and near the water.
- Bring a little of the beach home and have fun Comparing Beach Sand Under The Microscope in the comfort of your living room.
- Practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication using seashells as manipulatives, carry them home with you to continue the beach themed math.
- Explore the reaction between seashells and vinegar in the Seashell Acid Base Experiment to see what happens.
- Find seashells and shark teeth, take along an identification guide and see how many you can name. A waterproof folding book is perfect to toss in your bag.
- How to Create a Hands-on Fun Shark Vocabulary Anatomy Activity.
- I love a good lapbook as you know and my Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook is a great way to learn more about everything from the strand line to zones of the ocean and more.
- See what causes beaches to erode with the Beach Erosion Project.
- Make a sundial with a stick placed in the sand and observe how far the shadows distance moves each hour.
Next read about the science behind sunscreen.
The Science Behind Sunscreen
Before you begin your sunscreen painting, talk about why we use sunscreen and how it protects us.
When we go to the beach or outside and use sunscreen it creates a protective barrier on our skin that blocks most of the sun’s UV rays.
And keeps us from getting a sunburn.
Some of the ingredients in sunscreen reflect the sun’s rays and some absorb the sun’s rays before they can reach our skin.
Recreating a similar effect on paper quickly and easily demonstrates for children how sunblock works in relation to the sun’s UV rays.
For older children you can take it a step further by using different brands or levels of SPF in the sunscreens to see if there is a difference in the papers.
Have your child make a hypothesis as to which brand or number will do the best job.
Check the paper after an hour, two, four, etc. to see if there is a difference in the paper color where there is no sunscreen.
Quick Sunscreen Painting Experiment
Instead of colorful paint this activity kids will be painting with just one color that becomes see through as it dries but it is no less fun and intriguing to your little sun lover.
You will need:
- Black construction paper
- Sunscreen
- Paintbrushes
- Paper plate
Squirt some sunscreen on a plate and offer your child a couple different sizes of paintbrush.
Place black or dark blue colored paper on the ground, weighing the corners down with stones or something so they don’t blow away.
Encourage your child to paint a scene on the paper, while leaving a good portion of it unpainted so that they can see the obvious color difference later.
Lay the sunscreen painted images out in the full sun with something to weigh them down.
Let them sit for several hours, at least 3-4.
Bring them inside and notice the difference, see how the painted areas are still dark while everything unpainted has faded quite noticeably?
Just like sunscreen protects your skin from the sun’s UV rays it keeps the paper protected and reduces the effects of the sun (color fades in this instance).
The UV rays break down the chemicals in the paper and fade the color.
