Mollusks - unit study

B is in 5th grade and we have been using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey level 1 for science. It is well below grade level, but we chose to use it because it is the one being used in our co-op and the authors have not yet come out with the one that would be our grade level (scheduled for release February 2013). So we supply with other resources from the internet such as articles and videos.

We subscribed to Brain Pop and while it is a bit on the kid'ish side (that robot's beep is driving me nuts), it is chock full of great information that address a subject in small increments. We have both enjoyed watching these videos together.

Our favorite BY FAR is this guy: Crash Course. Tons of videos, for free and they are college level and he talks fast. We both love him and he is our go to guy for science videos. He taught B the whole chain of classification terms starting at Domain all the way to species.

For our co-op we take turns coming up with projects. There are projects in the book, but we also come up with our own. Here is one dh and I came up with and the kids thought it was fun.

Dh found this Classification Key. And I made this sheet of snails and mussels - download below.


Here is the image of the shells: Free download
Here is the answer key: Free download

Then we made model clay mollusks. Here is the line up - the moms made some too



The other moms did some terrific things too. For Echinoderms we all went to a nearby tropical fish store and another mom came up with a great octopus craft that you can read more about here. Make some ocean crafts

Then we went on a field trip to some tide pools by the ocean. We saw so many great things that were had just learned about and we had lunch on the beach. Ahhh it was so awesome.











A Sea Hare - about 12-15 inches long. Awesome, right?

Here are some more online resources that we used.
Drawings of mollusks
Mollusks parts explained in drawings Snails
Meet the mollusks
Pictures of Mollusks

I will leave you with this funny Mollusk song. Is this more than you ever wanted to know about Mollusks?

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