Special Report - My Week at Soundwaters!
Dawn Winsor - Friday, February 24, 2006

I had SO MUCH FUN at the SoundWaters program during the school vacation week. We did so many things in just 5 days. Students from Hart and Stark Schools joined this program. Everyday, we started off with a morning circle in the History Room. On the first day (February 20), the teachers had to guess everyone's name by that person giving clues. We all took a little bit each from a roll of toilet paper. However many paper squares we each had, is how many things we had to tell about ourselves that nobody knew. Everyday for morning circle, we played a new activity like, Indian Chief, Break the Muk, Encyclopedia Circle, and 2 truths and 1 lie.

We also got to do many things with the animals. We got to see frogs, toads, squids, plankton, horseshoe crabs, oyster toad fish, flounders, starfish, oysters, puffer fish, turtles, spider crabs, snails, lobsters, eels, and even got to feed most of these animals. We learned that frogs have longer legs than toads, they have smooth skin, they are excellent jumpers, they're amphibians, they hibernate in the winter, and a fact that was really cool was that they are bio-indicators. That means that they can tell you if your water is polluted. Some signs are when they are missing a body part, or if they have an extra one. They have something different with their body to tell you that the water is not healthy. Frogs lay their eggs in piles and toads lay their eggs in chains.

The horseshoe crab was also really cool. We learned that they have 12 legs. Their mouth is in-between their legs. The way you tell a male from a female is by the 2 small legs near its mouth. If the legs look like boxing gloves, that means it is a male. The boxing glove shaped legs help it attach to a female when it wants to mate or wants to stay together through a big wave or something like that. A female's little legs look just like her other ones. The most important thing for a horseshoe crab to live are the gills. They must not be dry. It breathes through its gills. Also, the horseshoe crab has about 10 eyes. 2 big eyes on its shell (like bugs eyes with many pictures), 2 tiny eyes that see light and dark on its shell, 4 eyes on its tail, and 2 eyes on its mouth to see what it is eating.

The oyster toad fish was really interesting. Since it has no scales, it is extremely slimy. It has extra little teeth in the back of its mouth. Did you ever wonder why it is called the oyster toad fish? Well, it eats oysters and lives where they live, and they also croak like a toad. It is a fish because it is a vertebrate (it has a back bone).

The flounder is similar to the oyster toad fish. However, it has scales and no teeth in the back. The flounder is slimy but not as much. When the flounder is born, after 2 weeks or so, one of its eyes move next to the other. The flounder lives on the side of his body forever. Under the flounder is white because it doesn't need to be seen. However the side that is shown camouflages with the sand.

We also learned about plankton (drifters). There are two different kinds of plankton: phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton is plant plankton and zooplankton is animal plankton. There are 2 different kinds of zooplankton. One is holoplankton which lives as a plankton forever. The other one is a meroplankton which changes into something bigger like a crab or something. Zooplankton eats a lot of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton lives at the top of the oceans surface and zooplankton live beneath them. We saw crystals in magnified glasses. Also little zooplankton that ran around and a sea star. We had to tell which was zooplankton and what was a phytoplankton. Some ways you could tell is if it had parts that animals have and if it moves around and stuff.

We also read a book about lobstering and saw a real lobster. We even created out own 3D lobsters.

I think that one of the most interesting animal things that we did was the SQUID DISECTION. I know maybe you might think it is gross, that's what I thought too when I did it. But when I thought of it, it was really cool. First you have to get a squid. You would count the number of legs it has. Usually it has 8 legs. Then you would locate the 2 long tentacles that the squid uses for eating. Then you would locate the chromatophores on the mantle which helps the squid camouflage. Next you would locate the two fins which are on the top of the mantle (the main body of the squid). The fins help the squid steer through the ocean. You would stick a toothpick through the siphon (helps the squid move with jet propulsion). You would turn the squid upside-down and open it like flower. In the center is the beak. The beak is made up of hair and fingernail material. Cut out the beak and then pull out the esophagus inside the beak. Set your squid so the light side is facing up. Cut from the top of the siphon to the top of the mantle right in the middle. To tell if your squid is male or female, look at the inside of the top of the mantle. If it has a yellow jellylike substance, it is a female and those are the eggs. If it has a white, cloudy substance, it is a male. Next, locate the gills that look like feathers. At the top of the mantle is where the shell is. That is what makes the squid mollusks (an animal with a shell). You would pinch the top and pull the shell out. The shell is fragile and looks like a quill. Near the siphon is the ink sack. Cut off the ink sack and you can write with the shell. The messiest part of this dissection is the eyes. You must cut the eyes off. Inside is the eyes are the lenses. They are hard, small, and round. Take it out of the eyes. Last you pull the mantle apart from the rest of the body. You would pull off the legs, and put the mantle and legs on a clean plate. You throw out the rest. After we dissected the squid, we made calamari (fried squid) with sauce. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

Everyday we had lunch at 12:00 and watched a movie. We watched The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. We were more familiar with the fish in Finding Nemo after we learned everything at SoundWaters.

We also went outside once or twice everyday to play outdoor games. We played Predator Prey, on the playground, on the seesaw, and Camouflage. For Predator Prey, we had 1 predator and the rest were prey. The prey would have to run to the end of the boundary without the predator catching them. If the predator catches them, they become a predator. For Camouflage, There was one predator that stood in the middle of a playground. The rest were prey and had to hide under, behind, or on something. Without the predator spotting the prey, we had to tag the predator. If they see you before you come, you are out. We all went on the see-saw and had a blast. We also ran around the playground.

In the Lab, we did fish prints. You would paint a rubber sea animal and press it on a paper. We also painted squid, fish, and did a scavenger hunt for animals in the tanks. We even named the turtle Jackie and the little crab Squirt. Brandon's Birthday was on Friday and was a great way to end the program.

This program wouldn't have happened and wouldn't have been so much fun without our teachers at SoundWaters: Dione, Alicia, Kali, Mike, and Lauren. We ended out great adventure with collecting our projects and a few great gifts from the teachers. YOU SHOULD GO TO SOUNDWATERS!!!!!!!!!!

And have the time of your life like all 17 of us from Stark and Hart had!!!!!!!

~Dawn

More About Soundwaters
Here is a quote from the Soundwaters website:

The mission of SoundWaters is to educate children and adults about the wonders and beauty of Long Island Sound and its watershed. Through education, SoundWaters provides people with an understanding and awareness of the changes they can make in their lives and communities to restore, protect and preserve Long Island Sound and the Environment.

SMART Stories