OCEAN WORDS - Write words on sentence strips, maybe add pictures and
encourage kids to read them.

REEF COMMUNITY ACTIVITY - Have younger students browse through books about
coral reefs to find pictures of animals that live in the reef community.
Have each student draw a picture of the animal that he or she finds most
interesting and label the picture with the animal's name. Have older
students work together in small groups. Ask each group to prepare a report
about one of the animals found in the bulletin board set. Have students look
for the following members of the reef community:

hammerhead shark
manta ray
blue?ringed octopus
sea anemones
sponge
sea star
moray eel
clown fish
sea fan
triton's trumpet
cleaning wrasse
grouper
sea urchin
pistol shrimp
coral
nudibranch
goby

THREATS TO CORAL REEFS - Use the cards to help students learn about the
threats to the coral reef. For younger students, make one copy of the cards,
cut them apart, and place them on a desk or table. Call one student at a
time to the table to pick a card. Read it aloud. Then ask the student if the
threat described on the card is caused by nature or by man. If the threat is
caused by man, ask the class to think of ways to protect the reef from that
danger. With older students, divide your class into small groups. Make several
copies of the cards and cut them apart. Give each group a set of ten cards.Ask the groups to read the cards and sort them into two piles?threats caused by nature and threats caused by man. Then ask each group to read the cards that describe an action by man and write a suggestion on the back of each one for correcting that action. Students should think of some of the following suggestions:
. Don't handle or collect living coral.
. Obey fishing laws.
. Recycle.
. Work to reduce pollution.
. Educate fishermen, divers, and the public.

WRITE & JOIN - To learn more about coral reefs and how to protect them, have
your class join the Center for Marine Conservation's Coral Reef Club. Write
to:
Coral Reef Club
Center for Marine Conservation
1725 De Sales Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

WHALES - Use literature tied in with songs. "Baby Beluga" Book and CD were
used with this lesson. Make a whale picture for art- Materials needed: a cut
out of whale (use white for baby beluga) a half sheet of blue construction
paper preferably in variegated shades for water (cut a whole sheet in half
using rippled effect), a paper fastener, wiggly eyes, a glittery pipe
cleaner, tempera paint in white and colors of choice. Steps: Have children
glue wiggly eye on whale cut out. Bend pipe cleaner in half and twirl the
two ends glue to top of whale's head. Attach whale using a paper fastener to
blue sheet of construction paper. Put glue along three sides of half sheet
of construction paper (the three straight edges) and glue over the whale
hiding paper fastener. This idea comes from a Mailbox magazine. While doing
this project we realized there wasn't enough creativity from the children so
we had the children sponge paint the foundation paper in white for clouds
and use a cut out of a fish sponge to paint fish on the water section When
these were finished they were really cute.

FISH SHAPE - Color, paint, draw or write on paper the shape of a fish or other ocean life.Science

LARGE SCREEN MICROSCOPE PROJECTOR - Submitted by Michelle. We are doing a pond life unit right now, and I was stuck for a microscope to look at all the critters in the water. I found a glass (or clear plastic) container and put 1/2 inch of pond water in it and put that on the glass of an overhead projector, turned it on, and voila! Instant large screen projected "microscope!!" The kids loved it! I stapled up sheets of white butcher paper for the kids to circle the creatures they "discover" and write their names by what they circle. One little girl followed a bug swimmer with her marker wherever it went and had such fun!

FISHING - Go fishing in a pan using a paper clip for a hook or a magnate. Make fish out of Styrofoam with paperclips attached to mouth; this will work for both hook and magnet.

BALLOON BLADDERS - Demonstrate to your children how a fish's swim bladder helps it stay afloat. Fill a dishpan with water. Set out two identical balls of clay and a balloon. Blow up the balloon and tie it off. Carefully form one of the balls of clay around the knot in the balloon. Put both balls of clay in the water.