Yr 3-4 activity packLong curved tail to strike and stun your prey. Flattened tail to hide easily in the sand ... Reptile: has lungs to breathe air, can hold breath in water Mollusc:

Yr 3

-4 excursionactivity pack

Year 3 to Year 4

1great southern coastleafy seadragons

pineapplefish

old wivesshark egg, jaws, teeth & models

Region quiz: read these questions before you enter the region and keep them in mind. As you explore, you’ll find the answers on our signs and displays.

1. Cartilage and a large oily _________________ help a shark to float.

2. What is the role of a shark’s anal fin?

3. What are dermal denticles?

4. How many teeth can a shark lose in its lifetime?

5. How long does it take a shark to regrow a tooth?

6. Where in the world can leafy seadragons be found?

7. What is a seadragons camouflage?

8. How is seaweed, like kelp, different to other plants?

9. What did Albany’s local Aboriginal people use to catch fish instead of hooks?

Ocean eggs: many sea creatures have eggs that they lay or carry that then hatch.Find the Port Jackson shark egg and then the leafy seadragon sign that shows its eggs:

10. Describe how the eggs are cared for differently:

Port Jackson egg:______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Seadragon eggs:______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

1great southern coastleafy seadragons

pineapplefish

old wives

Draw the teeth of the grey nurse shark and the tiger shark:

Grey nurse shark Tiger shark

11. What are the main differences? __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

12. How do these differences relate to how and what they can eat?__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

shark egg, jaws, teeth & models

Observe the leafy seadragons. 13. How do they move? Is it the same as most fish?__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the benefit of moving in this way?__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

2shipwreck coast

stingraysturtlesharks

open-ocean fish

Long curved tail to strike and stun your prey.

Flattened tail to hide easily in the sand

tail

Powerful tail to swim fast and far.


1. How many litres of water are in the Shipwreck Coast exhibit?

2. How much smaller does the curve of the glass make everything look?

4. How many nostrils do fish have?

5. Can sharks breathe through their nose?

6. How do sharks feel movement in the water?

teethJagged triangular teeth for ripping and tearing.

Thin pointy teeth for grabbing slippery food and swallowing it whole.

Jagged curved teeth for piercing then tearing.

body

Torpedo shaped body to glide quickly through the water.

Flat body to rest and hide on the bottom

Rounded body to float easily and hover motionless, using less energy.

Shark designer: there are hundreds of different species of sharks and they live in different areas of the ocean. Their bodies are designed to help them hide and catch the food available in their environment.

Read the descriptions below and choose the features that would make YOUR ultimate shark:

7. Based on what you chose, where would your shark live and what would it eat?

______________________________________________________________________

2shipwreck coast

stingraysturtlesharks

open-ocean fish

In our Shipwreck Coast, we have 6 different kinds of sharks: Grey Nurse, Sandbar Whaler, Nervous Whaler, Port Jackson, Bamboo and Wobbegong.

Data collection: on your underwater journey through the Shipwreck Coast look around you for sharks. Every time you see a shark, keep a tally of what it is doing in the chart:

Behaviour: Number of times observed:

Swimming near surface

Swimming in the middle

Hovering in one place

Gulping air at the surface

Eating fish

Sitting on the bottom

Hiding in a cave

Getting cleaned by a fish

Other:

8. What was the most common behaviour you observed?

____________________________________________________________________

9. What did you think the most common behaviour would have been?

____________________________________________________________________

10. Were most sharks observed near the top, the middle or the bottom?

___________________________________________________________________

Example:Swimming near surface I I I I I I I I

lobstersjellyfish

octopus3Perth coast

footballer sweeps

seahorsesstripeys


1. What does a tube anemone use to make its hiding tube?

2. How many hearts does an octopus have?

3. Do jellyfish have brains?

4. How do jellyfish catch their food?

6. What is an indigenous word for dolphin?

Circle of sealife: sea creatures can grow in many different ways. The way an animal is born and grows is called a “life cycle”. Some young hatch from eggs or are born live and look like tiny versions of their parents and simply grow bigger (like us!). Others go through one or many transformations! At first, they might be something called a larva, nymph or a polyp and look totally different to their parents, then they slowly change into adults.

7. Compare the pictures of the young below to the adult animal in our exhibit. Then mark YES if you think the animal goes through a transformation or NO if it’s just like its parent.

Lobster - Alkimos exhibitSea squirt - Swan River exhibit Gobbleguts - Scarborough exhibit Jellyfish - water column

yes / no yes / no yes / no yes / no

8. What special way do gobbleguts care for their eggs?____________________________

9. What is a baby fish called? _______________

10. What habitat is often used by baby fish as a nursery?___________________________

clownfish (Nemo)tropical fish & corals

baby crocodiles4far north coast

blue tang (Dory)Creatures Up Close exhibit

Hot in here: The water in the far north region is much warmer than the previous areas you have explored. Lets look at how temperature affects the kinds of animals living here:

Fish and reptiles (like crocodiles) are cold blooded. That means they can’t keep their bodies warm like we do. Instead, their body temperature matches their environment.

7. Where in WA are crocodiles found? __________________________________________

8. How do crocodiles get warm?______________________________________________

9. Why would crocodiles want to get warm?______________________________________

10. How does temperature affect crocodile eggs?_________________________________

11. What is one way a fish could get warmer if it needed to?_________________________

12. Is there more coral in the warm water than the cold water?_________________

13. Corals live in shallow, sunny water. How come they don’t get burnt?________________


1. How long can a crocodile hold it’s breath for?

2. Do crocodiles need to eat often?

3. What animal found commonly in Broome creates a pearl?

4. Why don’t anemonefish get stung by their anemone?

5. Who has the babies - male or female seahorses?

6. How many species of coral are found in the Rowley Shoals?

All animals have certain features which help them to survive in their environment. Investigate the sea snake in AQWA’s DANGERzone.

1. What shape is the end of its tail?

____________________________________________________________________

2. How could this help a sea snake to swim?

____________________________________________________________________3. How would you describe the overall shape of a sea snake’s body?

____________________________________________________________________4. How could this shape help a sea snake to hide?

____________________________________________________________________

Animals can be grouped based on their common features and separated based on their differences. Lets practice grouping by thinking about the sea snake:

5. Name one difference and one similarity between a land snake and a sea snake:

They have different:___________________________________________________

They have similar:____________________________________________________

6. Name one difference and one similarity between a sea snake and an eel (you can see an eel in our Creatures Up Close exhibit in the Far North).

They have different:__________________________________________________

They have similar:____________________________________________________

7. Do you think that a sea snake is related to a land snake or an eel? Circle your guess:

blue ringed octopus (seasonal)

stonefishsea snakeDANGERzone5lionfish

Theatrette

land snake / eel

blue ringed octopus (seasonal)

stonefishsea snakeDANGERzone5lionfish

Theatrette

Investigate each animal in the DANGERzone by observing and reading the information.

8. Tick the group the animal belongs to and write what part of its body is dangerous:

Group: Fish: has gills to breathe in water, has fins

Reptile: has lungs to breathe air, can hold breath in water

Mollusc: has a soft, fleshy body, sometimes has a shell

Cnidarian: has stinging tentacles and a jelly-like body

What is dangerous? Its bite/teeth, spines, flesh or tentacles?

Marmion Marine ParkDiscovery PoolCoral ReefAdventure Bay6 Playground & Picnic Areas

A coral polyp close-up. Tentacles can be hidden (left) or out (right)

Region quiz: read these questions before you enter the region and keep them in mind. As you explore, you’ll find the answers on our signs and displays

1. How many teeth do sea urchins have?

2. What animal breathes through its bottom?

3. Which animal takes its stomach out of its mouth to eat?

4. Fish are slimy. What are the 3 functions of fish slime? 1. ________2._______3._______

Underwater city: its time to be captivated by a colourful underwater city: the coral reef!

Coral is made up of lots of tiny animals called polyps. They live together in a colony. They have no brain, heart or blood and they can’t move from their spot on the reef.

5. Is coral a living thing?_____________________

6. A coral polyp has a squishy body and tentacles for eating and stinging. Can you think of a similar animal that they might be related to?

__________________________________________________________Hint: we have them here at AQWA, glowing in the Perth coast!

Even though the coral polyps are soft and squishy, they work together to build a hard, limestone skeleton that becomes their home. As they build their homes, they slowly build an underwater city with caves, crevices and alleyways to give fish a safe place to live too!

7. Fish that live in the coral reef are different shapes and colours to fish that live in the open ocean. Circle your answer:

Reef fish are: small and thin / big and oval

Reef fish are: silvers and whites / coloured and patterned

Documents

Yr 3-4 activity packLong curved tail to strike and stun your prey. Flattened tail to hide easily in the sand ... Reptile: has lungs to breathe air, can hold breath in water Mollusc: