Kindergarten Field Trip

Salty Waffles · May 19, 2019

Hello, so my daughters kindergarten class has been learning about the ocean. Naturally my daughter has told everyone about our reef tank. Our little piece of the ocean, if you will......

Long story short, the kindergarten class is coming to our house to see and learn about our reef tank for the their end of year field trip.

I thought I'd ask the members here for talking point ideas. You know, things 6 year olds would find fascinating about our "little pieces of ocean".

For reference, ours is a 6' 125g. I keep a variety of SPS, LPS, and there are a few nems here and there. Crabs, snails, fish, etc....

I'm wide open for suggestions!!

Paleozoic_reefer · May 19, 2019

If you’ve kept any dead coral skeletons around, now would be a great time to break them out for the kids so they can compare a living coral from a dead coral. Most kids don’t realize the coral pieces they see around in stores or displays are not alive or sometimes even real. Also; if you have a Habour Freight near you I would buy some magnifying glasses (they’re super cheap) for them to check out your tank. My kids and friends get a huge kick seeing the small things in the tank as much as the big show pieces!

Jay Z · May 19, 2019

Only recommendation I can think of would be a electric fence around you tank, leashes, gloves, and masks on the kids. And one of the tasers they use on cows if one gets to close. Rubber gag balls for them, or ear plugs for you.

Good luck!

Peace River · May 19, 2019

Salty Waffles said:
Hello, so my daughters kindergarten class has been learning about the ocean. Naturally my daughter has told everyone about our reef tank. Our little piece of the ocean, if you will......

Long story short, the kindergarten class is coming to our house to see and learn about our reef tank for the their end of year field trip.

I thought I'd ask the members here for talking point ideas. You know, things 6 year olds would find fascinating about our "little pieces of ocean".

For reference, ours is a 6' 125g. I keep a variety of SPS, LPS, and there are a few nems here and there. Crabs, snails, fish, etc....

I'm wide open for suggestions!!

This is awesome - what a neat opportunity for the kids! Not sure what type of fish you have but you might be able to talk about how their mouths (e.g., upturned, downturned, etc.) can help us understand what they eat and how their fins (especially their tails) can help us understand how they move. Also, you may want to be preemptive and answer the question about are corals plants, animals, rocks, or are they even alive? The weight of water and testing salinity can also be interesting interactive topics that I have used when presenting to kids. Good luck!

Salty Waffles · May 21, 2019

Paleozoic_reefer said:
If you’ve kept any dead coral skeletons around, now would be a great time to break them out for the kids so they can compare a living coral from a dead coral. Most kids don’t realize the coral pieces they see around in stores or displays are not alive or sometimes even real. Also; if you have a Habour Freight near you I would buy some magnifying glasses (they’re super cheap) for them to check out your tank. My kids and friends get a huge kick seeing the small things in the tank as much as the big show pieces!

Good idea. I do indeed have a few dead skeletons I can let them check out.

Salty Waffles · May 21, 2019

Jay Z said:
Only recommendation I can think of would be a electric fence around you tank, leashes, gloves, and masks on the kids. And one of the tasers they use on cows if one gets to close. Rubber gag balls for them, or ear plugs for you.

Good luck!

Lol. I'll probably wish I had all the above by the time it's all over.

Salty Waffles · May 21, 2019

Peace River said:
This is awesome - what a neat opportunity for the kids! Not sure what type of fish you have but you might be able to talk about how their mouths (e.g., upturned, downturned, etc.) can help us understand what they eat and how their fins (especially their tails) can help us understand how they move. Also, you may want to be preemptive and answer the question about are corals plants, animals, rocks, or are they even alive? The weight of water and testing salinity can also be interesting interactive topics that I have used when presenting to kids. Good luck!

Asking if they knew if corals were plants or animals was one of the few ideas I'd come up with. Haha.
More good points though.... Thanks!

Peace River · May 21, 2019

Salty Waffles said:
Asking if they knew if corals were plants or animals was one of the few ideas I'd come up with. Haha.
More good points though.... Thanks!

See, you’re a natural! The most important thing you can do is encourage their sense of wonder - everything else is bonus!

o00brandon00o · May 21, 2019

Paleozoic_reefer said:
If you’ve kept any dead coral skeletons around, now would be a great time to break them out for the kids so they can compare a living coral from a dead coral. Most kids don’t realize the coral pieces they see around in stores or displays are not alive or sometimes even real. Also; if you have a Habour Freight near you I would buy some magnifying glasses (they’re super cheap) for them to check out your tank. My kids and friends get a huge kick seeing the small things in the tank as much as the big show pieces!

@Paleozoic_reefer

I dare suggest having your white lights on when they arrive and after they get "settled" for a while turn on the blues to pop different colors, change things up. Probably garner a sweet "wooooooah!" reaction. Then they can learn how different corals' tissue react/reflect with different lights.

Dripdroppin · May 21, 2019

Make sure you have some Nassarius and feed and let the kids watch them come from the sand and feast. That ones always a crowd pleaser lol

School Reef · May 21, 2019

Little kids love to draw and color. Some sheets of white printer paper and a couple boxes of crayons will be a hit. If you have time to shop for an age appropriate book/story to read, that's great too. Avoid water chemistry, just show them how much salt is in the water. Some sheets of nori to snack on will be a hit too.

Jon Fishman · May 21, 2019

Maybe a dumbed down skimmer/filter talk about the equipment doing what the waves crashing on the beach/sea-foam does...... Say “poop” a lot, 6 year olds love the word poop.

Flippers4pups · May 21, 2019

Ecological standpoint you can point out how long most saltwater fish can live. Some can live 20 30 years or more.

Living corals can live much longer. They can live for hundreds to thousands of years.

You can point out how it's important that we keep trash from our oceans and how trash can be eaten by living organisms in the ocean and it can harm them and make them sick.

KrisReef · May 21, 2019

Simple Rules for crowd Control.

Help your daughter prepare a tank and fish safety brief to give the class before they enter the house or tank room: “Don’t touch, hit, bang upon, or move quickly around the tank. Noise scares fish and coral, so let’s all pretend we’re in church and whisper. The water in the tank weighs ~1000 pounds, so no climbing or pushing to see either. Follow the rules or else you will have to leave and sit alone on the bus.”

(Kids thrive when they have known boundaries.)

I would also prepare a story about the tank, the fish , the coral, and the artificial environment that you are providing, lights, saltwater, food, and water circulation & filtration that is necessary to keep them all happy.

I probably wouldn’t talk about vodka dosing to six year olds, but I might discuss how fragging works and ask them if they think they could grow a twin that way? Have superglue ready and provide a demo of coral gluing, or if the kids a are too noisy tell them it’s lip candy.

Have treats prepared and ready outside so you can move the group outdoors quickly when you are done, even if they’ve only just got there.

Check your homeowners policy for kindergarten exclusions, you are braver than I. GL!

Jon Fishman · May 21, 2019

A gallon jug of water to hand-round, and a quick “this weighs 8.1 lbs” and “there are 125 of these in here” would get you some oohs and ahhs

Dripdroppin · May 21, 2019

Also, I have a 3 year old and he loves helping me test my water with my API test kit. He will count with me and get excited when the water changes color. An idea if you need to fill some time

Xanthurum · May 21, 2019

I would print out a map and explain where your fish come from as well as some corals, to tie in geography.

Nobbygas · May 21, 2019

If you have some Wrasse explain how they sleep in the sand.
Feeding - The kids would love to see you feed the fish.
If you have some Asterina Starfish, pick one or two out and let the kids touch them, but don't let the kids see you throw them in the bin

lbiminiblue · May 21, 2019

School Reef said:
Little kids love to draw and color. Some sheets of white printer paper and a couple boxes of crayons will be a hit. If you have time to shop for an age appropriate book/story to read, that's great too. Avoid water chemistry, just show them how much salt is in the water. Some sheets of nori to snack on will be a hit too.

Pagoo is a great book