Family Field Trip: Beach Exploration Guide

Subject

Intertidal Zone Field Studies and Stewardship

Objectives

Students will:

Explore local intertidal zone
Identify different organisms
Identify adaptations and body parts that help organisms survive
Relate organisms to the food web

Materials

Marine ID Guides (can be printed or used digitally)

A low tide (check the tides here)
Clipboards and pen
Printed worksheets (multiple options included below)
Optional: camera, notebook for drawings and notes.

Background

CDC Guidelines

When planning your family field trip please take into account any closures that are a part of the current Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. The proclamation recognizes that spending time outside is essential to our physical and mental health, which gives us the opportunity piperolsenwork@gmail.comfor beach walks, but please follow social distancing rules.

Beach etiquette

When exploring your local intertidal zone there are some things to remember so that the ecosystem stays healthy:

Check the tides - before you go look at the tides and choose to be at the beach during the lowest tide possible.
Leave no trace - make sure to pick up after yourself and pick up any trash you may find while on the beach.
Dress for the weather - we recommend that you wear layers, bring sunscreen, and have either boots or a change of shoes in case you get wet.
Rocks are homes - only move rocks that are small enough to be moved with one hand. Carefully return rocks to the exact position you found them in.
Take only pictures - do not remove anything natural from the beach. Seashells, rocks, and other materials on the beach are homes for critters.
Walk carefully - there is life beneath your feet.
Observe animals where they are and avoid picking them up. Touch animals gently with one wet finger.

For more information about what you may find on your trip you can watch this video by the Seattle Aquarium.

Procedure

Give students an opportunity for free exploration of their intertidal zone. Use the ID guides provided to help identify organisms and keep track of how many you can find on the beach.
Students can observe organisms closely and draw them. Pay attention to the different body parts of the organism and discuss how the different parts may be adapted to help it live in its environment.
The intertidal ecosystem is interconnected in many ways. While on your beach walk, keep track of which organisms you find and how they may interact with each other in the food web.
Take the Salish Sea Challenge, which is a list of ideas for ways that you can have a positive impact on the health of your watershed, conserve energy and decrease the amount of CO2 emissions you are releasing. Read and make a commitment with your families to be stewards of the Salish Sea and practice watershed healthy habits. Use this form to report your Challenge actions.
Share with us! Send your pictures, drawings, or questions to us at garden.salishsea@gmail.com, on our Facebook Page or on https://twitter.com/salishgarden

Next Generation Science Standards

Performance Expectations
1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem. 5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment
Scientific and Engineering Practices	Disciplinary Core Ideas	Cross-cutting Concepts
Developing and using models Science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories explain natural phenomena Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Constructing explanations and designing solutions	ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems LS1.A: Structure and Function LS1.D: Information Processing LS2.A: Interdependent relationships in ecosystems LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems ET S1.B: Developing possible solutions	Systems and System Models Scale, proportion, and quantity Patterns Structure and Function Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

To download free field guides visit:

NOAA Intertidal Zones Animals Field Guide LiMPETS Field Guide

Seattle Aquarium Field Guide

GSSC’s Clam ID Guide

Beachfront Scavenger Hunt

Try to find these five different kinds of clam shells and check them as you find them

Native Littleneck Clam
Manilla Clam
Varnish Clam
Butter Clam
Cockle Clam

Did you find any other animals? If so, list them below.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Low Tide Food Web Hunt

Search along the intertidal zone to find the animals and plants below; once you have found one, draw a solid line to connect them to what they eat or what eats them to create a food web of the nearshore ecosystem. If you didn’t find a plant or animal on this worksheet draw a dotted line to connect them into the food web. Find something not on the food web? Draw it in and connect it to other plants and animals with a solid line.

Field Notes

Choose an organism that you found and observe it up close, draw and label it too!

Researcher: _______________________ Time: ______________ Date: _______________

Location (be specific): ______________________________________________________________________________

Common Name: _______________________________________________________________

Scientific Name: _______________________________________________________________

Observations: (size in cm, color, other adaptations and unique features):

What might eat this organism? ___________________________________________________

What is one question you have about this organism?

______________________________________________________________________________

Field Sketch

Scavenger Hunt

Birch Bay Intertidal Species List

We acknowledge and respect the treaty rights of the Coast Salish Peoples to the lands and waters of the Salish Sea and we recognize their stewardship since time immemorial.