Format
1. This program begins with an interactive PowerPoint.
2. Students will view several of the aquariums most popular exhibits through real-time cameras.
4. Students will observe animals native to the Gulf of Mexico.
5. Time is allowed for questions and answers.
Objectives
The participant will:
-Explore adaptations of animals in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
-Engage in discussions with presenter
-Compare different habitats found in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
-Develop an appreciation for the animals around the Texas coast
Standards Alignment
National Standards
National Science Standards
NS.K-4.1 Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop understanding of:
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
Understanding about scientific inquiry
NS.K-4.3 Life Science
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop understanding of:
The characteristics of organisms
Organisms and environments
State Standards
Texas Science Standards
Pre-Kindergarten:
VI.B.1 Child identifies and describes the characteristics of organisms.
VI.B.3 Child recognizes, observes, and discusses the relationship of organisms to their environments.
Kindergarten:
K.2 A Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student develops abilities to ask questions and seek answers in classroom and outdoor investigations. The student is expected to ask questions about organisms, objects, and events observed in the natural world.
K.9 B Organisms and environments. The student knows that plants and animals have basic needs and depend on the living and nonliving things around them for survival. The student is expected to examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants.
1st Grade:
1.9 A Organisms and environments. The student knows that the living environment is composed of relationships between organisms and the life cycles that occur. The student is expected to sort and classify living and nonliving things based upon whether or not they have basic needs and produce offspring.
1.9 C Organisms and environments. The student knows that the living environment is composed of relationships between organisms and the life cycles that occur. The student is expected to gather evidence of interdependence among living organisms such as energy transfer through food chains and animals using plants for shelter.
2nd Grade:
2.9 C Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment. The student is expected to compare and give examples of the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as food chains within a garden, park, beach, lake, and wooded area.
2.10 A Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs such as fins help fish move and balance in the water.