Early Explorers(grades K-1) provides students with a critical link to the most significant natural resource in the region: Long Island Sound. Students will have the opportunity to see organisms found in Long Island Sound and establish a sense of wonder in order to then describe different structural characteristics as well as determine predator/prey relationships. This program takes place in the school classroom and at SoundWaters’ coastal center.

Schedule (total 2.5 contact-hours over 2 days)

Day 1 - SoundWaters visits your school:

• One hour long, hands-on opportunity to interact with multiple invertebrate species (crabs, mollusks, horseshoe crabs, sea stars) and learn how the animals eat, breathe, and survive in intertidal habitats.

Day 2 -Field trip to SoundWaters in Cove Island Park (or other coastal site)

• One 45-minute Food Chain station: A simple game and inquiry based discussion of what a food chain is and examples of what may affect each organism within the chain, as well as how different life stages of organisms are also linked within the food chain. Emphasizing the fact that diversity and different life cycles of all organisms are important for the survival and health of Long Island Sound.
• One 45-minute Life Cycles station: Collect a plankton sample and observe the diversity just below the waters’ surface. Students will be able to collect and observe different life stages under the microscope as well as collect animals on the sandy and rocky shores. Students will be able to describe the changes in organisms that grow and go through metamorphosis.

CT Standards

SoundWaters educational offerings correlate to the “Connecticut Science Curriculum Framework for the 21 st Century” which is the foundation for the Connecticut Mastery Tests in Science. Below is the specific correlation of this program to the framework standards:

Grades PreK-2 Core Scientific Inquiry, Literacy and Numeracy

A INK.1 Make observations and ask questions about objects, organisms and the environment

A INQ.2 Use senses and simple measuring tools to collect data

PreK- Kindergarten – Core Themes, Content Standards and Expected Performances

Content Standards:

Heredity and Evolution – What processes are responsible for life’s unity and diversity?

K.2 – Many different kinds of living things in habit the Earth.

• Living things have certain characteristics that distinguish them from nonliving things, including growth, movement, reproduction and response to stimuli.

Expected Performance:

A 4. Describe the similarities and differences in the appearance and behaviors of plants, birds, fish, insects and mammals (including humans).

A 5. Describe the similarities and differences in the appearance and behaviors of adults and their offspring.

A 6. Describe characteristics that distinguish living from nonliving things.

Grade 1 – Core Themes, Content Standards and Expected Performances

Content Standards:

Structure and Function – How are organisms structured to ensure efficiency and survival?

1.2 – Living things have different structures and behaviors that allow them to meet their basic needs.

• Animals need air, water and food to survive.
• Plants need air, water and sunlight to survive.

1.3 – Organisms change in form and behavior as part of their life cycles.

• Some organisms undergo metamorphosis during their life cycles; other organisms grow and change, but their basic form stays essentially the same. A 15. Describe the changes in organism, such as frogs and butterfishes, as they undergo metamorphosis.

Expected Performances:

A 12. Describe the different ways that animals, including humans, obtain water and food.

A 13. Describe the different structures plants have for obtaining water and sunlight.

A 14. Describe the structures that animals, including humans, use to move around.

A 16. Describe the life cycles of organisms that grow but do not metamorphose

For more information please contact: Alisha Mullet (203)406-3312


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