Island Explorers(grades 3-5) provides students with a critical link to the most significant natural resource in the region: Long Island Sound. Children study “seas and oceans,” but they have only limited opportunity to visit their own coastal environment and see key concepts (such as habitat, ecology, and biodiversity) in a real and vital way. This program takes place in the school classroom and at SoundWaters’ coastal center.

Schedule (total 3.5 contact-hours over 2 days)

Day 1 - SoundWaters visits your school:

• One half-hour Habitats and Marine Ecosystem slide-show presentation and discussion that describes typical coastal habitats, local Long Island Sound species and their relation to a food chain and issues that put the Sound’s natural resources in danger.

• 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)

• Two-hour Intertidal Habitat Exploration : Students Explore rocky shore and salt marsh habitats to find coastal LIS inhabitants and review their adaptations to life in tidal zones. The coastal food web is discussed and students learn how Long Island Sound is a resource that should be shared.

CT Standards

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

Grades 3-5 Core Scientific Inquiry, Literacy and Numeracy

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

Grade 3 - Core Themes, Content Standards and Expected Performances

Content Standards:

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

3.2 - Organisms can survive and reproduce only in environments that meet their basic needs

•Plants and animals have structures and behaviors that help them survive in different environments.

Science and Technology in Society – How do science and technology affect the quality of our lives?

3.4 - Earth materials provide resources for all living things, but these resources are limited and should be conserved.

•Decisions made by individuals can impact the global supply of many resources.

Expected Performances:

B 3. Describe how different plants and animals are adapted to obtain air, water, food and protection in specific land habitats.

B 4. Describe how different plants and animals are adapted to obtain air, water, food and protection in water habitats.

B 7. Describe how earth materials can be conserved by reducing the quantities used, and by reusing and recycling materials rather than discarding them.

Grade 4 - Core Themes, Content Standards and Expected Performances

Content Standards:

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems – How do matter and energy flow through ecosystems?

4.2 All organisms depend on the living and non-living features of the environment for survival.

•When the environment changes, some organisms survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations.

Expected Performances:

B 10. Describe how animals, directly or indirectly, depend on plants to provide the food and energy they need in order to grow and survive.

B 11. Describe how natural phenomena and some human activities may cause changes to habitats and their inhabitants.

Grade 5 - Core Themes, Content Standards and Expected Performances

Content Standards:

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

5.2 Perceiving and responding to information about the environment is critical to the survival of organisms.

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