When the power goes off, Big Cuz, Nanna, Little J and Old Dog go to the beach. They use bread to catch hermit crabs, which in turn are used to catch a ‘bluebone’ fish. Big Cuz learns how to fish, Nanna makes a fire to cook the fish, and Little J finds a large clam shell to take to school the next day.

Explore - Participate in guided investigations to explore and answer questions

Theme - SEA

Revisit the Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 4 ‘Right Under Your Nose’, and ask students to think about ‘the sea’ and how the sea changes. Have students complete a KWHL chart with the information they already know about the tides of the sea, what they want to know as questions, and how they will learn new information. List the ‘what, where, who, when, why, and how’ questions so that all students can see them. For example:

• Why is the sea salty?
• How do the tides occur?
• What is sand?
• Who looks after the coral reefs and marine parks?
• Which are the largest and smallest marine creatures?
• How many types of fish live in the oceans?

Introduce students to Everything is written twice – in the sky and on the ground (part two), National Indigenous Times about how the Aboriginal peoples of Groote Eylandt and Yirrkalla in Arnhem Land believe the sea was formed. Discuss the information in the article and divide the class into groups of three students where each group selects a random topic about the sea.

Hand each group an envelope containing six questions and answers. Each student is to match two questions with the correct answers about the sea. For example, a group may select ‘Tides’ and their questions could be:

• How do the tides occur?
• How often does high and low tide occur?
• What is a visible clue, to tell us when the tide is low and high?
• What is one benefit to the environment of low and high tide?
• What is a king tide and when does it occur?
• How do the seasons affect the tides?

Print the answers to the questions on paper strips – students should match the correct answer with the question. Each group negotiates the answers and presents the information to the class once they are confident that they have all the questions correctly answered. Each group prepares a short presentation of the topic of their questions to share with the class. Alternatively, use Quizlet to set up an online Matching Game.

Teacher resources to develop the sets of questions, include:

• Ocean tides
• The Ocean's Tides Explained
• The rise and fall of tides

With students still in their same groups, invite them to suggest questions they can use to focus an exploration about a marine environment. Have each group complete a KWHL chart with information they already know about sea environments, such as coral reefs, the Antarctic sea and/or Arctic sea, deep sea ecosystems, coastal estuaries, a mangrove ecosystem, microscopic sea worlds, etc.

Have students develop what they want to know as questions, and explore how they will learn new information. List the ‘what, where, who, when, why, and how’ questions so that all students can see them. Have each group develops six questions and answers. The groups swap their topic envelope containing the questions and answers with another group, who then has to match the six questions with the correct answers.

Questions for a topic could include:

• What are the specific characteristics of this marine environment?
• Which marine life is prevalent in the marine environment?
• Why does marine life live here?
• How do humans use this marine environment?
• What threatens this marine environment?
• Where (on a map) can you find this marine environment?

Individually, have students prepare a short report on the two group topics they engaged with for their Science Journal. Have students include images of the marine environment and animals that live in each.

A Science Journal is a record of a students’ observations, experiences and reflections. Each entry is dated and annotated by the student. Annotations may include written labels, drawings, diagrams, charts, small specimens, photographs, and graphs. Student engagement and learning is evident in the science journal.

Suggested teacher resource:

• Marine Missions game

Explore with Jacques the hermit crab and learn that a healthy ocean is a healthy world! This app from National Geographic Kids teaches children about ocean animals and the importance of water.