Sunday, July 11, 2010

Science Sunday: Sea Monkeys

I bought some Sea Monkeys for the kids at Christmas and they sat on the shelf, forgotten, until the kids found them and asked me what they were.  That was about 8 weeks ago and I am proud to report that our Sea Monkeys are still alive and reproducing!

We started by getting our water ready and letting it sit for 24 hours~ this was extremely hard for the kids because they wanted to dump the packet of Sea Monkey eggs in right away. 

Sea Monkey PacketThe next day we opened our package of Sea Monkey eggs and took a closer look. The kids could not believe that this powder could possible contain something living.   

How can they live with out water and survive in this little packet?  Sea Monkeys produce a substance called trehalose, which protects the eggs from extreme temperatures and lack of water.  Once the eggs are coated they are called cysts and they can live for many years like this. 

Sea MonkeysI added the water and the kids watched and waited.  We soon saw little particles moving in the water ~ baby Sea Monkeys.

I found some really great websites that have information about Sea Monkeys.  My favorite was Sea Monkey Worship ~ lots of great information!  Discover This had an interesting fact page and some  coloring sheets.

Some interesting facts we have learned about Sea Monkeys:

  • Sea Monkeys are really brine shrimp.
  • They breathe through their feet.
  • They are attracted to light so you can teach them tricks with a flashlight.
  • Sea Monkeys don’t have brains; they have groupings of nerves called ganglia.
  • You can tell if you Sea Monkey is eating by looking at the line that runs down the Sea Monkey’s body; this is the digestive tract. If they are full, the line will be black.  If not ~ feed them!

Here is a sheet I created for Emily to write down some information about the Sea Monkeys and draw them as she observed them.

image

Click the document above to download.

Our Sea Monkeys at 8 weeks. Sea Monkeys

We have enjoyed watching the Sea Monkeys and they have been easy to take care of.  You don’t need to clean the tank and they only have to be feed once every 5 days.

For more fun with science, check out Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

~Cindy

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Great download, I didnt know you can train a sea monkey. Too cool!! Thanks for sharing

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Oh, I LOVED my sea monkeys when I was little - thanks for jogging my memory :)

Loretta said...

Hi

I'm visiting from TOS Crew Blog Walk. My youngest child is 14 - but boy does your blog bring back memories. I like all your how-to posts. What a wonderful resource you have created for other moms.

Alexandra Claire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

This sounds like the prefect 2nd pet for us ;-). I might have to do some of these with Sammy soon!

Dawn said...

I love this post! My ds13 great grandma gave him some sea monkeys quite some time ago and they are still alive...I've been wondering all kinds of things about them so this was very helpful info! Thanks!

Heather said...

Awesome blog. I am looking forward to digging deeper. You are making me think I need to go find some Sea Monkeys, though. I sounds like fun!

Tonia said...

We just received a sea monkey kit too - a great go-along for our animal study. I love the worksheet!

Phyllis said...

Sea monkeys are great fun, aren't they?

Nikki said...

My 8yo son has been begging to get some sea monkeys! It looks like you all are having a lot of fun!
I'm Nikki from the Crew! It is nice to "meet" you:)

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