Michael the scientist

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Finding taonga at Scarborough Beach

Student	Michael	Date	7 March 2008
		Observer	Yvonne (teacher)

Our syndicate picnic at Scarborough was a great opportunity to explore the rock pool habitat to find out what living things make their homes there. It was great fun splashing through the rock pools, lifting up rocks, and making exciting finds.

We found hermit crabs, mussels, crabs, limpets, pipi, different kinds of seaweed, and starfish. There were lots of empty shells. Imagine our surprise when we discovered some of the “empty” shells were the homes of hermit crabs. None of us had ever seen a hermit crab before. The children all realised that rock pools were where the creatures lived and that was where they belonged. Each living creature was carefully returned to its home. We noticed that some of the creatures floated freely in the water while some, like anemones and shellfish, stayed stuck to the rocks.

These photos show Michael engrossed in the experience of wading in the rock pools and searching for little creatures.

Michael carefully lifted up rocks to see what was underneath. He found various creatures, looked at them closely and then put them back where he had found them. One shell he picked up turned out to be the home of a hermit crab.

He was delighted and went around showing everyone. When he had finished sharing his crab with his friends and teachers, he placed it carefully in the water and watched it scuttle off.

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