Sea Horse Body Parts

Objectives

Students identify sea horse body parts.
Students label a picture of a sea horse with the correct names of the body parts.

Time required

2- 45 minute periods

Materials

Computer with Internet access
Sea Horse Diagram

 Vocabulary

snout: the projecting nose and jaws of an animal
dorsal fin: fin on or near the back of an animal
eye: the organ of sight in man and animals
reproduction pouch; location on sea horse where by which they produce new sea horses
prehensile tail: tail adapted for seizing or grasping by folding around something

Procedure

1. The teacher will review the story Sea Horses A True Book emphasizing the sections that discuss the anatomy of the sea horse.  Another story is  Sea Horses by Lola M. Schaefer, Heineman, 2002.
2. Print out and copy the Sea Horse Diagram, making enough for each student.
3. The students can go online and investigate the names of body parts. Nova has a good web site with information for students.  Click on Seahorse Basics to see a sea horse that has parts labeled. Another great site is Enchanted Learning. Parts of the sea horse are labeled for easy identification.
4. Students will make entries onto their K-W-L charts about what they have learned.
5. Students will complete the seahorse diagram and label the parts of the body.
6. Then they can work in groups, write a rough draft, edit, rewrite, add illustrations and publish a class sea horse book.

Evaluation

The teacher will evaluate the students' sea horse diagram of labeled body parts; each diagram must contain: snout, dorsal fin, eye, reproduction pouch and a prehensile tail.
 
Home Learning

The students will draw their own seahorse and label the parts of the body.  Appropriate colors should be used.

Extension Activities

Students can use the paint/draw application of a word processing program.
Another activity is to have the students make models of a sea horse and label appropriately.