Last Fall our class went for a nature walk to look for Fall things. We found lots of interesting things but we were really excited when we found 4 snails. Yes, REAL LIVE SNAILS! The next day a friend found a snail in her garden and brought it to school. Then one more friend brought in another snail, so now we had 7 special snail friends..
We brought them into the class and put them in our Science Inquiry Centre. We took good care of them and fed them lettuce and green leaves. We planned on releasing them back into the garden but Winter came early and stayed a really, really, really long time. Then we couldn't let them go because it was too cold and snowy. So we took care of them all Winter. Well Mrs. Johnston did most of the care taking after the first 2 months because we got busy inquiring about apples, shadows, 100, magic and more.
One Spring day when we came back to school after a 3 day holiday, we noticed that there was a TERRIBLE SMELL in the class. We investigated and found out it was coming from our snail tank. So Stinky. We wondered why it was so smelly. We thought that we should try to clean out the tank and check to see if our snail friends were ok. Mrs. Johnston put one snail on each table to that we could take care of it while some friends washed out the snail tank. But we noticed that our snails were not moving. OH NO! Our snails are dead. We were so sad.
One friend said that we should give them some water because they might be thirsty. So we gave them some water and waited and waited. Then we got our MIRACLE! The snails began to come out of their shells to say hello.
We watched and watched and wrote about our snail observations. We wrote about how they looked and how they moved. We wanted to learn more about our snail friends so that we could take better care of them.
We decided to do some research to learn more about snails. We asked our friend Ms. Pascot in the library if she had any books about snails. She found lots of books about snails for us to read. After reading some of the books, we had lots of new wonders about snails. In one book, we saw that the snail had 2 big things sticking out of his head. We thought that they were antennae. But we also noticed that the snails had 2 other antennae at the bottom of their head. We wondered what they were for. We made some predictions about what they could be. Now we had lots of new snail wonders.
C.G: Will his shell come off? G.C: How does a snail move?
M.W: Can a snail grow? E.R: Can they go fast?
E.L: If it doesn't have legs, will E.C: How do they take off their shell?
it fall of the ceiling?
L.N: What do snails eat? G.S: Why do they have shells?
G.C: Can snails talk? C.G: Maybe they go gurgle, gurgle?
R.G: How do snails go slow? C.G: Is every snail black and brown?
B.D: Why is a snail big and one small? C.G: Maybe they eat more food.
What are the 2 extra antennae for?
M.O: Mouth G.S: Antennae
M.W: What sucks the water up C.C: Horns
A.A: Mouth J.A: I don't know?
B.D: Eats the leaf E.L: There are eyes at the end too
C.G: That makes the leaf a circle
L.N: Maybe he has something in his mouth
and sucks it up.
K.A: To sip the water A.P: Leaves the trail of slime
G.S: Mouth C.S: Mouth
G.C: Eyes AR: Horns
A.G: Horns A.S: Nose
E.R: Nose S.G: There are one and two
R.G: Maybe it's slime S.B: Mouth
M.A: Mouth, she drinks water with it. G.M: Slime
J.F: 2 and another 2
We made a chart of what we already know about snails:
M.W: Snails have slime. G.C: Yes, they have slime.
M.W: They can move. R.G: They have shells.
G.S: They have white and black. C.G: Snails like to climb.
J.F: Snails can move faster now. L.N: They like water.
M.O: The 1 snail said wake up so he C.S: He has a long neck too.
can come out too.
C.C: How does it move with his house? M.A: With his slime.
M.W: Does a snail have a brain?
We had so many wonders that we decided to do some research on the internet to find out what the 2 extra antennae are for and to find out how to make a better place for our snails to live in.
We learned our snails didn't like our old tank because it had stones and fake plants. Snails live in nature, so we have to make our snail habitat look just like nature. We decided to use rocks, sticks, bark, soil, pine cones, shells and plants. Here is our new snail habitat.
We wondered what kinds of plants do snails like to eat? We saw lots of different plants when we did our research but we wanted to know what is the snails favourite plant to eat? We decided to ask our Friend Ranger Ridley. He suggested that we try different things to see what our snails like the best. Snail Taste Test Here We Come!
Now
we know that snails like to eat EVERYTHING! Though fruits and Veggies are their
favourites.
We wanted to learn more about snails so we asked
our "Big Buddies" to help us in he computer lab. Big
Buddies are so helpful and we got a chance to answer some of our
snail wonders like:
* Are all snails brown and black?
* What is the biggest snail and smallest snail in the world?
* Why do snails have a shell?
* What are the different kinds of snails?
* Do snails have any predators?
We wanted to use our research findings to make our own snail habitats. So we made a plan of how it would look in the real world. Then we worked with a partner to make our snail habitats. We labeled all of the important parts.
Here is how our snail habitats turned out. They are so realistic that you feel like you are almost in the forest. SHHHH, can you hear the snails rustling through the forest?
We did some more research and found out that a snail has 4 horns on his head. We thought that they were called antennae. We watched as the snail moved these horns around and up and down. The 2 top horns have eyes at the end and the 2 bottom horns are used for touching and smelling. We thought that this would be fun to have 4 horns that could move around. We could even see behind us. They only have 1 big foot that is very, very strong. It can spread out or get tucked all the way inside its shell.
We spend a lot of time each day observing and taking care of our snails. We record what we feed them each day and watch to see if they are growing. We even take them out of their habitat so we can watch them closely. This is how we can see them close up and write about them in our snail journal.
We wondered if a snail can take his shell off. Some people thought yes and some people thought no. We decided to ask our friend Ranger Ridley. He said that a snail can not leave his shell. It is attached to his body. This sparked out interest in how snail grow. So we did some research on the internet. We found out some amazing snail facts. Who knew that the internet knew so much about snails? WE DID!
When we were doing our research we noticed that the snails some laid eggs. We were so excited to see the snail laying her eggs. So we watched some more videos of the snails laying their eggs. We wondered how many eggs a snail can lay. So we made some predictions.
Here Are Some Of Our Snail Observations:
C.G: They are sticking together. G.C: They are moving.
A.G: They are sticky. A.S: The eggs are coming out of the snail.
M.O: It is like a machine. C.G: How does it do that?
M.O: It is making a nest for the eggs. G.C: Lots of eggs, lots of baby snails.
E.L: So much. M.O: It's coming out of it's tummy like Abby.
C.S: It's like a snail machine. G.M: It's pushing the egg.
R.G: The eggs are popping. J.A: It's out because it's slippery.
Car. C: It's coming out really fast. S.G: It's going to it small faster.
A.P: I think it's my number because the snails are coming out long time.
J.F: I see lots of eggs. B.D: I see the eggs coming out of the snail hole.
L.N: I see eggs coming out of the snail, lots. K.A: Maybe there is a lot of eggs, more and more.
G.S: I see eggs, all the same size. E.R: I see snails popping out the eggs.
E.L: I think those eggs are lots, it's more bigger too.
A.R: There's the eggs from the Radula. They are popping out.
M.O: He is busy doing his eggs.
C.C: I see the eggs coming out. J.N: The snail is popping out a lot of eggs.
A.G: They come out fast. C.G: Out of his body.
M.A: The eggs are small. A.S: Some are big and some are small.
M.O: Is it coming out of his mouth? and Does he have a shells inside? It is too small.
C.G: Is a snail born with a shell?
G.C: No it grows, the eggs is too small.
C.G: Maybe the big eggs have a shell and the small eggs don't have a shell.
We found out that snails can lay 200 - 300 eggs. Wow, that is a lot of eggs! The snail lays each egg one at a time. We wanted to find out what 200 and 300 hundred look like. We also wondered if a snail was born with a shell. So we made a graph to record who thinks the snails is born with his shell and who thinks the snails is not born with his shell.
We found out that the snail is born with a shell but it is not hard because it is made of jelly. As it grows the shell gets harder and harder. We learned about the whole snail life cycle. The adult snail lays eggs, eggs hatch to make baby snails, then they grow bigger and make another adult snail. Then it happens all over again. "That is why they call it a cycle, like circle." (C.G.) Here are out Snail Life cycles:
We watched some more snail videos about hatching.
Here are some of our observations:
G.C: They turned into a different stage. S.G: It didn't stop.
E.R: It's breaking. Car. C: It's moving now.
A.P: They DO have a shell! C.G: Some are still in the egg.
B.D: The shell is egg shaped like a circle. When it's time to leave it, it will cracks open. Then the shell oval will come out of the egg.
B.D: Why are the eggs stuck together? G.S: So they won't get lost.
M.O: It looks like they stick like glue. A.G: It looks like a mountain.
G.C: You need patience for the baby snail to hatch.
G.S: Light brown and dark brown and some are golden.
C.C: First they were white then they turned brown.
A.S: How long does it stay in the egg? A.G: it looks like corn.
K.A: When the snail hatches the shell is like jelly. Why is it soft?
G.C: It's going to turn hard.
J.N: Why does it change to a new color of eggs? A snail is born with a soft shell.
Car. C: Why are the snails eggs different colours?
M.A: they change to different colours.
B.D: Every world has different colours of snail eggs.
M.O: He like different colours.
G.S: Does a pink snails lay pink eggs?
G.C: What ever colour the mom snail has, her baby will be that colour too.
A.P: The smaller the eggs, the more there are. What animals eat the snails?
One day when we were taking care of our snails, we found something new. It was a in the corner of our snail habitat. There were lots of small, white balls. We knew what they were because we saw them when we did our snail research. OUR SNAIL FRIENDS LAID EGGS! Our habitat was just like nature that our snail laid their eggs for us to see. 200 SNAILS, Oh My! We are going to need a bigger habitat and a babysitter.
We found out that it will take 4 weeks for our snail eggs to hatch. Every day we watched and took care of our snails. Then it happened. Our snail eggs began to hatch. It was so amazing to watch. They were so small and it looked like a clear ball. But they began to grow and move around the tank. Every day they are getting bigger and their shells are getting harder.
Here is how we have documented our learning.
Just like our snails, our learning has come full circle. Our snail inquiry has been full of wonders and miracles. We are glad that you have taken the time to enjoy our journey with us. We have learned that it is ok to take things slow and take the time to see all of God's little wonders.
"We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. ( James Stephen)
