Explorer Experiments and Killer Starfish

Explorer Experiments and Killer Starfish, not two lines you'd necessarily put together! 

Its been all go here at Explorers HQ. The van has been on the road from Mulranny and Newport in Co. Mayo, to Ballyconnelly, Rosmuc and Aillebrack in Connemara, to St. Pats here in Galway City to Athenry and Craughwell with unusual starfish behaviour! 

Here is an account of my visit to Liscannor in Co. Clare and the animals that are in their fish tank. 

On Thursday 10^th January, a woman from the Explorers Marine Institute in Galway came to our school. Her name was Noirìn. She brought with her five new arrivals for our fish tank.

The first fish that she showed us was the Blenny; it was the biggest of all the fish. It was long and slimy and had what looked like one long fin down its back, but Noirìn told us that the fin was parted to make lots of little fins. It was a dull, moss green in colouring and it had big bulging red-brown eyes. It likes to (as we have noticed) lie in hide behind the rocks that Noirìn put into the fish tank.

Then there was the Goby which just looked like a smaller version of the Blenny except it tried to blend in with its surroundings. Maybe he should have been called the Blenny, but he wasn’t very good at it. For example, when it was in the yellow bucket, it turned a paler brown colour. Then when it was in the fish tank it turned more of a patchy, dark brown colour to try and blend in with the pebbles, but you could still see him clearly. This is called camouflage. Also the Goby has one long fin all the way down its back instead of a parted fin like the Blenny has.

She brought a starfish as well, she let us feel it. It felt really soft and squishy. I took loads of pictures. To feed, a starfish ejects its stomach out of its body and pulls in its food. Did you know? That if a starfish loses its leg it grows back again. Incredible!

My favourite fish was the flatfish. Talk about camouflage! At lunch break when everybody rushes to see the fish, the flatfish is always the hardest to find. You could stand looking at the pebbles for five minutes before you spot it. This miraculous fish started its life like any other fish until the time came to become flat. It swims to the shore and lies on its side for weeks. During this time, one of its eyes travels over to the other side of its head. Amazing!

Noirìn also showed us how to fill the fish tank. First she put the pebbles in, next she added the sea water. It took about three drums to fill the tank. She left about two inches at the top for the pump to pump properly. When the pump is turned on it pumps oxygen into the water to let the fish.

Our school looks out onto the sea, so after Noirìn’s visit to we now have a good understanding of what lives around us, in our nearby rock pools and the surrounding seashore. We have to feed the fish on a Monday, Wednesday and a Friday. We also have to clean the fish tank regularly and especially, Noirìn stressed to us that it is vitally important to remove the body of a dead fish straight away before it infects the water. Our school has established a rota for all of these jobs so that every child gets a chance.    

In Ballyconnelly NS we carried out a number of water science experiments, here is what one of the students had to say about what they did in the classroom:

 

Ballyconneely school watery experiments.

1 The Lava lamp bottle, For this experiment you will need a plastic bottle, oil, water, food colouring and a fizzy effervescent tablet. First you fill the bottle with 1/4 water and the rest oil , then add food colouring. After that put in your fizzy vitamin tablet. After a short while the bubbles will start to appear. Then they will rise and fall within the bottle just like a lava lamp. Watch and be amazed 

2. Expanding balloon

We took a large fizzy pop bottle and we put in vinegar. We attached a balloon with bread soda in it to the top of the bottle, shuck the bread soda in and waited. Eventually all of the gases produced made the balloon inflate fully.

3. The Rocket.

We had an old film canister and a white basin and an effervescent tablet. We put two tablespoons of water in to the film canister and then dropped in the tablet. We put the lid on quickly and turned it upside down. After a few seconds the lids exploded off, so high and with so much force that some of them hit the ceiling. It was so awesome. 

In Aillebrack NS, we stocked the fish tank and everyone got involved to welcome the fish to the school

 In Athenry Boys School, Linda had a starfish that she was concerned about. It appears it likes sticking one or two legs to the side of the tank and floating the rest of its body on the surface of the water. After an over the phone diagnosis we decided to leave the starfish alone over the weekend to see how things would go and thank god, so far so good the starfish is doing fine. Good Luck Linda, you can call the starfish helpline any time.

In Mulranny we stocked the first tank and introduced the junior classes to their local seashore creatures.

In Newport we had a living things class where 6th Class learned about different types of marine animals.

In Rosmuc, the whole school got involved in the Explorers animals arriving, with the senior class taking charge of their care, while the junior class came to say hello.

 And Finally in Craughwell NS, I heard amazing stories of the Killer Starfish, when I went along to give their living things class. It appears he has eaten the hermit crab that was in the school Explorers Aquarium. You'd never think it just by looking at him! Bye for now, Dr. Noirin.