Ideas for children, parents and teachers to explore and discover New Zealand’s sea life
for children
We came up with the idea of writing Under the Ocean when we were visiting schools to talk about our first book At the Beach. The children we talked to were very interested in big sea creatures – octopuses, rays, sharks, dolphins – so we knew that it would be worthwhile writing a book about these creatures and other animals that live in the sea.
The seas around New Zealand are home to other amazing ocean creatures – whales, albatrosses, penguins, giant squid and much, much more.
Some of the sea creatures in Under the Ocean, can be seen from the coast, from boats, or out snorkelling. But some you will only see in museums, aquariums, or on film.
In our book, we have chosen sea creatures that we think are most interesting. Ned has drawn pictures of them to help you recognise them and to show you where they live. Gillian has written about the animals so you can learn more about them.
be a nature explorer
Get involved in a project at a marine reserve
● Find out if there is a project involving penguins or other sea birds near you
● Look out for ocean life when you are at the beach or travelling on holiday
● Follow YouTube channels about ocean life
Be safe around water
● In small boats, always wear a life jacket
● Learn to swim
● Make sure an adult is watching you when you are swimming or snorkelling
for parents and teachers
about the book
In Under the Ocean, we decided not to use the term ‘continental shelf’. The Open Ocean on pages 12–15 describes animals that live over the continental shelf, i.e. the open ocean but still close to New Zealand. The Deep Ocean picture on pages 16–17 is beyond the continental shelf. For more about the depth of the sea around New Zealand and some interesting pictures and diagrams see: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sea-floor/media
reading the book
Here are some ideas for re-reading the book, things to look for and talk about and games to play:
- Find a map of New Zealand and look for the places mentioned as you read the book.
- If you have the hardcover edition, the inside cover has silhouettes of different creatures, find the matching animal in the book.
- Use the fact pages to work out what animals are on pages 4–5: (humpback whale, gannets, fur seals, dusky dolphins).
- Pages 6–7 show some reef and seafloor animals; moray eel, blue maomao fish, ray, carpet shark, blue cod. Ask what other animals might be living in the reef or on the sea floor – turn the pages to see if any of the animals they thought of are in the pictures. Note: this isn’t a right or wrong activity, more one of imagination.
- Pages 12 and 13, get the child to tell you a story about what is happening in the picture.
- Page 17, look up echolocation in the glossary to find out what it means.
- Page 26, if you want to explain about fishing methods in the fishing facts box, turn back to pages 14–15 and ask the child to imagine trying to catch a specific fish in the picture, without catching any of the other animals. What kind of fishing device could they invent to do this?
- The box on page 32 is about ‘looking after seals and penguins’ – what can we do to look after other animals in the ocean?
- Page 34, look back in the book to find which pages some of these seabirds are illustrated on.
other activities
Ocean life can seem quite hidden and hard to observe, perhaps its the very secretive nature of the ocean that adds to the fascination children have with marine life.
There are some easy ways to get to know more about New Zealand’s ocean.
- Borrow books or DVDs from your local library.
- Find YouTube channels that are dedicated to ocean life – you’ll be amazed what you can see online.
- Take binoculars with you when you go to the beach or go out on a boat or ferry.
- Visit aquariums and museums.
- Find and read Maori legends associated with the sea, such as, Paikea the whale rider.
- If you have an iPad or iPhone download the free ‘Moana – My Ocean’ marine life app from Auckland Museum to help with identification.
- Join a local project such as, Marine Metre Squared, a beach clean-up, or making penguin nesting boxes.
A few hands-on activities
- Create an ocean in a bottle or on a chart, finding out what lives at different zones. For a couple of different approaches see:
http://www.kcedventures.com/blog/science-for-kids-under-the-sea-ocean-bottle or http://www.icanteachmychild.com/make-ocean-zones-jar/ - Using chalk, measure out the length of the different whales (or squid, sharks etc) on a playground. Or you could do this on a long beach using driftwood.
- For other craft ideas and links to information pages, see our Pinterest board http://www.pinterest.com/gilliancandler/explore-nz-sea-life/
more information about sea creatures
www.kcc.org.nz Kiwi Conservation Club – content on this site is written for children
www.teara.govt.nz Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/marine-and-coastal/ Department of Conservation
www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/ New Zealand Birds Online
www.marinelife.ac.nz/ Marine Life Database
www.marine.ac.nz Marine Centre at Otago University, including Marine Metre Squared project
www.marinenz.org.nz/ Marine New Zealand information portal
http://www.sealiontrust.org.nz/ New Zealand Sealion Trust
http://www.bluepenguin.org.nz/ West Coast Penguin Trust
http://yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz/ Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust
http://rileyelliott.com/ Riley Elliott Shark Scientist
http://www.whalewatch.co.nz/marine-life Whale Watch Kaikoura
http://squid.tepapa.govt.nz/ Colossal squid information
http://www.whaledolphintrust.org.nz/ New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust
http://taputeranga.org.nz/ Friends of Taputeranga Marine Reserve
http://www.ianskipworth.com/suig/nudis.html Nudibranchs
http://www.octopus.org.nz/ Island Bay Marine Education Centre
http://www.niwa.co.nz water and atmospheric research
http://www.mollusca.co.nz/ New Zealand shellfish
curriculum links
Te Whariki
Strand 5: Exploration
Goal 4: Children experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds.
The New Zealand Curriculum: Science
Nature of Science
Investigating in Science, Communicating in Science
L1-2 Living World
Students will:
- recognise that living things have certain requirements so they can stay alive
- recognise that living things are suited to their particular habitat
- recognise that there are lots of different living things in the world and that they can be grouped in different ways.
L1-2 Planet Earth and Beyond
Students will:
- Explore and describe natural features and resources
Classroom resources
For assessment and teaching ideas see:
Science Online
http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/Introducing-five-science-capabilities/Critique-evidence/Marine-Metre-Squared
http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/What-do-my-students-need-to-learn/Building-Science-Concepts/Titles-and-concept-overviews/Mammals-Investigating-a-Group-of-Animals
Science Learn
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Life-in-the-Sea
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Science-Stories/Where-Land-Meets-Sea
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/The-Noisy-Reef
Department of Conservation
http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/for-teachers/ for marine reserve field trip ideas and resources
gillian candler – author
I live by the sea and have been lucky enough to see orca and whales in the bay where I live. I have also travelled to parts of New Zealand where you can see penguins, seals and dolphins. Not long ago I was on the Interislander ferry and saw little penguins swimming in the sea! Going snorkelling was one of the most amazing experiences – especially being amongst schools of fish and looking at other sea creatures in their natural environment.
I write a blog about nature: explorediscovernature.blogspot.co.nz
ned barraud – illustrator
When I grew up in Nelson we had a boat called Scuffy. It was a big old launch, and while chugging around the bays with my family I saw all sorts of amazing sealife. The most amazing thing I saw was a pod of pilot whales, so close I could almost touch their backs! A few years back I went to Thailand and learnt to scuba dive. I was lucky enough to see a whale shark, even though it was young it was still huge. Sea creatures are some of my most favourite things to draw … real and fantasy!
If you want to see some of my other pictures you can visit my site: www.nedbarraud.com