under the ocean

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/Introducing-five-science-capabilities/Interpret-representations/Catch-My-Drift

http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/Introducing-five-science-capabilities/Interpret-representations/Bioaccumulation-Interactive

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