Phylum Cnidaria, Part 1: Hydra and Jellyfish
We have been having fun learning about Cnidarians.
The Phylum Cnidaria (also called Coelenterate) can be further broken down into Subphylums and Classes.
The Subphylum Anthozoa includes corals and sea anemones and Subphylum Medusozoa includes jellyfish. The Jellyfish can be broken down into three major classes: Class Scyphozoa or true jellyfish, Class Cubozoa or box jellies and Class Hydrozoa or hydras.
Subphylum Medusozoa
Class Hydrozoa: Hydras
Cnidarian comes from the Greek word "knide," which means nettle, which is something which delivers a sting. They sting because they have nematocysts which are like little capsules of stinging liquid with a sharp needle-like point which pieces the skin, letting out a thin hollow thread to deliver the liquid under the skin.
The hydra has lots of tentacles that contain nematocysts. These subdue their prey so that the tentacles can get the prey to it's mouth.
Class Scyphozoa: True Jellyfish
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| Student, age 8 |
Jellyfish Pictures
We made jellyfish pictures by using lots of watered paint and then holding the page to let the paint drip to make the tentacles.
We lightly painted a notebook page with blue watercolor and then cut out our jellyfish and glued them to the page.
We made jellyfish pictures by using lots of watered paint and then holding the page to let the paint drip to make the tentacles.
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| Special Needs Student, age 17 |
This made a very attractive notebook page.
You can use one of them to note the parts of the jellyfish.
Jellyfish in a Bottle
Ours did not turn out as well as the ones at Bhoom Play! partially because I could not find a thin clear plastic grocery bag. I used a large Ziploc bag and the plastic was to thick. We put ours in a 2-liter instead of a 1-liter bottle.
Ours did not turn out as well as the ones at Bhoom Play! partially because I could not find a thin clear plastic grocery bag. I used a large Ziploc bag and the plastic was to thick. We put ours in a 2-liter instead of a 1-liter bottle.
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| Alex's, age 17 |
Using the painting we made when we were studying tints, we created some jellyfish deep blue sea art.
We went over the five ways to create depth...
We went over the five ways to create depth...
1)overlapping
2)placement on the page
3)size
4)amount of detail
5)boldness or paleness of color
Then they drew jellyfish on their paper in white oil pastel using as many techniques for creating depth as they could.
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| Student, age 8 |
For fun we made a jellyfish lunch.
Cut off the ends of hot dogs and stick raw spaghetti noodles in the flat side.
Boil them for the time specified on the spaghetti package.
Serve with spaghetti sauce or ketchup.
Boil them for the time specified on the spaghetti package.
Serve with spaghetti sauce or ketchup.
Class Cubozoa or box jellies
Box jellyfish are distinguished from other jellyfish by their cube-shaped medusae. Stings from several species in the class are extremely painful and sometimes fatal to humans but they are generally restricted to the tropical and subtropical oceans such as the Indo-Pacific.
sources:
- Jellyfish Paintings at Deep Space Sparkle
- Jellyfish Pictures at Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational and Usborne's 365 Things to Do with Paper and Cardboard
- Jellyfish in a Bottle at Bhoomplay's Blog
- Jellyfish Ocean Art at Framed in Swirly Gold
- Jellyfish Lunch at Over the Crescent Moon
- Lift-the-Flap Classification Chart of Invertebrates at Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop
Other Ideas for Hands-On Learning about Jellyfish:
- Jellyfish Puppets at Fiskars Crafts
- Jellyfish Tunnel Book at Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational
- More Ideas at School Time Snippets
