www.sea-monkeys.com
Our class pet, the Sea Monkey family. First things first, what ARE Sea Monkeys? According to wikipedia, they are a variant of brine shrimp or Artemia salina, a species which enters cryptobiosis, a natural state of suspended animation, allowing their cysts (dormant saclike embryos) to be sold as a dry powder. When the powder is poured into water, live shrimp appear within hours, and can grow up to an adult length of 2 centimeters within one year. Thus the novelty of "instant" life. Blah, blah, boring shmoring, but let's underline the main concept here... Sea Monkeys are born from POWDER. This is something the kids have a little trouble understanding, and probably isn't the best thing to be teaching them. I can just hear them telling their parents-- "Today we learned that animals are made from powder!" I apologize, future biology teachers of these children.I digress. Three of our Sea Monkeys just so happen to be pregnant. This realization spurred a circle time discussion about Sea Monkey weddings. My class decided that our Sea Monkeys must have gotten married over winter break (hence why we missed the wedding) and yes, they wore dresses. The kids have also started talking to them because we have established that they have ears (questionable).
Please visit youtube for the magical Sea Monkey lover's dance. Here is my attempt to take a photo:
There are two Sea Monkey mates attached near the top of the photo. Ewwww
Though the Sea Monkeys were originally my idea, I think a new class pet may be more appropriate. Professor Blueberry, Volume 2 anyone?
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