Beach Exploration
Duration: 1 hour
Year Group: K–12
Cost: $5 per student
This activity provides a great opportunity to explore...
the diversity of coastal and marine life that washes ashore – discovering what things are and where they come from. Students learn about the markings on cuttlefish bones; discover the difference between seaweed and seagrass; and search through the myriad of shells!
Use our Beachcombers Field Guide, from our Perth Beachcombers Education Kit website to help you identify the things you find on your beach walk, and discover some interesting facts along the way.
After identifying what we have found, we will simply classify the items we have found, discovering what things are related to what – you may be a little surprised with the result.
We also look at the impact that humans have on the beach – not only the rubbish that we leave behind, but also how we change the coastal environment. We will investigate the types of marine debris found on the beach, where it comes from and how it affects the local marine life
Did you know… originally the word ‘flotsam’ meant floating wreckage and ‘jetsam’ meant the goods thrown over from a ship, and were therefore both related to human activity. However in ‘modern times’, the words ‘flotsam and jetsam’ simple refer to all things washed ashore, natural or man-made.