Shark Week Shenanigans!

Although we can’t gather in person, we still want to celebrate shark week with you! Read on — we’ve got a full week of boredom-busting crafts centered around sharks. Be sure to share your work on social media and tag the GSC so we can see your cool creations!

Munch, Munch, Monday – What and How Sharks Eat!

Monday kicks off Shark Week at the Greensboro Science Center by answering the question, “What do sharks eat?” In short, sharks eat almost anything! Most sharks eat fish, some eat marine mammals like seals and sea lions, and a Bonnethead shark even munches on seagrass! Tiger sharks will investigate and occasionally eat pieces of metal. It is thought that the metal mimics the electromagnetic field given off by struggling fish.

Today’s Activity: Shark Fish Catcher Toy

Create your own hungry shark and its fishy food, then play the game to feed your new friend!

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: You can help sharks by carefully selecting what seafood you choose to eat. Use the Seafood Watch app to help you navigate the best choices and which to avoid!

“TOOTH-ful” Tuesday – Myths and “TOOTHs” About Sharks

There are so many myths about sharks! One popular myth is that all sharks have big sharp teeth and love to chomp on anything they can. The truth is that sharks have a wide variety of teeth and each set of chompers is well adapted to what the shark eats. For instance, whale sharks don’t really use their tiny teeth to eat. Instead, they have filter pads lining the entrance to their throat that filter out microscopic plankton and krill. Another odd shark, Port Jackson sharks, have rounded pebble-like teeth used for crushing sea urchins, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Today’s Activity: Shark Tooth Necklace

Use our template to cut some teeth and create a shark tooth necklace to wear!

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: Looking for a cool shark tooth necklace? Make sure the tooth is a fossilized tooth and pass on freshly caught teeth. Many sharks are fished simply to make souvenirs.

Wonders Wednesday – The Wonderful Things About Sharks

Sharks have some wonderful adaptations to help them survive in their watery world. One of the strangest adaptations has to be the recent discovery that tiny teeth called dermal denticles cover whale sharks’ eyeballs! Whale sharks, about the size of a school bus, have eyeballs about the size of a golf ball that protrude from the side of their head. It is believed that the dermal denticles help protect their eyes and decrease drag.

Today’s Activity: Shark Binoculars

Make your own pair of peepers and see like a shark!

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: Whale sharks are an endangered species and are often caught in active fishing nets and abandoned fishing gear referred to as “ghost nets”. You can help them by supporting legislation that supports bycatch remediation and fisher education and training.

Thoughtful Thursday – Shark Conservation

Shark fins are FIN-tastic at helping sharks get to where they want to go! They are propelled through the water with their caudal, or tail fin, and the fins on the side of their bodies, the pectoral fins, help them steer up and down like the wings of an airplane. The iconic dorsal fin is like a boat’s keel and helps them swim straight ahead. As you can see, sharks need their fins. Unfortunately, about 100 million sharks are fished every year, most solely for their fins.

Today’s Activity: A FIN-tastic Shark Hat

Use our template to create a shark-inspired thinking cap to wear today!

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: Shark fins for soup and traditional medicines are still sold around the world. Shark fins are made of cartilage like our ears and have no known medicinal properties. Take a pass on products made from shark fins to help our FIN-tastic sharks!

Freaky Friday – Strange and Unusual Sharks

Goblin sharks have one of the freakiest shark mouths in the sea! Lurking in the deep ocean, more than 4,000 ft. down, goblin sharks have a long snout (rostrum) covered in electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini. When they find a meal, their jaws jut out to pierce and grab the prey with their long, pointy, scraggly teeth. Those pointy teeth can even be seen when the shark has its mouth closed.

Today’s Activity: Origami Shark Biter Bookmark

Make this origami bookmark so you don’t lose your place next time you read your favorite shark story!

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: If you are out fishing and accidentally have a shark bite your hook, try to keep the shark in the water as you remove the hook. Many sharks can go into shock if brought out of the water even for a short time.

Super Saturday – Even sharks have superpowers!

Did you know that sharks have superpowers? They can “see” in the dark! Cartilaginous fish, such as sharks and rays, have ampullae of Lorenzini, or special sensing organs called electroreceptors, that form a network of jelly-filled pores on the shark’s body. These pores can be seen as small, dark spots on the skin of the sharks and rays. These electroreceptors help the sharks to sense electric fields produced by animals in the water and find their prey!

Today’s Activity: Flashlight Shark Search

Can you spot the shark? In this paper craft, you’ll create an underwater shark scene searchable by spotlight! Template included.

Download instructions here.

Conservation Bite: You can be a shark superhero by symbolically adopting a shark through our Symbolic Animal Adoptions! Multiple adoption options are available. Find out more at https://www.greensboroscience.org/give/animal-adoption/

Virtual Nature Tots: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Guest post by Erin Votaw, GSC Educator

Hello my preschool science buddies! If you aren’t familiar with Nature Tots programs at the Greensboro Science Center, let me introduce myself. My name is Erin and I am a part of the Education department here at the Greensboro Science Center. I have been teaching Nature Tots classes, summer camps and grant programs for the past 10 years.  I thought it may be fun to investigate some of the topics we didn’t get to meet up for in our Nature Tots class. We always have such a fun time together on Tuesdays and I look forward to the time when we get back to the fun, together in our special place with visiting animals and keeper talks. The GSC is working hard to keep the animals happy but I know they miss seeing your sweet faces checking on them.

What makes the night sky twinkle? Such a great question that begs for an answer. Let’s begin with stars and how they work. We see our sun, the center of our solar system every day, and especially when it’s a nice sunny day. The largest star in our solar system, our sun gives us light, warmth and life to Earth and plants through the process of photosynthesis. Made of helium and hydrogen gases held together by gravitational pull, the sun is the reason for our seasons, weather and – let’s be honest – birthdays! Your birthday comes from each revolution around the sun. Sounds like a very important star to me! And at around 6000℃, wow! Talk about hot!!!  

Have you ever seen a helium balloon?  Maybe at a birthday or graduation party or just floating in the sky? The helium inside the balloon is an invisible gas that makes it float and is one of the same invisible gases that creates the stars in our sky. Stars are actually giant balls of gases, like helium and hydrogen, that are so hot and fiery that they glow brightly and give off heat. Stars do come in all sizes but they are so far away from us that they look like tiny, beautiful, twinkling points of light, when actually they are really gigantic! 

Stars can also be different colors depending upon how hot they are. The coolest temperature stars are red, warmer stars are yellow-orange, hot stars are white and the very hottest stars are blue! We can’t actually feel the heat from the smaller stars because they are so far away.

Let’s try to see if we can see this for ourselves. Gather up some colored tissue paper and a flashlight. Turn down the lights. Using your flashlight and colored tissue paper, cover the light part of the flashlight with the tissue paper. What color is the light from the flashlight now? Try different colors. Shine the light onto the walls. Can you see how the color of the light changes for the tissue paper color? Just imagine you are changing the temperature of the star based on the color of tissue paper you put over the light. 

Stars also shine all the time! It’s difficult to understand this because we do not see them during the daytime. This is because the light from the sun is so bright that it is impossible to see the light coming from the other stars. But really, we do see one star during the day – the sun!  

So, onto the question of twinkling. Just how do the stars twinkle in the sky at night? The stars twinkle in the night sky because of the effects of our atmosphere. When starlight enters the atmosphere it is affected by wind, temperature and density. These fluctuations in the stability of the air and changes in properties in the atmosphere causes the light from the star to twinkle when seen from the ground. Think of it like this – as the light travels to where we can see it (from deep, dark space down to our eyes on Earth), it passes through things that cause it to jumble like a car on a bumpy highway. Not super smooth, but bumpy and jumpy, hence the twinkling appearance of the light when we finally see it. Goodness, I just like thinking that they were blinking at us! 

A group of visible stars that form a pattern we can see is called a constellation. Scientists who study space have given many stars and constellations names and you can look for them in the night sky. You may have heard of the North Star and constellations like the Big (and Little) Dipper, Orion and the Northern Cross just to name a few. A great way to investigate stars and constellations is to check out the sky at night. There are several free apps for your phones that allow you to “look” at the sky and know what you’re actually looking at in the sky. Fascinating really!

We can make our own constellations in a couple of fun ways.  Using a piece of construction paper, star stickers (or whatever you have on hand) and white chalk or crayon, we can lay out a shape or design for our constellation. Place the stickers in a square (or whatever shape you want) on the paper. Next, draw lines with the chalk to connect the stickers and there you have your very own constellation!

Another option is to use a tp roll and make it a constellation viewer. Take the tp roll and put a square of construction paper over one end with a rubber band. Ask an adult to help you poke holes with a toothpick (in a shape or constellation design) through the construction paper.  

Hold it up to the light and you will be able to see your constellation design. What will you name your constellations? Very stellar!!

Stars and space are super interesting areas to learn about and investigate. I would recommend you get outside and check out space in your place. Go out during daytime to look at the clouds and the light (don’t look directly at the bright sun…ouch!). Peek outside at night to see if you can see the stars twinkling — can you connect them to make constellations? You may even have seen the space station fly overhead recently! Seriously, space is FULL of neat science.

Be sure to observe the moon during its phase changes and maybe make a 30-day moon chart (you can check the internet for a sample). A fun read to go along with this moon shape study is the story “Breakfast Moon” by Meg Gower. It corresponds to a family journaling the moon’s shape with shapes of their foods at breakfast.  How sweet!!

I hope to bring you more blogs and activities to help keep you engaged in our science world. I hope to see you again soon, until then have fun and remember science is everywhere!

Conservation Creation: Red Panda-monium, featuring DIY Seed Bombs!

Red pandas are undeniably one of the world’s cutest animals. With bright red fur, striking facial features and a big fluffy tail, these animals have quickly become popular throughout the internet and in the hearts of our guests. However, these traits serve a larger purpose than to pull at our heartstrings! Red pandas are native to Southeast Asia, particularly in the temperate forests near the Himalayan Mountains. In these areas, temperatures remain cool and that large fluffy tail is used almost like a blanket to keep these small animals warm. In addition to providing warmth, that beautiful thick red fur helps these animals camouflage themselves within the red lichens that grow in their natural habitat.

Believe it or not, the red panda is the original panda. Red pandas were discovered around 50 years before the black and white giant pandas that we typically think of. These animals have caused quite a headache for scientists over the years as they’ve tried to figure out the relationship between red pandas and giant pandas.

Currently, red pandas are classified in their own unique family called Ailuridae. However different these animals may seem, they do share some commonality. For one, both the red panda and the giant panda love to eat bamboo! These animals are also both greatly affected by habitat loss. Here at the Greensboro Science Center we support the Red Panda Network, an organization dedicated to preserving these animals. You can also help red pandas by donating to the Red Panda Network here (https://www.redpandanetwork.org) and by continuing to visit the Greensboro Science Center and other AZA accredited zoos and aquariums!

Remember to join us during the month of September on Tuesdays and Thurdsays at 10:30am and 2:30pm at our red panda habitat to participate in our Conservation Creation activity as well as on September 14^thfor Red Panda Day!

While red pandas live thousands of miles away from us, there are things we can do for animals effected by habitat loss right here in North Carolina! Some of these animals include our local pollinators such as bees and butterflies. As we move in to the cooler months of fall, we can begin planting flowers and other plants to help out these animals. To get started, we have a cool DIY activity for you to do at home that will be fun for you and beneficial to our local pollinators: Seed Bombs!

DIY Seed Bombs

What you will need: Air-dry clay, potting soil or compost, water, seeds, a large mixing bowl, a measuring cup of any size

To choose seeds that will be the most beneficial to your area, visit this website: https://www.ourstate.com/tips-bee-friendly-garden-north-carolina/

Seed bomb ingredients

Step 1: Take 1 part clay, 1 part water, and 2 parts potting soil or compost and combine them in your mixing bowl.

Combine 1 part clay, 1 part water, and 2 parts potting soil or compost

Step 2: Use your hands (or a large spoon) to mix the ingredients together, adding water as necessary. Your final mixture should be similar to Play-Doh in consistency.

Mix ingredients, adding water as necessary, until the mixture has a Play-Doh-like consistency

Step 3: Add your seeds of choice to the mixture and mix thoroughly.

Add seeds

Step 4: Form the mixture into balls or another fun shape of your choosing.

Form the mixture into balls

Step 5: Allow 2-3 days for your seed bombs to dry and then toss them wherever you would like your seed bombs to grow! Seed bombs don’t require care or attention so they can be placed wherever you would like to see your flowers. Visit them often in the Fall and Spring to see if you have any insect visitors!

Completed seed bombs!