Beach Explorer

Heather Buttivant

Description

Grab a bucket and your sandals, or your wellies, and explore the top 50 things to discover on the beach. Find ancient fossils, discover snails' secret trapdoors and create your own miniature rockpool.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: September Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781912836758
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

topknot flatfish
common blenny
common prawn
starfish regrowing limbs
dog whelk
hermit crab
open beadlet anemone
seaweed growing on a limpet
cushion star
female shore crab with eggs
Montagu s blenny
flat periwinkle
velvet swimming crab
snakelocks anemone
lugworm cast
sea lemon slug
catshark egg case
acorn barnacles

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First published in 2021 by September Publishing
Copyright Heather Buttivant 2021
The right of Heather Buttivant to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the copyright holder
Illustrations by Grace Helmer
Designed by Emily Sear
Printed in Poland on paper from responsibly managed, sustainable sources
by Hussar Books
e-ISBN 9781912836758
September Publishing
www.septemberpublishing.org

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Introduction
8
Beach Discovery
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Wildlife Families
38
Seashore Survival
66
Be a Wildlife Champion
94
Before You Go
125
What Next?
126
Index
127
CONTENTS
Sand Detective
Sand Under the Magnifying Glass
Find the High Tide Line
Tide Fort Champion
Make Your Own Salt
Explore Life in the Briny Sea
Love Your Limpets
Press Seaweed
Spot Signs of a Changing Beach
Hunt for Fossils
How Do Worms Change the Beach?
Find Evidence of Sponges and Piddocks
Make Your Own Plankton Net
Be Kind to a Crab
Shell Collecting
Secret Trapdoors, a Snail Investigation
How Do Starfish Scrub Their Backs?
What Makes Starfish Arms Special?
Tentacles Experiment
Anemones in Action
Find a Fish, Design a Fish
How Fish See Without Being Seen
Twenty-Minute Bird Count Challenge
Operation Save Your Sandwich!
Create a Miniature Rock Pool
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50 THINGS TO SEE
DISCOVER
Best-Dressed Animal Competition
Egg Hunt
The Protective Fish Father Challenge
A Rock Pool Weapon Inventory
Spy on a Hermit Crab Battle
Be a Super-Sleuth Part One: Murder Holes
Be a Super-Sleuth Part Two: Line Up the Suspects
Set Up a Fish Table
Find a Sea Creature s Bottom
Hunt for Mermaids Purses
Identify Your Egg Case
Balloon in a Bottle
Junk Jigsaw
Sourcing the Source.
Litter Investigation
Investigate Why Sea Levels Are Rising
Plan a Climate-Friendly Beach Trip
Make a Splash!
Seashells in Vinegar Experiment
Prawn-Catching Challenge
Use a Good Fish Guide
Leave a Message in the Sand
Make a Pledge
Join a Group
Adopt a Beach
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CHECKLIST
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Whether the beach you visit is a picture-perfect paradise, a rocky
rubble or a muddy mess, it is full of secrets and mysteries. It is a
gateway between our world and the deep oceans, a place that is
changing before our eyes. If you know where to look, the shore is
home to some of the strangest creatures on our planet.
This book is packed with
easy activities
and
brain-busting facts
that
turn any beach trip into an adventure. Use your detective skills to find
out how beaches are made, investigate wildlife families and reveal some
incredible survival secrets. You will then uncover the threats facing our
marine wildlife before completing your final challenge.
Prepare to answer questions that have puzzled people
throughout the world, such as:

Where does sand come from?

How do starfish scrub their backs?

How long does it take a biodegradable balloon to break
down in seawater?

And, most important of all, how can you make sure the
seagulls don t snatch your ice cream?
Now it s over to you! Pick
activities
that appeal to you and suit the
beach you are visiting. Discover more about each topic in the
fact files
and try out a tremendously tricky
quiz
at the end of each chapter.
You will soon be on your way to becoming a top
beach explorer
!
INTRODUCTION
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Don t get caught out by the tide.
Put your location into
a tide times website or check a local tides booklet. Start
exploring well before low tide and make sure your way
off the beach is clear.
Dress for the weather.
Always wear wellies or beach
shoes to protect your feet. Don t forget a hat, sun
protection and a water bottle in hot weather.
Follow signs.
Many beaches have signs telling you
about dangers. Stay away from cliffs, unstable rocks
and surging waves.
Look after the wildlife.
Move slowly and carefully. If you
want to look closely at a sea creature, keep it in a bucket
of seawater for a few minutes before returning it. Avoid
disturbing birds or marine mammals.
Leave nothing behind except your footprints.
Litter is
bad for marine wildlife so take everything home with you.
Beaches are fun but they can be dangerous.
Go with an
adult and make sure someone knows where you are. If
you see someone in serious trouble or find yourself in
danger, get help by calling the coastguard on
999
.
BEACH RULES
Ready, Steady . . . WAIT!
CHAPTER 1
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Your first challenge is to unlock the mysteries
of how your beach was made and how it is
changing over time.
These explorations will take you on a journey
through millions of years of history. Along the way,
you will encounter the incredible forces that move
rocks and oceans and meet animals and plants that
endure some of the most extreme conditions on
Earth. You ll also uncover evidence of how your
beach is still changing today.
Like all great explorers, you will need to open all your
senses and be prepared for some surprises!
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
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Sand Detective
Where does sand come from and why does it feel
comfortable to walk on? Your first activity is to
become a Sand Detective!
Study the
cliffs
from a distance and explore the
rocks, shells
and
pebbles
on your beach.

Look at the colours of the rocks and shells. Are they
similar to the colour of the sand?

Does the sand contain mud or very tiny grains? If so,
can you spot a river or stream nearby?

Is the sand the same size and colour in every
part of your beach?

Can you figure out what the sand is
made of?
What s Happening?
The sand on your beach starts out as larger
rocks and shells which often come from the
cliffs and seas close to the beach. Over a long period
of time, these have been broken down by the power of the
waves. Rocks and mud can also be carried to the beach from
far inland by rivers.
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
Sand Under the
Magnifying Glass
You may have noticed that the grains of sand on your
beach are different
colours
. What else can you find
out? It s time to get up-close.

Put some sand onto black paper. This will help the colours
stand out.

Use a magnifying glass, hand lens or a microscope to look
at your sand.

What do you notice about the size of the sand grains? Can
you see tiny shells in your mix?

Are they smooth and rounded or jagged and rough?
What s Happening?
You will probably find lots of transparent crystals of a mineral
called quartz in the sand. Quartz is very hard and does not
dissolve in water. While softer rocks erode or wash away, quartz
is left behind. Marine biologists can examine sand to identify what
species of seashells are living near the beach.
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Dig Deeper
Dark-coloured sand sometimes contains magnetite, a mineral
that can be used to make iron. Try dragging a magnet through
the sand. Any magnetite will stick to it.
X
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
Waves and wind are constantly attacking the rocks
around the coast. The sea pushes the rocks and dead
seashells around, breaking them down into smaller
and smaller pieces. Eventually this makes sand.
Sheltered beaches with small waves tend to have
coarse sand. Some have only large pebbles, known
as
shingle
. At exposed beaches with large waves, the
sea pounds the sand into tiny, well-rounded pieces to
create fine sand.
When waves reach the beach, they slow down and
drop their load. This builds up into a beach. The
sea can also wash sand away. Rivers carry mud and
rocks to the shore. As they near the sea, rivers widen
and slow down, so they drop the sediment they are
carrying. This makes some beaches muddy, providing
food for all sorts of animals.
Fact File: Sand
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
One, Two,
Three . . .
There are tens of
thousands of grains in just
one teaspoon of sand.
Mathematicians have
estimated that the total
amount of sand on all the
world s beaches is around
5,000 billion billion grains.
Musical Sand!
When grains of sand are
small enough and the
amount of moisture is just
right, the layers make a
whistling or singing noise
when you walk on them.
There are over 30 beaches
in the British Isles that
claim to have singing sand.
Strange Sand
In some places sand is
made mainly of coral,
gemstones or even
from the skeletons
of tiny animals called
foraminifera.
Why So Tense?
When sand is wet, it has
water trapped in the pores
between the grains. The
water has
surface tension
,
which is the same thing that
allows some pond insects
to walk on water. This helps
to hold the grains together
so that you can make
sandcastles from it.
Fact File: Sand
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CHAPTER 1: BEACH DISCOVERY
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