Life Between the Tides: Grade 4 Explores the Intertidal Zones

Fourth-grade students put on their water shoes and grabbed their clipboards and buckets as they spent a sunny Friday afternoon exploring the intertidal zone habitat of the East Haven shoreline at the beach home of Board of Trustees President Andrew Acquarulo and his wife Pam Acquarulo.

In science class with Lower School science teacher Emily Davies 2001, students have been studying the rocky shore intertidal zone habitat, which is the shoreline that is exposed to air at low tide and covered with seawater at high tide. The animals that live in the intertidal zone hold onto the rocks when the tide flows in and out. The unit was brought to life as the students used their knowledge to investigate the creatures inhabiting the beach. 

Along with Mrs. Davies, the students were accompanied by fourth-grade teacher Taylor DePalma, after school assistant Meghan Moran, and current parent Ashley Anfiteatro.

Divided into groups, the students engaged in two separate hands-on activities before switching over to the other. One group of students partook in a seashore scavenger hunt where they scoured the beach for different sea creatures and other items including live crabs, snails, barnacle, sea glass, and shells. The other group worked directly with Mrs. Davies to get a closer look at the habitats and examine the zonation of the species on the rocks and in the water.

After examining the intertidal zone habitats, Mrs. Davies and Mrs. Anfiteatro ventured into the

open water with a seine net to explore what other species inhabit the shoreline. Pulling the net to shore, students and Mrs. Davies opened it to examine what was collected including fish, shrimp, and other sea creatures.

“The intertidal zone contains great diversity and has always been a fascinating unit of study as the students were able to see the sea creatures who live there up close,” said Mrs. Davies.