One of the core tenets of the OmniLearn method is that nearly all lab activities can be upleveled or down leveled to meet just about any age. When you are searching for activities to bring to your classroom don’t be afraid to widen the age bracket! With a little creativity and age appropriate language and safety practices, just about any experiment can be carried out from PreK to 12th grade!
In this series, we give examples on how we have taken high level science (often high school level labs) and brought them down for middle schoolers, elementary schoolers and even PreKers. Or the reverse! We take a simple activity and do a deep dive into the science.
Squid Dissection
The basic lab premise: Students dissect a squid. Besides the anatomy of the squid this can relate to a few different topics. You can cover comparative anatomy and discuss the analogous structures between humans and squid as well as the obvious differences. You can discuss adaptations and the function of each of the structures. You can also discuss the concept of Biomimicry. Biomimicry is the idea that there are answers to be found in nature that can be applied to engineering new technologies for humans to use.
Safety
One reason we use this lab so often is because the safety issues are next to none. If you get your squid from the seafood market (you have to ask for “dirty squid” which means the internal anatomy hasn’t been cleaned away), students don’t need to wear gloves because there are no harsh chemicals as with preserved specimens for dissection. Additionally, the only tools required are a pair of safety scissors. In high schools, students might need a gentle reminder to keep food and drinks tucked away during the dissection but that’s about it. Middle school students might need a firmer reminder to keep their takis in their bags until the end of class. Elementary students are also usually pretty trustworthy in terms of safety. I make broad, neutral announcements about keeping food and drinks away like I do for all science labs. For PreK and Kindergartners, I might choose to go over the five senses and how we will use all of them except our sense of taste and that scientists never ever put anything in their mouths!
High School
At a high school level you can really dive into comparative anatomy and discuss analogous structures and evolution/natural selection. For example, the only homologous structure that a squid and humans share is a stomach. That's it! Every other trait evolved after that evolutionary split hundred of millions of years ago. Even the complex lens eye that squid have, which is drastically similar to our eye, evolved separately. At this level we would use as much anatomically correct vocabulary as possible: internal vs external anatomy, dorsal vs ventral side, gonad, cecum, brachial heart, systemic heart, radula, beak, buccal mass, pharynx, stomach, siphon, ink sac, gill, chromatophore, tentacles, arms, sucker discs, mantle, fins, pen (quill). Students are reading the dissection instructions themselves and answering questions in a packet.
Middle School
At a middle school level, we often use squid to cover the concept of biomimicry. The biomimicry portion of the lab would focus on what kinds of technologies could be derived from the squids unique features. We still discuss internal vs external anatomy. We would drop some of the higher level vocabulary and more difficult to identify structures. We would still include: gonad, gill heart, main heart, beak, buccal mass, stomach, siphon, ink sac, gill, chromatophore, tentacles, arms, sucker discs, mantle, fins, pen (quill). Similar to high school, students are reading the dissection instructions and answering questions on their worksheet.
Here is an example of the difference in vocabulary for a middler schooler (left) and a high schooler (right).
Elementary School
At an upper elementary level (3-5), I like to start this lab by listing the traits in a progressively confusing way and having students guess the animal. Two eyes. Fins. Beak. Gills. No Bones. Three hearts. Color changing skin. Eight arms. Two Tentacles. Students will know enough about animals to start guessing but be confused. What kind of animal has a beak and fins? They will eventually guess, but almost every student will guess octopus before squid. With these ages, we will sometimes focus on biomimicry and sometimes focus on animal adaptations. At this level, students would receive verbal instructions along with a worksheet to fill out related to the topic covered. It could include data tables of form and function to fill out and/or matching games for technology to squid inspiration.
At a lower elementary school level (K-2) we are usually using the squid to talk about adaptations and the function of different animal structures. With Kindergarten I might use a stuffed animal squid initially to introduce the difference structures and have students repeat back the vocabulary. The stuffed animal can help the students to focus on the new vocabulary words without the distraction of me holding up a dead squid. Students will get plenty of up-close time with their own squids so it helps to give them a chance to focus on new words. These ages would all receive verbal instructions. A Grade 1-2 level worksheet would have a picture of the squid and a work bank for students to label external structures. A K level worksheet would be similar but have letters for students to trace.
PreK
At a PreK level we are focusing on smaller skills. Counting the arms, holding the scissors to cut arms and the mantle, and repeating back proper vocabulary. We definitely bring out our stuffed animal first for PreK students. We also introduce hand motions/dance moves to represent each structure. Lastly, instead of a formal worksheet, we might include a coloring activity for the students. Students could practice writing their names on their coloring pages.
Brave enough to try a squid dissection with your students?? Download one of our worksheets!!
We'd love to see photos! Don't forget to tag us @omnilearnstem
Here is a BONUS resource to use with lower elementary students. It is a cut and paste for biomimicry!
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