Note: Teacher’s notes are in red

“SOS!”

Help students become aware of natural and human-induced threats facing sea turtles. In creating sea turtle mobiles, students will become familiar with the range, environment, and predators of and threats to different species of sea turtles.

Your Mission

“Seas” the day—help a turtle!

When a ship at sea is in trouble it sends a radio signal for help. That signal is called an SOS. If sea turtles could signal to people, they might send an SOS too. Sea turtles have been on Earth since the age of dinosaurs! For thousands of years they have withstood natural losses to their populations. But increasing threats from people are taking a toll. Today all species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened, and at risk of becoming extinct.

Subjects: Geography, Science, Art

Relevant U.S. National Geography Standards: 1, 8, 14

Materials

Books or magazines with pictures or illustrations of fish

Coins (for “Adventure Game”)

Color pencils

Construction paper

Crayons

Crepe paper

Index cards

Markers

Yarn or string

Turtle Woes

Stress that sea turtles are at risk of extinction because of human modifications to the environment. On nesting beaches, threats include the stealing of turtle eggs, development, mechanical raking, off-road vehicles, and bright lights. In the ocean, turtles are threatened by fishing nets, marine debris, oil spills, and collisions with boats.

Offline, choose one or more activities to acquaint students with threats to sea turtles:

Older students can help a female loggerhead and her babies survive in “Adventure Game.” You can print out a board version of the game, with instructions, at the Euro Turtle site (http://www.ex.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/game/
start.htm). Suggested for age 10 and above. Younger students may enjoy playing “Adventure Game” without keeping score.

Print out a sea turtle crossword puzzle for students at the Center for Marine Conservation Web site (http://www.cmc-ocean.org/splashclas/SC3.html).

For younger students, read “A Turtle Tale” at the Sea World site (http://www.seaworld.org/Key_West/turtletale.html). Print out the maze that accompanies the story and ask students to help the hatchling get through the maze to reach the ocean.

Online, assign students one or more interactive activities:

Older students can try to help a female loggerhead and her babies survive in an interactive version of “Adventure Game” from the Euro Turtle site (http://www.ex.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/game/
start.htm). Suggested for age 10 and above. Younger students may enjoy playing “Adventure Game” without keeping score.

Very young students can look through a photo narrative of leatherback turtles nesting, hatching, and struggling toward the sea at the Scholastic Web site (http://teacher.scholastic.com/turtles/story/index.htm).

It’s not easy being a sea turtle! A female sea turtle may swim thousands of miles (kilometers) to lay her eggs on a beach. Then she crawls back to the ocean, leaving the eggs buried in a sandy nest. Sometimes people steal the eggs to eat. When the baby turtles, called hatchlings, break out of their shells, they need to get to the ocean for safety. But if they become confused and head toward lights on a boardwalk or a hotel, they’ll be too tired to reach the ocean. Adult turtles face threats too. They get tangled in fishing nets, or eat plastic that someone threw away. (Plastic looks like jellyfish, one of the sea turtle’s favorite foods). But there are things people can do to help sea turtles survive!

Playing Favorites

Introduce students to all species of sea turtles. One screen with drawings of all the species is at Euro Turtle (http://www.exeter.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/outline.htm). Ask each student to choose his or her favorite turtle. List each child’s name and favorite turtle on the blackboard. Tell students they’re going to learn more about “their” turtle and then tell their classmates about it.

If students don’t have access to the Internet, provide books and magazines for them to look through, and arrange for them to have research time in the school library. If you send students to the Internet, look carefully through the Web site(s) you suggest to students. Students will probably need help finding information, especially in listing the threats to turtles. Students can conduct research at the Scholastic site (http://teacher.scholastic.com/turtles/story/index.htm) or the Euro Turtle site (http://www.exeter.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/).

There are many different kinds of sea turtles around the world—see for yourself at the Euro Turtle Web site (http://www.exeter.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/outline.htm). Can you pick a favorite? Write its name on an index card. Then find out more about “your” turtle so you can tell your classmates about it. You can also find information at the Scholastic Web site (http://teacher.scholastic.com/turtles/story/index.htm).

Just the Facts

Use the index card to write facts about your sea turtle:

Look at a map of your turtle’s range. Name one continent where your sea turtle might lay its eggs.

Name one thing your turtle likes to eat.

Name something about the type of environment your turtle likes (for example, green sea turtles like warm oceans).

List four threats to your turtle’s survival (list two natural threats and two that result from people).

Drawing Conclusions

Begin to decorate the classroom by hanging blue and green crepe paper across the room to create the illusion of seawater. Help students prepare “turtle mobiles”:

Have students draw and cut out a picture of their favorite sea turtle. Make sure that students decorate both sides of their sea turtle.

Next, on one color of construction paper, have students draw and cut out pictures of at least two of their turtle’s natural predators. Use the same color yarn as the paper to hang the predators from the turtle.

On another color of construction paper, have students draw and cut out pictures of at least two human-caused threats to their turtle. Use the same color yarn as color of this paper to hang these “threats” from the turtle.

See “Extension Activities” for other decorating ideas.

Draw a picture of your favorite sea turtle and cut it out. (Draw the other side too.)

Draw two pictures of natural predators of your sea turtle and cut them out. Draw two pictures of human-caused threats to your sea turtle, and cut them out.

Using yarn, hang all four predators from your sea turtle.

At the end of the week, have students show each other their mobiles and share what they have learned about their favorite sea turtle. Then hang the mobiles from the ceiling or display them around the classroom walls. See “Extension Activities” for more ideas for decorating the classroom.

Heed the Call

Answer your turtle’s SOS!

The National Wildlife Federation suggests ways to help save sea turtles at http://www.nwf.org/nwf/wildalive/seaturtle/.

If you live near an ocean, you might want to stencil a storm drain. Ask your teacher how to do this project.

Trash and other materials that go into a storm drain could end up in the sea. Help students monitor what goes into storm drains. Order a free Storm Drain Stenciling packet from Clean Ocean Action (http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/).

Activity adapted from the Houghton Mifflin Education Place Web site at http://www.eduplace.com/index.html.

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