Investigating new wonder questions! Life cycle and natural habitat of hermit crabs!

While reading some of our "I see, I think, I wonder", post-it-notes, P.I. asked a very good wonder question!

"Where do hermit crabs come from? How are they made?" 

Everyone was pondering. This was a question that had yet to be explored. Thinking critically, the students expressed some of their thoughts both verbally and through writing.

"Maybe they have babies?" "I think they lay eggs." B.S.

"I think they (babies) grow in their tummy, because babies come out of mommy's tummy." M.P.

"They can also come out of eggs. If it has three, then they come out of mommy's tummy. But if they have one, then they come out of an egg." E.S.

"I think the hermit crab comes out of its shell and has a baby and then they try and find a new shell." K.W.

"It's like a cycle. It starts with an egg, then it hatches, then it grows into a big hermit crab, then it finds a shell and does it all over again!" C.M.

"Yea, it gets another baby. It's a cycle!" E.H.

"Maybe the baby comes out from the shell when they're breaking their exoskeleton?" G.B.

"How do hermit crabs first start out as a baby?" W.E.

To support our learning, we will read some non-fiction books, view videos of hermit crabs, and use our own theories to help answer our questions!

We learned that hermit crabs use salt water to bathe in and fresh water to drink.

Dote climbing in the fresh water dish

While reading more post-it-notes, A.M. had another great wonder question for us to explore!

"How do hermit crabs get fresh water when they're on the beach?"

The students had lots of great theories!

"Maybe they dig a tunnel and get fresh water then come back out." A.P.

"I think they dig a hole near a tree and get fresh water from the roots." D.S.

"Yes, inside the ground it's watery!" A.P.

"I think the water travels through the holes in the ground, it goes to the roots, and the hermit crab digs a hole and gets fresh water from the roots of trees." D.S.

"Maybe they find a pool near the beach and they drink from there?" W.E.

"But there's chlorine in the pool and they can't drink that!" E.H.

"When it rains the hermit crabs can get fresh water. They open their pincers and drink it. It's true! This is how they get fresh water because when I was in Cuba it rained and I saw a hermit crab!" E.H.

"Maybe people leave short cups of fresh water on the sand for the hermit crabs." C.M.

"I'm going to go to the Dominican and find hermit crabs and see if they go out of the beach to find fresh water." A.P.

Stay tuned as we explore this wonder question further!

Our hermit crab Ocean! What's Ocean doing?

"One of the hermit crabs changed shells!"

With the event of the ice storm causing power outages across the GTA, our beloved hermit crabs: Crusty, Shelley, and Crabby passed away.  We discussed with the students the impact that the lack of heat had on the hermit crabs, and through their previous observations and research, understood that if the temperature in the terrarium went below 80 degrees, they could not survive.  This event allowed the students to gain further knowledge in the importance of making sure that the terrarium reflects the hermit crabs' natural habitat for survival.

Our terrarium remained empty for a while and we were quite sad.  But then, one day, we were given three new hermit crabs!  The students cheered with excitement and huddled around the terrarium to see their new friends!  

The students decided they needed names.  They rushed to make their own surveys, and asked their peers to pick which names they liked for the new hermit crabs.  Once the surveys were complete, we came together and jotted down all the name choices and voted again for our top three names.  The names chosen were: Ocean, Star, and Dottie!  Once again, the students wanted to place coloured dots on their shell in order to identify each of the hermit crabs. 

Surprisingly, the students then observed an unexpected special moment, "One of the hermit crabs changed shells!" A.M.  

  

"It got out of the striped shell and into the dotted one!" B.S.

Wow!  Why did that happen? Mrs. Ralph

"I think that shell was too small and he wanted a bigger one!" D.S.

"Maybe he didn't like it?" C.D.

The students continued to observe, think, and wonder about the hermit crabs.  To support their knowledge and questions, we had group discussions, looked in some of the non fiction books, and used various art mediums (e.g. drawing, writing, and creating using different materials) to further their learning.

 Hermit crab terrarium (side view) E.H. and N.S.

 Hermit crab terrarium (top view) E.H. and N.S.

Looking at our Hermit Crab Inquiry Binder 

One day at lunch, Ms. Powell and the students noticed something in the terrarium.  

We removed the object and placed it under a magnifying glass.  We were all puzzled!  

We placed the object and magnifying glass on the light table to get a better look.  The students had lots of questions and theories.  Paper and sketch pens were placed at the light table to support their observations, thoughts, or wonders.

What observations, explorations, and investigations will follow?  Stay tuned!

An update on our hermit crabs investigation!

We got together as a group to discuss all the things we've learned so far from observing our hermit crabs and researching our wonder questions using various non-fiction books we found at the library.

What we've learned so far about hermit crabs...

"They use their pincers to feel the food and put it to their mouths with their tentacles and eat it." A.M.

"If they don't have food, they will not feel so good and they might die.  They need to be healthy to stay alive." G.M.

"They eat vegetables like carrots, celery, lettuce, and fruit."  C.D.

"If they get too big, they have to find a new home and a bigger shell." R.W.

"They use their claws to take off the shell and change to another shell" E.H.

"They have plants in their tank so they think it is the bottom of the ocean." C.M.

"Like coral" R.W.

"shells" C.M.

"sand" M.P.

"kelp" A.M.

"seaweed" E.H.

"They change shells because they get too big for the little shell and they have to find a new shell or they won't be able to get out because they will be too big." R.W.

"They walk on 4 spindly legs." W.E.

“They have an exoskeleton on the outside of their skin.” G.M.

“We have to make sure their habitat is between 80 and 85 degrees!” E.S.

“They molt, they go under the sand.  Then they grow, and then they get a new exoskeleton.” G.B.

“They have gills for breathing.” B.S.

“After they grow, they look for a new shell.” N.S.

“We have to make sure their habitat is moist by spraying water.” O.S.

“They bath in the salt water like the ocean.” D.S.

“They like to climb seaweed.” R.W.

“They eat with their pincers.” W.E.

“I saw one swimming in the salt water.” C.D.

“They snap their claws to talk.” E.H.

“When they go under the sand, their exoskeleton breaks.” E.E.

“They are nocturnal.” A.M.

“They eat lettuce.” P.I.

“I saw them drinking water.” D.C.

“Molting is when they shed their exoskeleton.” D.S.

“The bones of the hermit crab are on the outside.” G.M.

“They have a shell to protect them from animals that want to eat them.” G.M.

“They are getting their new shape then going to get a new shell.” A.T.

“They need a new shell because they grew out their old one.” K.W.

We used plasticine and sketch drawings to support and demonstrate our learning!

"First I made the shell, then I made the hermit crab. These are the pincers and these are the legs, and the eyes, and then the tail for protecting its shell." K.E.

Daily observations of our hermit crabs…

“I saw the hermit crab and he was burying himself and the shell was still on.” E.E.

“I saw them dig a hole under the sand.” H.S.

“I saw that the hermit crabs were snapping their pincers.” A.P.

“When I was looking at the hermit crabs, I saw that Shelley and Crusty were having a race.” G.B.

“I saw that one of the hermit crabs was eating using his pincers.” W.E.

“I see that Crabby is gone in the sand.” E.S.

“I see Crabby is eating fruit.” G.B.

“I heard a hermit crab snap its claws.” E.H.

“He is using his pincers.” E.E.

“I see that the hermit crab bent the grass.” W.E.

“The hermit crab was eating.” K.E.

“Only Crabby is in the shell.” D.S.

“I see Shelley and Crabby still wet.” E.E.

“Shelley is digging.” O.S.

“I see that Shelley and Crusty are in the food.” E.H.

“There are two shells turned over.” A.P.

“I see that Shelley is hiding.” G.B.

"I saw that the hermit crab was climbing the grass.” E.H.

“I saw that hermit crab sleeping.” G.M.

“I see two shells flipped over.” G.B.

“I see only one hermit crab.” E.S.

“It’s at 80 degrees.” C.M.

“The hermit crabs pushed out the kale.” W.E.

“There is not much food left.” M.P.

“The thermometer is at 80.” R.W.

“I think Shelley will change shells first because she is the biggest.” A.M.

What we still wonder about hermit crabs…

“How do hermit crabs change shells?” P.I.

“Why do they live on land?” D.S.

“How do they breathe?” O.S.

“I wonder why they aren’t eating?” E.S.

“When are they going to change shells?” G.B.

“How does a hermit crab walk?” H.S.

“Why are they not moving in the day?” M.P.

“Why do they need plants?” N.S.

“I wonder how they take their shell off?” G.B.

“How do they walk on short legs?” C.M.

“How do they get out of the shell?” M.P.

There's still so much to learn about our hermit crab friends!