HOME, SWEET HOME
MASTER TEACHER
Angie Lengyel
GRADES Pre-K – 1
OVERVIEW
In this lesson the students will learn about hermit crabs and
the shells they live in. They will examine different types of shells,
order shells from smallest to largest, observe live hermit crabs and create a
chart showing homes for hermit crabs. The students will also watch video
segments that will give them a better understanding of hermit crabs. At
the end of this lesson, the students will take a field trip to the Texas State
Aquarium.
ETV SERIES
Reading Rainbow #1003 Is This A House For
Hermit Crab?
Wonders Under the Sea #212 Crustaceans
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
* Compare and contrast shells
* Order shells from smallest to largest
* Create a chart showing homes for hermit crabs
* Work cooperatively with their classmates
* Make predictions regarding homes for a hermit crab
* Demonstrate gross motor skills by crawling around with a box
on their back pretending to be a hermit crab.
MATERIALS
Pre-viewing Session 1
1 shoebox with lid and a hole cut in one end of the
box large enough for a hand to reach through
1 medium sized shell to go in the shoebox
1 shell per student of different size, shape and texture
a variety of shells to show students
chalk/marker to write descriptive words on the board
Post-viewing Session 1
1 poster board
2 markers (1 red and 1 blue)
1 medium – large sized bag that you cannot see through
1 of each of the following items: a rock, a can with the
label taken off, a piece of driftwood, a plastic pail, a small container of
sand, and a fishing net.
1 picture of each of the items: a rock, a can with the label
taken off, a piece of driftwood, a plastic pail, a hole in the sand, and a piece
of fishing net.
6 shells that a hermit crab could live in
Action Plan Session 1
2 or 3 hermit crabs and their habitat set up (can be
purchased at a pet store)
Extension Session 1
1 poster board
1 marker
5 pictures of hermit crabs
5 one inch squares of Velcro
Pre-viewing Session 2
pictures of lobsters, crabs, crawfish and
other crustaceans
Post-viewing Session 2
1 small shell
1 medium shell
5 shells per student of different sizes (not too big)
1 glue per student
1 half cup of sand per student
1 piece of blue construction paper per student
Extension Session 2
(Science Center)
a variety of shells
3 magnifying glasses
(Math Center)
6 pictures of shells in duplicate (12 pictures total)
blue construction paper to glue pictures on cut into squares and
laminated
10 medium size flat clam shells
1 sharpee marker to write on the shells
(Art Center)
1 medium – large box per student (depends on sizes of
students)
glue
paper scraps
markers and crayons
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Place an empty hermit crab shell in a covered shoebox and cut a
hole in one of the ends of the box just large enough for a student to put their
hand through. Choose three students to put their hand in the box and
describe what they are feeling. Write the descriptive words the students
give on the board. After the third student has felt the shell, ask the
three students what they think is in the box. Take ideas from the other
students as well. When the discussion is finished, take the shell out for
everyone to see. Use the appropriate descriptive words given by the three
students when describing the shell. Add other descriptions as well.
Give each child a shell for them to examine. Allow time for the students
to talk about their shells. Ask the students, “Where can we find
shells?” (at the beach). Then say, “Did you know that some shells are
homes for living animals?” (yes or no). Ask the students, “Who can
tell me what animals use a shell as its home?” (turtle, snail, armadillo).
If the students cannot give you examples, tell them the animals. Then say,
“There is also another animal that uses a shell as its home. It’s
called a hermit crab. Hermit crabs live in a shell in the ocean.”
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
Tell the students they are going to watch a video about a hermit
crab who is trying to find a new home. To give the students a specific
responsibility while viewing, tell them to look for the different things the
hermit crab tries to use as its home.
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start the video, Reading Rainbow #1003 Is This A House
For Hermit Crab?, when LeVar stands up and moves over to the workbench and
says, “ You know, everybody needs a home.” Pause the video
after you see the picture of the plastic pail and the narrator says, “Is this
a home for hermit crab?” Ask the students if they think this would be a
good home for a hermit crab and why or why not? Resume the video.
Pause the video after you see the picture of the hermit crab hiding
behind the snail shell and the narrator says, “But the shell was empty.”
Ask the students if they think this would be a good home for hermit crab and why
or why not? Resume the video. Pause the video when you
see, “The End.” Tell the students that they will now see how a hermit
crab changes shells. To give the students a specific responsibility while
viewing tell them to watch for how the hermit crab enters the shell. Stop
the video after you see the last hermit crab leave the green shell behind and
the music stops. Ask the students how the hermit crab changed shells (he
crawled out of one shell and backed into the other one).
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Talk to the students about the different things the hermit crab
tried to use as its home and why he wanted to change homes in the first place.
You will need to provide the things the hermit crab tried to use as its home
(rock, can, driftwood, plastic pail, round hole in the sand, and a fishing net)
as well as pictures of them. You will also need the real shells and
pictures of the shells a hermit crab could use (snail shells, conch shell, etc.)
Create a chart with poster board and divide it into two columns. Label one
column YES (red) and the other NO (blue). Place the actual items in a bag
and have the students take turns pulling something from the bag. After a
student has pulled an item from the bag, they need to find the matching picture
and hang the picture up in the YES or NO column. When all of the items
have been drawn, put the NO items in the correct sequence as they were in the
story. After the activity, teach the students the following hermit crab
song. Have the song written on poster board and Velcro five pictures of
hermit crabs to poster. Take off a hermit crab as the song goes.
Five little hermit crabs walking on the shore
Swish! Went a big wave and then there were four.
Four little hermit crabs quiet as can be –
Swish! Went a big wave and then there were three.
Three little hermit crabs in their homes so new –
Swish! Went a big wave and then there were two.
Two little hermit crabs lying in the sun –
Swish! Went a big wave and then there was one.
One little hermit crab left all alone –
Swish! Went a big wave and then there were none.
Five little hermit crabs washed out to sea,
Wait until morning and they’ll return to me.
INTERNET
The students can surf the web for information on hermit crabs
using the search engine
http://www.yahooligans.com
Visit the following great sites with information on hermit crabs
for young children
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/crust/hermgall.html
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/Plains/9411/
The students will be able to view pictures of hermit crabs by
going to Science and Nature and entering “hermit crabs” in the search box.
To view pictures they can go to Hermit Crabs or Vanessa Pike-Russell’s home
page.
SESSION 2 or CONTINUATION
PREVIEWING ACTIVITY
Talk to the students about the large family hermit crabs come
from called Crustaceans. Define crustaceans as animals that live in the
ocean that have pinching claws and a hard shell that protects them from danger.
Show the students pictures of lobsters, crabs, etc. Tell the students that
lobsters and other crabs don’t change their shells like the hermit crab does.
Ask the students why they think a hermit crab would want to move out of its
shell. Accept all answers. Explain that just as our families grow
and need to move into bigger homes, hermit crabs grow and need bigger homes
also. Introduce the term molting to the students. Write the word on
the board and explain that molting is when a hermit crab comes out of its shell
and sheds its skin much like a snake. Tell the students that hermit crabs
need a lot of water when they’re molting so the new skin they grow will
stretch. Then after the molting process, the hermit crab will find a new
shell to live in.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
Tell the students they are going to watch other students in a
classroom ask questions to the people who work at the TX State Aquarium where
they have hermit crabs. To give the students a specific responsibility while
viewing, tell them to listen carefully for the answer to the boy’s question,
“How does a hermit crab make its shell?” and the answer to a female
student’s question about how crustaceans grow. The students also need to
listen to find out what part of the body the hermit crab uses to put in the
shell and hold onto it.
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start the video, Wonders Under the Sea #212
Crustaceans, after the woman in the blue shirt says, “And they’re great
seafood delicacies.” You will see a boy and he asks, “How does a
hermit crab make its shell?” Pause the video after the boy asks
his question and repeat it for the students. Resume video. Pause
after the woman answering his question says, “They have to move into
increasingly larger shells each time they molt.” Ask the students if
hermit crabs make their own shells (no). Tell them that hermit crabs
don’t have a shell on their bodies to protect them from fish and that is why
they climb into shells. They use the shells for protection. Then tell the
students they need to listen to the next student’s question and the answer she
receives. Fast forward through the two-boy students and resume video
where the girl, Angela, asks the question, “How do crustaceans grow?” Pause
the video after the woman answering her question says, “It takes in a lot
of water to stretch the new shell”. Tell the students that when the
woman was talking about the hermit crab growing a new shell she means growing a
new skin. Then ask the students what molting means and what hermit crabs
need a lot of to make their new skin stretch (shedding its skin and water).
Tell the students they will now see a large hermit crab outside of its shell and
that they need to listen to find out how the hermit crab can keep itself in its
shell. Fast forward through the man and woman talking and resume
video just before the man picks up the white shell which is about five seconds
after he puts down the last small crab and says, “Now what I have here”.
Stop the video after the man says, “It’s nice and soft,” and puts
the crab back in the tank. Ask the students what part of the hermit crab
holds it in its shell (its tail end or the curved part).
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Talk to the students about how hermit crabs need bigger shells
as they grow. Tell the students, “When we were younger, we needed little
clothes. Now that we’re getting bigger, those little clothes don’t fit
anymore so we get bigger clothes. We make sure we get clothes that fit
well, are comfortable and not too tight. These are the same things hermit
crabs look for when picking out a new shell.” Hold up two shells; a
small one and a medium sized one. Ask the students which shell they think
the hermit crab had first as a baby (the smaller shell). Then ask them why
the hermit crab left the smaller shell and went into the larger shell (because
it got too big). Tell the students that you are going to give them each
five shells and they are going to have to put them in order from the smallest
shell to the largest shell and then glue them in that order on a piece of blue
construction paper. The smallest shell will be the first shell and the
largest shell will be the last shell. Show them an example of what it will
look like. Check to make sure each student has his shells in the proper
order before you give them glue to glue the shells in place. As each
student finishes gluing their shells in order, they may get a ½ cup of sand to
glue at the bottom of their paper. You may choose to glue the sand outside
or at your messy play center. When the students have completed the
activity, sit them in a circle and place live hermit crabs inside the circle for
the students to observe. This activity applies only to those who have
access to live hermit crabs.
ACTION PLAN
Plan a field trip to a nearby aquarium or beach. Take the
students for a walk around your community and look at the different homes people
live in. Talk about the differences in the homes that they see (trailers,
brick, wood, etc.). Tell the students that the shell hermit crabs use for
their home are different too.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Science Center: Set out a variety of shells and
magnifying glasses for the students to observe the differences in their color,
shape, size and texture.
Math Center: Make cards with pictures of shells on them
in duplicate for the shell memory game. Get 10 flat clamshells and number
them 1 – 10. Put them in a storage container and the students can take
the shells out and put them in order. You could also have 26 shells with letters
on them and students would put them in alphabetical order. For older
groups, you could put a math problem on one shell and the answer on another and
the students would take turns matching the problem shell to the answer shell.
Art Center: Provide large boxes for students to decorate
with paint, markers, paper scraps, etc. These will serve as pretend
shells.
Dramatic Play Center: Students could pretend to be hermit
crabs by putting the boxes they decorated in the Art Center on their backs and
crawling around.
Updated: April 01, 2008
