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We are going on a field trip to visit the Biomes Marine
Biology Center. We will learn about many things on our field trip but first
we will learn about what we will see. |
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Nearly everything you will find at Biomes are local marine animals collected
in Narragansett Bay. |
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Adaptations Here we discover how animals adapt to their
environment. Lessons include schooling fish, armored fish our big
grouper
(grouper) tank
and brittle stars.
They also have an exhibit on camouflage with a half black/half white bottom.
Watch the winter
flounders change color as they move from one side to the other. |
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Habitats This station demonstrates how animals survive in 4
major salt water habitats: Sandy Bottom, Salt Ponds, Rocky Shore and Open
Ocean. The highlights of this exhibit include
pufferfish and a
simulated eel grass bed filled with
sticklebacks,
pipefish and
seahorses. |
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Tide Pool Here is a hands on station with over one hundred
animals for students to hold and discover. Sea cucumbers, hermit crabs,
spider crabs,
quahogs, whelks, starfish and the occasional surprise guest can be touched
by our visitors. We also keep striped minnows here, which will swim up to be
hand fed. |
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Form and Function Learn how an animals shape and body parts
help them to survive by observing
sea urchins,
lobsters, countershaded fish and more. |
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Animal Behavior This is a rotating exhibit which teaches
students how an animal's behavior helps them to survive in the wild. Learn
about our nocturnal eels, why
sea robins
have such huge fins and how animals such as sheepshead minnows and
mud crabs survive
in nearly fresh water estuaries. This station is also home to our 10 year
old toadfish, "Jabba".
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Shark
Petting Smooth
Dogfish |
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Turtles Nearly everything you will find at Biomes are local
marine animals collected in Narragansett Bay by our staff. Although we do
dabble a bit with reptiles including
Reggie the Snake
and Grendal the
Iguana (both not shown). This station features our turtles including
snapping turtles, rare
diamondback terrapins and Darwin our African Sulcata Tortoise (hiding in
his "tortoise table" here). This is another hands on exhibit where students
can pet Darwin as he feeds or basks under his heat lamp. |
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Ocean Tank This is the first thing that greets you as you walk
in the door. Its a 500 gallon aquarium featuring some of our prize catches.
For years it was home to our Remora (shown above). He died in 2003 at the
ripe age of 13 (very old for a fish). It now features our large Southern
Stingray which can be seen on our movie pages.
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FeedingThis station concentrates on the feeding behaviors of
marine animals and includes live examples of predators, scavengers,
herbivores, omnivores and filter feeders. (It also has our
clownfish/sea
anemone exhibit as well.)
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Shells and Exoskeletons There is often confusion about the
difference between a shell and an exoskeleton.
Crabs
and
shrimp have exoskeletons while clams and snails have shells. In addition
to the live animals and posters describing the two, we also have a display
of a few hundred shells from around the world
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Eel Petting This is a hands on exhibit containing mainly
large horseshoe crabs, sea stars and dozens of
American Eels (not
shown in this picture). Students may pick up the crabs and sea stars and pet
the eels. We also throw in a few surprises each year as we collect unusual
animals such as sand dollars
and scup
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Tropical Strays Eggs and young of tropical fish from
Florida and the Gulf of Mexico get trapped in the Gulf Stream current each
year and are carried to our shores. The fish may include unusual fish such
as goatfish,
butterflyfish and
filefish. |
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