CEBIMar-USP Exhibition Vida, Mar e Muita História pra Contar Game ROLLING THE DICE* (Peres, P.M.S.; Nascimento, K.B. & Maia, R.A.

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1 Marine Biology Center, University of São Paulo CEBIMar-USP Exhibition Life, the Sea, and Many Stories to be Told Rolling the Dice In this document: How to build the dice Suggestions for activities Photographs of marine animals

2 Rolling the Dice Game* Coordinator and Editor: Roberta A. Maia Pedagogical Advisor: Patrícia M. S. Peres Scientific Advisors: Alvaro E. Migotto and Otto M. P. de Oliveira Creative Commons This didactic material is part of the exhibition Life, the Sea, and Many Stories to be Told, and is available at Exhibition Organization: MAIA, Roberta A.; OLIVEIRA, Otto M. P.; & MIGOTTO, Alvaro E. Responsible Institute: Marine Biology Center, University of São Paulo (CEBIMar-USP) São Sebastião SP Brazil Team: Patrícia M. S. Peres, Karine B. Nascimento, & Roberta A. Maia Photographs: Alvaro E. Migotto Fernando Z. Gibran Acknowledgements: We thank librarian Virgínia Castilho for her assistance with references and citations. Support: USP Executive Committee for Promotion of Culture and Extension Initiatives Pro-Rectorship for Culture and University Extension CNPq Project / MCT/CNPq Edict 42/2007 C&T Diffusion and Popularization How to cite this work: Peres, P.M.S.; Nascimento, K.B.; & Maia, R.A. Jogo Rolando o Dado In: MAIA, R.A.; OLIVEIRA, O.M.P.; & MIGOTTO, A.E. (Orgs.) Exposição Vida, mar e muita história pra contar São Sebastião: CEBIMar;USP, Disponível em ROLLING THE DICE

3 In this game, the players roll a big dice with pictures of marine animals on each of its sides and imitate the selected animal. Suggested for ages 3-7 The game can be used to: Energize the group Bring up and consolidate new information on marine animals Stimulate physical exercise and body expression Stimulate reading and writing Develop the ability to observe Dice construction Materials - 1 polystyrene board (100 X 50 cm wide, and 20 mm thick) - 6 different colors of gouache paint (prefer vivid colors) - 2 meters of transparent contact paper - 6 figures (illustrations or photographs) of marine animals that are easy for children to imitate - 4 sticks of hot glue, and an electric hot glue gun - Craft knife - Scissors - 30 cm ruler - Narrow and wide brushes - Pen or pencil How to construct the dice 1. With the ruler and pen/pencil, measure and mark 2 squares measuring 25 x 25 cm, another 2 squares measuring 21 x 21 cm, and 2 rectangles measuring 25 x 21 cm, on the polystyrene board. 2. Using the craft knife, cut the squares and rectangles (figure 1). Figure 1

4 3. Lay down the 25 x 25 cm square on the work surface. Spread hot glue along one of its edges and stick the 25 cm edge of the 21 x 25 cm rectangle onto it (figure 2A). Then get the two 21 x 21cm squares and glue them on parallel sides of the bottom square, so that they stick up perpendicular to the first glued board (figures 2B and 2C). To close the square, fit the 21 cm side of the other 21 x 25 cm board and glue it to the bottom square (figure 2D). Finally, glue on the last board (25 x 25 cm) in order to shut the box. Figure 2A Figure 2B Figure 2C Figure 2D 4. With the craft knife, cut the sharp edges of the cube to a rounded shape, to give a nicely finished appearance to the final work (figures 3A and 3B). Figure 3A Figure 3B 5. After the dice is mounted, make sure all extremities are well glued to each other before moving on to the next step. This is important to make sure that the dice won t fall apart when handled. 6. Now that the dice skeleton is done we can move on to the decoration phase.

5 Decorating the dice 1. Paint each side of the dice with the brush and the gouache. Make sure that the paint on one side is already dry before painting the next one. Figure 4A Figure 4B 2. After painting all the sides of the dice and making sure that all are well dried, stick an animal figure in the center of each side of the dice with hot glue. Some examples of figures are available at the end of this material. 3. Cut 2 rectangles measuring 35 x 85 cm each out of the contact paper. Make the following marks on each rectangle with a pencil: 5 cm, 25 cm, 25 cm, 25 cm, and 5 cm on the long sides; and 5 cm, 25 cm, and 5 cm on the short sides. Make 5 cm cuts following the dashed lines indicated in figure 5. Notice that the small squares at the extremities of the rectangle will be cut off (as indicated by the large arrow in figure 5).

6 Figure 5 4. Remove the protective backing from the contact paper and cover three sides of the dice, starting as shown in figure 6. The tabs created in the previous step will come up over the rounded edges. Do the same with the other rectangle in order to cover the remaining sides of the dice. Figure 6 5. That is it! Now the dice is ready for use! Figure 7

7 ACTIVITIES WITH THE DICE Imitation Kids are always mimicking something or someone. They can mimic the way a person talks or acts, and they can also mimic the sounds an animal makes, or its behavior. Since kids are natural imitators, we suggest using this game to teach them interesting information about marine animals. How to play: Make a circle (recommended if you are working with children younger than 5 years) or separate the kids in small groups. Within each group, one kid must roll the dice and the whole group must decide on how to mimic the animal selected. The imitation can be shown to the other groups so that they can repeat it. In order to increase the options of animals to be mimicked, more than one dice can be used. This game may also be used to start or finish an activity on marine animals, such as a lesson in class, or a visit to an aquarium, a museum or the beach. Tell a story Kids like to hear stories, but they also like making them up. Why not use the dice to play with the characters of a story? If the children do not know how to read and write yet you can use the model below to tell a story about marine animals, filling in the blank spaces with the animals selected with the dice and asking the kids to mimic these animals. Here s the model for a story: The, the, and the all live at the bottom of the sea. The eats a lot of food, just like all its friends. The has babies, just like all its friends. The moves like this. They each do something funny. The goes like this, the goes like this, and the goes like this. Even though they all do something funny, the one that I like best to copy is the. When working with kids who already know how to read and write, they can be divided into groups and each group can fill in the story with the animals selected using the dice. The final story can be read out loud and presented to the other groups. The kids can also be asked to make up their own stories with the animals on the dice, being stimulated to use what they already know about these organisms. Either way, keep the concept of mimicry in mind. The stories can become more interesting when working with rhyme and when using the same animal more than once. If the dice is somewhat irregular and one of its sides lands upwards more often than the others, ask the kids to roll it more than once, perhaps determining a number of times it should be tossed, for example. Start a conversation using the dice The dice is a good way to initiate a conversation about marine life. In a big circle, use the dice to present information about each animal, asking questions to motivate kids to

8 think about the reproductive and feeding habits of these animals, for example, or about how they communicate with each other, where they live, or what is commonly known about any of the animals. In this activity it is important that kids feel comfortable to come up with their own hypotheses and explanations on the dynamics of the marine environment, but is also important to instigate their curiosity and to make them think about their perceptions. The educator stimulates their ideas with questions that help them build their knowledge. Most important is to make children comfortable with creating their imitations and stories, and motivate the entire group to take part in the activity. In the following section you will find some images of marine animals that can be used to build the dice, as well as information on each of the animals presented here. ANIMAL DESCRIPTIONS In this section you will find examples on how to start the dialogue with the students, encouraging them to mimic the animals and to think about their life habits. The descriptions presented below refer to the images available for building the dice. You can find these images are at the end of this section. Figure 1: Jellyfish Its body looks like an umbrella and is soft and transparent like gelatin. Its arms, known as tentacles, are attached at the tip of the umbrella and can be short or long (in some species, they can be as long as a whale!). Looking like it does, can you imagine how it swims? Although they swim gracefully like a ballet dancer, jellyfish are voracious predators! Their tentacles roll around the prey and release paralyzing venom. There are few species of jellyfish that can seriously harm a human being; usually encounters between the two are harmless, causing only minor redness and itching to us humans. Did you know that applying vinegar directly on the affected area may help neutralize the toxins left on your skin by the jellyfish? Figure 2: Polychaete or marine bristle worm The marine bristle worm has a long, soft body...have you ever noticed how an earthworm moves? Crawling just like earthworms, many polychaetes feed upon remnants of animals and seaweed that sink to the bottom of the ocean. Other polychaetes sit on live inside tubes (that they build themselves) that look like chimneys, and have attractive and colorful tentacles around the mouth that are used to capture tiny pieces of food or organisms suspended in the water. Did you know that the fireworm, a species of polychaete, has bristles that may penetrate human skin and cause irritation and a painful burning sensation like a jellyfish sting? Figure 3: Squid

9 If you want to get an idea of how a squid moves, fill up a balloon and release it. What happens? Well, instead of an air jet as in the balloon, the squid moves by releasing jets of water through a tube near its eight arms and two longer tentacles. And why does the squid needs so many arms? Think about how many things we can do with only two arms...trapping prey like fish and crabs, and bringing it to the mouth is the main function of the squid s arms. Did you know that the squid, just like its close relatives octopus and cuttlefish, releases clouds of black ink that serve to confuse predators? Figure 4: Crab When it feels threatened it runs sideways to quickly hide in a burrow in the sand or in a slit in the rocks. Its two front legs ends in forceps or claws. But can you imagine what this pinching extremity is used for? How do you use a fork? Well, the crabs use their claws just like we use forks, to get food, such as worms and small snails for example. Did you know that the crab is considered a sea vulture? It feeds upon the remnants of dead organisms that sink to the bottom of the ocean. Figure 5: Sea urchin Open your arms and stretch out your hands and fingers: now you look like the spiniest being of the whole ocean! With your fingers wide open and stretched out you can now imagine how the spines protect the sea urchin s body. Its thin, sharp spines provide a very effective protection against predation. When we take a closer look at the sea urchin s spines we see that they are always moving, but does it uses the spines to move from one place to another? If not the spines, what could it use? But wait! Does the sea urchin move at all? Did you know that the sea urchin has teeth to scratch off the tiny seaweed growing on the rocks? Figure 6: Starfish Open your arms and legs and you already look like a starfish! The starfish has lots and lots of tiny feet located below its body that help it move through the sea. Although its long arms are not flexible like ours to clean behind our ears (does the starfish have ears?), it has its own way of cleaning itself up: the starfish produces a slimy substance that it spread all over its body, and all the dirt sticks to the slime; later, tiny hair called cilia all over the starfish s body push off the slimy substance and the dirt that is stuck to it. What part of our body does the same thing? Did you know that, although the starfish looks so quiet, it is in fact a voracious predator that feeds upon coral, sponges, worms and oysters? Figure 7: Parrotfish In what way does the parrotfish resemble a parrot? The teeth of a parrotfish look like a beak, and the animal feeds by scratching seaweed from rocks and coral. It is a very attractive fish with a colorful body that blends with the also-colorful coral reef environment. Did you know that when the parrotfish feeds it ends up swallowing pieces of rocks and coral? These pieces later are expelled with the feces and form part of the sand at the bottom of the sea.

10 Figure 8: Seahorse If you had to mimic a seahorse, would you do an imitation of a horse or a fish? The seahorse looks like a tiny horse but it is, in fact, a fish. Because of its shape and small fins the seahorse is not a good swimmer. And because of that, the seahorse has to hold itself on the seaweedswith its tail so that it doesn t get swept away by the ocean currents. Did you know that in the seahorses the males become pregnant? The male seahorse is equipped with a brood pouch where the female deposits her eggs! Figure 1: Jellyfish Figure 2: Sea worm Figure 3: Squid Figure 4: Crab Figure 5: Sea urchin Figure 6: Starfish Figure 7: Parrotfish Figure 8: Seahorse REFERENCES LINGELBACH, Jenepher (Ed); PURCELL, Lisa (Ed). Hands-on nature: Information and activities for exploring the environment with children. Woodstock, Vermont: Vermont Institute of Natural Science, pp. Illustrated by Susan Sawyer. CORNELL, Joseph. Sharing nature with children: The classic parent s and teacher s nature awareness guidebook. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, pp. ALIBALI, Siegler; ALIBALI, Martha. Children s thinking. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. COULOMBE, Deborah A. The seaside naturalist: A guide to study at the seashore. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, pp.