A Sensory Experience Of The Sea

By Larissa Lytwyn

They may not look like us, but they can smell, hear, taste, touch, and see as well as we can — in some cases, even better.

Preschoolers at the Children’s Adventure Center in Sandy Hook had the opportunity to explore the sea, and themselves, recently through learning about the senses people share with animals that live right in Long Island Sound.

For the second consecutive August, the center planned a visit from the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, the lone institution of its kind focusing exclusively on Long Island Sound inhabitants, to educate children about humans’ similarities and differences to local marine life.

Children, aged 3 to 6, are divided into two groups, the “Adventurers” and “Explorers.” Each group contains about 30 students; approximately seven teachers are divided between both groups. Maritime Aquarium David Dembosky held a 45-minute session with each group, inviting questions both during and after the presentation.

“Can you all name our five senses?” he asked the Explorers, a lively cluster of about 25 preschoolers. While animals like fish may not have ears that look like humans,’ he explained, they are equipped with a comparative sense of sound. In addition, while a human’s eyes are closely spaced, a fish’s eyeballs are located on either side of its head.

Mr Dembosky passed around a special lens that allowed the children to see what it would be like to have sideways “fish vision.” While many children could not see friends seated across from them, most saw peers located diagonally. “Having eyes on the side of its head allows the fish to see enemies approaching without turning its head, because fish don’t really have necks,” explained Mr Dembosky.

Next, he pulled out several different creatures from a special transport crate filled with water. “Do [the animals] have to be in water?” queried on child. “Yes,” Mr Dembosky replied. “Just like we need to be in a place where we can have air.” Mr Dembosky showed the children spider crabs, tiny mud snails, larger Whelk snails (the kind used for escargot), horseshoe crabs, clams, oysters, and even a starfish. The animals were passed around in small, Tupperwarelike containers for the preschoolers to catch a closer look.

“I’ve been involved with the Maritime Aquarium for two years,” said Mr Dembosky. “We hold programs on a request basis for kids of all ages, mostly middle school.” At that level, he continued, students work with microscopes. Preschool classes, in contrast, center on basic lessons of sensory identification and detection. “It’s a lot of fun, doing these classes,” said Mr Dembosky. “I love it when the kids are afraid of touching an animal, but then they do. They’re so proud of themselves! It gives them a lot of confidence.”

After the success of last year’s Maritime visit, Linda Markin, a head teacher at the Children’s Adventure Center, said the staff was eager to bring the experience back a second time. “This visit was basically an in-house field trip,” she said. “[To prepare], we studied sea life earlier this summer. It’s a great, fun way for the children to learn.”

For more information about the Maritime Aquarium, call 203-852-0700 or visit www.martimeaquarium.org. To learn more about the Children’s Adventure Center, call 426-3018.