Let's Talk Snails And How Not To Hide in Our Shell !!!

I have always been fascinated with snails. So when my girls brought snails home from Grandmas house I knew that this was a great opportunity for them and I to learn about these slimy creatures.

We had 19 snails to look at.

Esther drew the anatomy of a snail.

Peter drew a comic strip!

Elizabeth wrote down Joshua 1:9

Measuring the length of the shell.

Our size chart.

How to get started…
1.Collect snails and observe them. Let your malacologists handle them with care. If your malacologists does not want to touch them with bare hands then they can use gloves. Make sure your malacologists wash his or her hands with warm water and soap after handling snails.
2. Learn all about snails. These are a few things my malacologists and I learned:
*Snails are from the Gastropod class: land snails, freshwater snails, sea snails, and slugs.
*A snail is a invertebrate: they have a body covered with an exoskeleton or shell.
*Snails do not need a lot of food. They eat fruit, plants, algae. They eat dirt for calcium which helps make their shell strong.
*A snail never changes its shell. The shell grows when the snail grows.
*Snails live up to 10-15 years. They weigh about 2 pounds.
*Snails are one of the slowest creatures on earth.
*Snails are very strong and can lift up to 10 times their own body weight.
* Snails are nocturnal: night creatures.
*They can see but not hear.
*They live in all sorts of environments.
*The slime they leave helps them move without hurting their body.
*They are hermaphrodites: they have productive organs of both males and females.
*cone snails (sea snails): Around 30 people have been killed by them. So don’t touch all sea snails.
    3.Learn all about the snails anatomy and have your malacologists draw a snail. Www.allaboutslugs.com/slug-and-snail-science/slug-anatomy
    4. Learn how to measure with a ruler. Use the ruler to measure the length of the shell. Put all the snails on the ground and after measuring one put it in the jar. Once your malacologists has measured all of the snails add all of the numbers up. Our total was 50.1 cm.We had 19 snails which we used so we divided 50.1 by 19 and we got an average of 2.6 cm.
   5. Learn the verse Joshua 1:9 which says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Snails hide in their shells for protection. They don’t want to be eaten by a bird or dry up by the sun. Their shell is their home; their safe refuge. We can hide by hiding our faith from others. God does not want us to be afraid. We don’t need to be afraid of taking a test. We don’t need to worry about what others will think of us. We don’t need to be scared to try something new. So lets get out of our shells and get out of our comfort zones and see what God has in store for us because God is always with us wherever we go. Now that’s a promise my children and I can hold onto and your children and you can hold onto as well.

Have fun 🙂