Sea Turtle Center Field Trip

Last Friday we went on our first official homeschool field trip of the new year and it was to a nearby Sea Turtle Center.  Several homeschooling families went with a total of about 30 kids.  Our group was large enough to split into three smaller groups and we took turns rotating between three different locations at the center.

The first location my group went to was the rehabilitation area.  This is where they kept the sea turtles who were on the road to recovery.  You can see one little guy waving at the crowd below.

The next area we went to was the interactive exhibit gallery.  The activity my daughter enjoyed the most was where you took your sea turtle card to several stations to determine how you lived your life as a sea turtle.  In the picture below she is finding out what has been living on her shell.  She had barnacles and I had a sea anemone.

Here she is helping her turtle find his way through the maze to avoid dangers.

Here is the viewing room to the hospital.  The doctor was out the day we visited so we didn't get to see anything. 

The last stop on our trip was to an educational room where we were able to view and touch sea turtle shells and learn about them. 

So what did we learn on this neat trip? 

* Never disturb sea turtle nests, stakes, or eggs
* Fill in holes on the beach that could trap hatchlings
* Stay off the sand dunes
* Recycle used fishing line {very important}
* Don't use lights on the beach after dark

And did you know that the temperature of the nest determines whether a sea turtle hatches out as male or female?  I did not.

  I'm linking this post up to the Field Trip Blog Hop!