This post is my entry to win a camera in the "Share Your Favorite Lesson Plan" Contest sponsored by Sprittibee and Academic Superstore.

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My favorite lesson plan just happens to be one that I wrote involving our local Aquarium--Mote Marine Aquarium. It really is a very short Field Trip Day, but it is one that can take as little or as much time as one wishes, depending on how you wish to observe the animals.

For us, we choose to observe the animals via a Scavenger Hunt that I wrote. I basically looked at the map of the Aquarium and identified each animal located in its respective place, then wrote "Hunt Questions" for each animal. The goal is to find the animals in each section (just as with any scavenger hunt), but it isn't set up as easy as it sounds.

The game is played in the one main room. They get a clipboard and the paper,which has these questions on it, and they have to go around the room finding each and every animal; naming the animal, where it can be found in the world and where it is located on the map. Then they have two questions they have to ask of the Docents.

From there we move on to the Interactive Shark Theatre; which is a giant screened in room with a computer based game. The goal of the game is to become the Ultimate Predator: A Great White Shark. You start out as a single-celled animal and then move up the food chain in a progression of either surviving by avoiding detection or by eating your way to the top.

Then we move on to the Hospital, which rehabilitates Dolphins, Manatees and Sea Turtles.

Then we go to lunch at McDonalds.

Here are my questions:

1. I am "fryed" without ever being in a frying pan, but dirty just the same. All covered in sand and hiding from the world, all you can "see" of me are two black circles that stare up at the stars. What am I?

2. Slimy and snake like, sometimes I am electric. Backwards I can go, in and out of holes. My little friend is very "bright", he cleans my teeth day and night. We are 2 in 1, sharing our home wherever we roam. Who are we?

3. Chipmunk cheeks I do not have, but when I am angry or scared and just want to hide, boy can I get big-just look at my size! Sometimes I am spikey, sometimes not. Anything that tries to bite me will get pinched in a flash, swollen and hard, nothing will eat this stash!! What am I?

4. I can go "fishing" without ever need a pole. This is fun for me because I am not ever seen. "Fishing" all day, catching my prey, playing hide and seek, eating what I please. What am I?

5. I am a lot like #4, but unlike them I don't swim, instead I crawl along the ocean floor using my "feet" like fins. I can "fish" with my "pole" too, using it to catch whatever fish swims through. They never see me, this fun, eating all day and never having to run!! What am I?

6. Pregnant am I, the male that is. The one who helps his wife by giving birth to lots of kids. We are called by the name of one animal but we don't have hooves; we swim upright but prefer to swim in small pools. We spend our lives "attached" to weeds, feeding as we please. What are we?

7. Like #6, I too, am a pregnant daddy. But my babies stay in my mouth until they can swim on their own. My kind builds house out of shells and we live undergroud. You can often find me "shovelling" rocks and sand away so that my babies, when I spit them out, have a place to play. What am I?

8. Dory is my name, swimming is my game. I share a home with many unique friends, one is an "angel" that is spotted, another is a friend of Shakespeare who can be spread on bread and lastly is a lady, who is blue all day long. Together we swim in a "home" that is strong. Who are we?

And some pictures to show our little game play:

**Entrance into Mote**

**Kids with a Giant Squid on Display**

**Mr. Puffer Fish (answer to Question #3)**

**Feeding the Stingrays**

**Demonstrating the purpose of the safety net used by fishermen so as to not trap Endangered Sea Turtles**

**Lastly, a little Rock Skipping Competition never hurts anyone...**

When we do Field Trips, I like to make it fun. We don't just go from exhibit to exhibit. I like them touching and interacting with each thing as much as possible. That's why we love Mote so much.

This is my entry for the contest. Thank you for considering it.

~~Toni