The Adventures of Shelly and The Three Little Carls
Hello Fourth Graders!
Many of you have stopped by to see how Shelly and the Carls are doing. The good news is that they are doing great! Well... almost all of the crabs are doing great. One of our Little Carls never made it through the summer. Remember how we thought one of the Carls was molting for the last few weeks of third grade? Well, he never came back up. I finally dug down to check on him, and I found him unresponsive.
Shelly and the other two Carls had a great summer! My boys gave them lots of attention and watched them all the time! One day, we found Carl climbing to the top of the palm tree! Check out the picture. My family and I visited Ocean City over the summer, and Aidan got his own hermit crab, Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter joined Shelly and the Carls, and Aidan was heartbroken by the idea of me taking his pet back to Jefferson. Since we know that we should keep crabs together, I decided to keep the crabs home this school year. They will forever be YOUR class pets. I'll post pictures and updates for you all from time to time.
It is so nice to see all of you in the hallways! Keep on showing off how wonderful you are in fourth grade!
Shelly and the other two Carls had a great summer! My boys gave them lots of attention and watched them all the time! One day, we found Carl climbing to the top of the palm tree! Check out the picture. My family and I visited Ocean City over the summer, and Aidan got his own hermit crab, Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter joined Shelly and the Carls, and Aidan was heartbroken by the idea of me taking his pet back to Jefferson. Since we know that we should keep crabs together, I decided to keep the crabs home this school year. They will forever be YOUR class pets. I'll post pictures and updates for you all from time to time.
It is so nice to see all of you in the hallways! Keep on showing off how wonderful you are in fourth grade!
Spring Break
Many of our third graders wanted to know what was happening with the crabs over break. Here are some updates of what our little friends are doing in their crabitat.
4/5 - I stayed at school for a little while after all of the kids left. I noticed some strange things happening in the crabitat before loading the crabs into my car. Shelly was digging to go underground! You can click on the pictures to make them larger.
4/5 - I stayed at school for a little while after all of the kids left. I noticed some strange things happening in the crabitat before loading the crabs into my car. Shelly was digging to go underground! You can click on the pictures to make them larger.
4/7 - Shelly has gone underground now! She is right under the pool. Because her shell is so big, she has moved it around considerably. If you look to the western part of the pool, you can see a little shell underneath the ground... it's Little Carl! Not the Little Carl that has already come up to change shells, but the little guy that is still in his darker shell. We haven't seen him in weeks! I could see him moving around a bit. I wonder if he will resurface soon?
4/9 - Shelly continues to be underground. The Little Carl that was peeking through the hole has moved himself so that you can see him on the side of the tank. When I lifted up the pool to change the water, I could see Shelly pretty clearly. I tried not to disturb her too much, but I took a quick picture for you all to see! The other Little Carl is alone above the sand, and I'm not sure where White Shell Little Carl is underground. I'll keep you posted!
4/10-11 - Nothing in the tank has changed. One Carl above the sand, the other three below. I decided to buy new shells for the crabs, just incase the ones we have were not big enough. I put them on the sand to see if there would be any takers.
He's BACK!
4/12 - Little Carl is back! I was amazed to watch Little Carl reemerge - he has been under the sand for almost a month! Check out the pictures of him coming back on the surface. If you want to see the pictures enlarged, and some photo captions, you can click on them.
Together Again
4/13-14 - The Two Little Carls (White Shell Little Carl is still below) have been crawling all over the tank the past couple of days. On Saturday, 4/14, I gave them a bath. Remember how we read that sometimes crabs get on each others backs to escape the tank? I actually saw them do this after they crawled out of their bathtub. Check out the pictures!
4/14 - As I was going to bed, I heard some noise coming from the crabitat. I saw White Shell Carl sticking out from under the pool! I wondered if he would come out all the way? I watched for a few minutes, and it sounded like the noise might be coming from Shelly, directly under the pool. I was excited to see what I might find in the morning,
They're ALL Back!
4/15 - I woke up this morning to find ALL the crabs on the sand! Together again! Check out the pictures below. They must be excited to come back to Room 203 tomorrow. :)
May 2012
I had quite a scare this week, as I found what I thought was a lifeless Shelly in the crabitat. When I picked her up, what I believed was her lifeless body fell out of her shell. It turns out, Shelly completed the molting process, and has shed her entire exoskeleton! We have read so much about the molting process, so it was exciting to see this truly happen. Her new outer layer was bright pink the first day, but has now faded into her regular purple color. Everyday, we notice a bit more of her exoskeleton is missing. While this sounds gross, we know it is because she needs to eat the exoskeleton for calcium and other nutrients to make her new exoskeleton strong. It is so cool to see this scientific process firsthand!
Shelly is not the only crab that has shed the exoskeleton! Just before leaving for Memorial Day Weekend, I changed the water in the pool, and found White Shell Carl with an exoskeleton next to him. I covered him back up so he could complete the process safely. I wonder if he will emerge from under the pool and change into a new shell over the long weekend?