STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT SEA LIFE BY DISSECTING, TASTING SQUIDS.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer Just call it the edible science project. For about an hour Tuesday, the 18 pupils in Debbie Bloch's Atherwood School second-grade class dissected a pink, slimy squid laid out neatly in a beige tray as part of their unit on sea life. And when they were done, their teacher fried them up and they ate them. Well, some of the pupils ate them, at any rate. Several noted in their parental permission slips that they weren't about to partake. ``I've had several of the kids write `I'm a vegetarian,' '' Bloch said. Both the dissecting dis·sect tr.v. dis·sect·ed, dis·sect·ing, dis·sects 1. To cut apart or separate (tissue), especially for anatomical study. 2. and the munching were integral to the overall lesson. Bloch said she wanted her pupils to understand how the different parts of the squid's anatomy function together. And she wanted them to understand how humans depend on the animal world for their own survival. ``We wanted to show them this is part of the ocean and it's where we get a lot of our food from,'' she said. The pupils spent a good part of the lesson just getting past their own squeamishness squea·mish adj. 1. a. Easily nauseated or sickened. b. Nauseated. 2. Easily shocked or disgusted. 3. Excessively fastidious or scrupulous. about handling the slimy critters. After a short videotape, Bloch and her parent volunteers put a squid in front of each youngster, some of them eyeing the creatures with curiosity, others picking them up with two fingers, dangling them over their desks and exclaiming ``Ooh!'' In fact, ``ooh'' was the most frequently heard sound during the lesson. ``Ooh! Its head is coming off,'' said 7-year-old Bobby Geiger as he moved his squid around in its tray. The dissection was coordinated by parent Sharon King, a trained chemical engineer who pursues marine science as a hobby and loves sharing what she knows with children. ``I enjoy being with children,'' she said. ``If someone does something that I have any ideas about, I ask if I can help.'' To start off the lesson, King cut open a squid with a pair of scissors scissors Cutting instrument or tool consisting of a pair of opposed metal blades that meet and cut when the handles at their ends are brought together. Modern scissors are of two types: the more usual pivoted blades have a rivet or screw connection between the cutting ends , exposing a mass of creamy white and green entrails en·trails pl.n. The internal organs, especially the intestines; viscera. . She set her tray next to 7-year-old Jessica Reyes, who deftly cut open her specimen, whose insides weren't nearly as messy-looking. ``Ooh Hers looks disgusting,'' said Jessica, pointing at the one that King had opened. King pointed out the parts that make a squid function - the feathery feath·er·y adj. 1. Covered with or consisting of feathers. 2. Resembling or suggestive of a feather, as in form or lightness. feath gills, parrot-like beak, the funnel that propels it through the sea, and its other organs. Then she demonstrated how to separate the insides from outer skin by gently pulling away the head. Derek Etman did a clean job of it. ``Ooh! I can't believe I did it!'' the 7-year-old said with a grimace grimace Neurology A humorless facial 'mask' typically seen in Pts with catatonia. See Amimia. . They even learned how parts of the squid can serve a practical purpose. Taking the quill-like inner skeleton, King had the pupils dip the end into the squid's ink sac ink sac n. An ink-containing organ located near the rectum in most cephalopods, including the octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. and write their names on the diagrams they used as guides. Lindsay Hennes said she was surprised it worked, because her classmates Classmates can refer to either:
``(But) I used a little more ink to darken dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. it up - just a little more,'' said Lindsay, 7. The dissection finally over, it was now time to cook up the squid. Only the skin was used, the rest was discarded. The youngsters who didn't have to partake fled the classroom amid a chorus of ``thank you's,'' grateful at being spared the culinary exercise. While the eight souls brave enough to try the fried calamari waited, Bloch and her parent helpers cleaned and sliced the squid, covered the pieces in bread crumbs and put them in the frying pan. The youngsters didn't consider it a culinary delight. Jessica Reyes daintily dain·ty adj. dain·ti·er, dain·ti·est 1. Delicately beautiful or charming; exquisite: "No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you, terrible year" Walt Whitman. picked up a piece and, taking a tiny bite off the end, exclaimed ``Aaack!'' and wrapped the rest up in a yellow napkin for disposal. And Derek Etman gave the calamari a thumbs down. ``Aaack!'' he said when asked how it tasted. ``When I ate it I felt seasick.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1-2--Color) Parent Sharon King tells pupils Tuesday how to dissect dissect /dis·sect/ (di-sekt´) (di-sekt´) 1. to cut apart, or separate. 2. to expose structures of a cadaver for anatomical study. dis·sect v. a squid. Above, Amanda Grigg tries a squid teachers later cooked up. (3) Ashley Eidecker and Jessica Reyes, both 7, learn to dissect a squid at Atherwood School in Simi Valley. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News |
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