Marvelous Mollusks

We are studying the mollusk phylum of invertebrates. This group includes snails, clams, octopi and squid. So today we dissected squid. Yes, you can find whole squid at your neighborhood grocery store. The box is labeled calamari, but they are entire little squid - complete with beady eyes and gooey guts.

It took a little while for the kids to get up the courage, but once I demonstrated the procedure they had no problem tearing the cute little heads off. Then it just got cool - ink sacs complete with a "pen" (actually a feather-shaped internal structure used to support the body as it swims). The best part was dipping the "pen" into the ink and writing their names on their papers.

We also got to look at some internal parts under the dissecting microscopes. Everything looks more interesting when it is blown up 30 times bigger!

Tomorrow I am making calamari with the body tubes we cut apart today. I bet almost every 5th grader will try it!