99. 1st Grade SSR: Shells

It is fun to find shells, and they are pretty. You can find lots of shells on wet sand. These shells may be fresh from the sea. You can find shells in dry sand, too.

Clams, sea snails, and other sea animals form these shells. Their shells can keep them safe from animals that might try to eat them.

Still, big animals can drill, peck, smash, or pry open shells to eat what is inside. Then those old shells wash up on shore. An old shell can be a new shell for an animal. This crab uses old shells. It finds a shell that is just the right size for it. Then it slips inside and creeps off with it. As it grows, it hunts for big new shells.

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Crabs grow a kind of shell that is like stiff skin. This shell does the same job your bones do for you. It holds up the crab and lets it move. A crab’s shell is on its outside, and your bones are on your inside. Crabs have ten legs. Two legs can grip. With its other legs, a crab can run.

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This animal has bones inside it, like you do, but it also has a shell. It swims in the sea. Its shell helps keep it safe. Its legs are fins that help it swim.

It creeps up on land to lay its eggs. It digs holes with its back fins and lays eggs inside them. It moves sand onto its eggs to keep them safe and heads back to sea.

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This animal has bones inside it, like you do, but it also has a shell. It swims in the sea. Its shell helps keep it safe. Its legs are fins that help it swim.

It creeps up on land to lay its eggs. It digs holes with its back fins and lays eggs inside them. It moves sand onto its eggs to keep them safe and heads back to sea.

With luck, you may find a really big seashell. Pick it up and hold it by your head. Be still. Can you hear the rush of air? Many people say it is like waves that go in and out on the seashore. It is as if the sea speaks inside the shell.

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