Download Jellyfish Lapbook

Jellyfish Lapbook
Habitat/Where on the map
Jellyfish are found in every ocean in the world. Where there's salt water—from
icy polar seas to tropical Pacific shores—there are jellyfish.
Complete: Finding Jellies Matchbook
Classification
Jellyfish belong to a group of soft, boneless sea animals called cnidarians (neyeDAYR-ee-uhns), one of the most common groups of sea animals. Other animals
that belong to this family include sea anemones, corals, sea fans, and freshwater
hydras.
Complete: Is a Jellyfish a Fish? mini-book
Anatomy
Jellyfish are simple creatures that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. A
jellyfish is little more than a stomach surrounded by a bell-shaped body. They
have no bones, ears, eyes, hearts or brains! And because they are invertebrates,
which means they’re animals that lack backbones, their bodies are like
jelly. That’s how they got their name!
They also don’t have any lungs or gills. They absorb oxygen through their skins
instead.
Fast fact – some Jellyfish have light sensors called eye spots. These sense sunlight
coming through the water’s surface. They help jellyfish determine which
direction is up!
Its mouth is located at the center of the bell’s underside.
Some jellyfish may have four to eight frilly oral arms. These surround a jellyfish’s
mouth and digestive tube which look like a short tube hanging down from the
center of its body.
Some also have tentacles, which hang down from their bells.
Complete: Anatomy Shutterfold
The smallest jellyfish are much less than one inch wide, about the size of a
fingernail. The largest jellyfish can grow to eight feet across and more than 100
feet long. Fast fact – the arctic lion’s mane jellyfish is the world’s largest
jellyfish. Its tentacles make it the longest animal in the sea. The largest one on
records was 120 feet long. That’s longer than two school buses.
Complete: Size Fan
Fast fact – A jellyfish’s body is about 95% water. If jellyfish is taken out of the
water, it quickly dries up and dies.
Fast fact – Some jellyfish can produce light by a process called bioluminescence,
just like fireflies. This enables them to communicate in the dark, either at night or
deep beneath the sea.
Lifecycle
Jellyfish have a complicated life cycle and go through several stages before
becoming adults.
Most jellyfish begin life in an egg. After a few days, the egg develops into a tiny
animal called a planula. It looks like a worm and is transparent. It can swim but
mostly just floats. After a few days or weeks, the planula changes into a tub- like
creature called a polyp and sinks to the bottom of the water. A polyp has a
mouth and tentacles but cannot swim. It’s stuck to the ocean floor. It eats by
stinging animals that swim nearby. Small saucer-shaped disks begin to grow from
the polyp. After a few weeks or months, a polyp has many disks which eventually
break off. The disks float around for about a week. By the end of the week, each
disk becomes a medusa, which is another name for an adult jellyfish.
Complete: Lifecycle Strips
Fast fact- Most jellyfish only live to be about a year old.
Locomotion
Jellyfish can expand and contract their fluid bodies to move. This looks like an
umbrella opening and closing. When a jellyfish contracts its body, the water
inside it is forced out. This moves the jellyfish forward. The process is a simple
form of jet propulsion. Even with this skill, they’re not very efficient
swimmers. Instead, water currents and strong winds usually determine their path
and many find themselves washed up on beaches.
Complete: On the Move Simple Fold
Fast fact – Unlike fish, jellyfish don’t have swim bladders to keep them afloat. If a
jellyfish stops pumping its body, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
Diet
Most jellyfish are carnivores but they don’t chase their prey. Instead, they wait
for small animals to swim or draft into their tentacles. They feed mostly on a
variety of small animals like zooplankton, comb jellies, small fish and occasionally
other jellyfish.
Complete: What's for Dinner? Matchbook
Jellyfish tentacles are well equipped for hunting food. They contain stinging cells
that explode when they come into contact with prey. Then, the stinging cells
shoot tiny threads of toxins into the animal. This paralyzes their prey.
Complete: Hunting with Tentacles Simple Fold
One type of jellyfish, called the Cassiopea or upside-down jellyfish, doesn’t hunt
at all. Instead it grows lots of very small plants called algae inside its transparent
body. The algae make food for the jellyfish from sunlight, using the process called
photosynthesis.
Predators/Defense
For jellyfish, the oceans are very dangerous. Many animals, which are not
affected by their stings and have strong mouths and stomachs, like to eat
jellyfish. These include spadefish, sunfish, large sea snails, sea turtles, crabs and
some birds. Even some humans like to eat jellyfish!
Complete: Who Wants to Eat a Jellyfish? T-book
Some jellyfish use their stinging tentacles to keep them from getting eaten. Box
jellyfish are some of the deadliest creatures in the world, killing more people than
sharks! If a human is stung by one of these jellyfish, he or she may die within
minutes.
Sometimes, instead of swimming alone, jellyfish form groups called smacks. This
increases their chances of defending themselves and escaping.
Jellyfish also use their transparency to hide from predators. Even the colorful
kinds of jellyfish are transparent, or clear like glass. This quality makes them
difficult to se in the water. This gives them some defense from enemies because
jellyfish have few places to hide.
Complete: Protection Tri-fold
Vocabulary
Bell – the umbrella-shaped body of a jellyfish
Bioluminescence- a chemical reaction that causes an organism to glow
Carnivore – meat-eating animal
Colony – a group of animals of one kind living together
Current – the flow and movement of a large body of water
Gelatinous – jellylike
Invertebrate – an animal with no backbone
Paralyze – to make unable to move
Predator – an animal that eats other animals
Propulsion – something that drives forward or adds speed to an object
Smack – group of jellyfish
Tentacle – a long, slender body part that grows around the mouth or head of
some animals
Toxin – a substance that is harmful
Transparent – clear like glass
Tropical – an area on Earth where temperatures are warm
Play a game with the vocabulary lotto boards! Store boards in a pocket on the
back of your lapbook, if desired.
Books
Jellyfish by Lloyd G. Douglas
Jellyfish by Deborah Coldiron
Jellyfish : Animals With a Deadly Touch by Eulalia Garcia
Jellyfish by Elaine Landau
Jellyfish by Leighton Taylor
Discovering Jellyfish by Miranda MacQuitty
Scary Creature – Jellyfish by Gerard Cheshire
Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha
Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school use.
Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically.
© Homeschool Share
Finding Jellies
What’s for Dinner?
Cut each book out as one piece. Fold matchbook style.
Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school use.
Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically.
© Homeschool Share
Is a
Jellyfish a
Fish?
Family Name
Cut out book as ONE piece. Fold bottom and top flaps under. Fold book in half.
Others in the Family
What
Jellies
Have
What
Jellies
Don’t Have
Anatomy
Cut out book as one piece. Fold sides to the front. Fold top flap (anatomy) and
glue down.
e
Larg
ll
a
Sm
PRINT ON CARDSTOCK.
Cut out pieces. Write about jellyfish sizes on the pieces. Stack together with cover on top and secure with a brad.
Hunting with Tentacles
Cut book out as one
piece. Fold in half.
Cut book out as one piece.
Fold left side in. Fold right
side in so that it is on the
cover. On the inside of the
book write about three
different ways that jellies
defend themselves.
Protection
From
Predators
Materials and information may be used for your own personal and school use.
Material may not be used for resale or shared electronically.
© Homeschool Share
Cut out book as one piece. Fold in half.
On
the
Move
Cut books out on solid lines; fold on dotted lines.
Fast
Fact
Fast
Fact
Fast
Fact
Fast
Fact
Cut out as one piece. Fold left side in. Fold right
side in. Fold top down.
Cut out the pieces. Complete information. Stack pages together with cover on top and staple.
Title:
Title:
Author:
Author:
I learned
I learned
Title:
Author:
I learned
Title:
Title:
Author:
Author:
I learned
I learned
Title:
Title:
Author:
Author:
I learned
I learned
PRINT PAGES on CARDSTOCK. One person should take turns calling out word definitions The players should cover their boards with markers
(use buttons, paper squares, or anything else you can think of!) each time they hear a definition that matches a word found on their board.
Winner: Before each game decide how to determine the winner (four in a horizontal row, four in a vertical row, or four corners).
Propulsion
Bell
Colony
FREE SPACE
Invertebrate
Gelatinous
Bioluminescence
Paralyze
Carnivore
Smack
Transparent
Tentacle
Fragile
Toxin
Tropical
VOCABULARY LOTTO
Predator
Transparent
Tropical
Smack
Predator
Bioluminescence
Propulsion
Paralyze
Carnivore
Tentacle
FREE SPACE
Invertebrate
Toxin
Gelatinous
Fragile
Bell
VOCABULARY LOTTO
Colony
Gelatinous
Paralyze
FREE SPACE
Colony
Tropical
Transparent
Predator
Smack
Carnivore
Propulsion
Toxin
Bioluminescence
Invertebrate
Tentacle
Fragile
VOCABULARY LOTTO
Bell
Gelatinous
Invertebrate
Bioluminescence
Transparent
Toxin
Bell
Smack
Tentacle
Fragile
Predator
Carnivore
Colony
Paralyze
FREE SPACE
Propulsion
VOCABULARY LOTTO
Tropical
Directions: Cut out the cover (on this page). Cut out each rectangle (solid black lines). Fold like a hotdog on center gray line. Cut dotted
gray lines. Repeat steps with each rectangle. Stack rectangles together (with the cover on top) and staple on the left side where indicated.
You will be able to lift the flaps of each strip up. You should also be able to flip in your book from strip to strip. Cut/paste the information
under the appropriate strips.
Most jellyfish begin life in an egg.
After a few days, the egg develops into a tiny
animal called a planula. It now looks like a
transparent worm floating along in the water.
After a few days or weeks, the planula changes
into a tube-like creature called a polyp and sinks
to the bottom of the water. It is stuck on the
ocean floor. Small saucer-shaped disks begin to
grow from the polyp. After a few weeks or months,
a polyp has many disks which eventually break off.
The disks float around for about a week.
Each disk from the polyp becomes a medusa,
which is another name for an adult jellyfish.
Jellyf sh
lifecycle
egg
Planula
Polyp
Medusa