Eight Arms & Counting

Eight Arms & Counting lesson plan

What’s unique about an octopus? Dig out some facts, use a little imagination, and bring these surreal creatures up from the sea!

  • 1.

    Octopuses are solitary creatures. They have lots of ways to protect themselves. They can make themselves flat. They can change colors to match the ocean floor. They can make themselves look big to scare away enemies. Octopuses can shoot out black liquid to temporarily blind their attackers. Some can even change color to sport bright spots and designs! Now that’s really protective coloration!

  • 2.

    Imagine your very own colorful octopus. Shape a handful of white Crayola Model Magic into an octopus’s elongated head. To make a colorful octopus, knead color from a Crayola Washable Gel Marker into white Model Magic. To marble the color, mix it in just a little. For an even color, mix more.

  • 3.

    Roll eight tentacles (arms), each with one wide end and one tipped end. Make suckers if you want along the tentacles’ bottom. Attach the wide ends to the body by pressing the damp Model Magic to itself. Air-dry your octopus.

  • 4.

    Decorate each octopus arm with markers. Try fun shapes such as circles, squares, swirls, stars, and triangles. To create a plaid, draw lines one way and others crossing them. Display your colorful creatures along with a report about their lives.

Benefits

  • Students identify the unique characteristics of the octopus.
  • Students fashion a model of this unique sea creature.
  • Students imaginatively decorate their model octopus.

Adaptations

  • Research the different functions of the octopus’s unique features such as its sharp beak and prickly tongue, changing head and funnel, and tentacles and suckers.
  • Write a story or poem about mother octopuses. They care for their eggs. Sadly, after the eggs hatch, the mother dies.
  • Octopuses are found around the world including in the Mediterranean and near Australia and British Columbia. Find these places on a map and learn about how these different geographic climates affect the octopuses. Which octopi live nearest to you?