Tater Tot Jack & Cool App

Well, the stinkin' hermit crab survived his/her first week in our classroom. On Monday, I had him set out for the kids, all ready to go!!! You can read posts about how this whole pet thing started { here} and { here }. 




I set the video camera right behind him to get their first impressions. This was funny. Here are some of the things they said:


"Mrs. Patterson, is that all he does???"

"Oh maaaaaannnnn, we should've gotten a hamster."

"This is it!?!?!?!"


So, first order of business was to vote on a name.




And I am proud to say, our little hermit crab's name is...


TATER TOT JACK


That's right. You can't make stuff like that up.


Apparently, hermit crabs don't do anything. Nothing. It's similar to having a pet rock, probably...


They kids kept asking, "Is he dead???" since he does nothing during the day. So, we used Google to find out if hermit crabs are noctural. And yes, they are. So, we brainstormed ideas about ways to see him in action. Here were some brilliant ideas from my seven year olds:
  • Turn off all the lights all day and everybody be really quiet so we can trick him. (Yeah right!!!)
  • Mrs. Patterson can stay up all night and watch him. (I don't think so!!!)
We finally settled on recording him over night. We used a time lapse app on one of our iPods. This one:


And we jimmy-rigged a stand for the iPod, turned a little light on, and left it running overnight.


Here's what we found in the morning...




This would be GREAT to do with a science project, like watching a seed turn into a plant, or watching ice turn into a liquid!! And you can do it with just one device!!! I think it would also be neat to do it on the classroom and kids for a day!


Also, Tater Tot Jack has been a great behavior controller (this time of year!)!!! He loves to sit at quiet, calm tables that are doing their work. That's what he loves. ;-) 

Happy weekend everyone!!!! Yipeeee!!!!!

10 comments

  1. I LOVE this idea! I am going to try and do this with my 3 hermit crabs next year! Thanks for sharing! Super cool!

    Casey
    Second Grade Math Maniac

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  2. I loved how you could see the darkness of night and the light of day! Awesome idea! I wonder how long it really took the Hermit Crab to get from one side of his "house" to the other side.

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  3. I love this concept!!! Makes me want to go shopping. Just think of all of the possibilities!

    Jenn
    Best Practices 4 Teaching

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  4. I had some hermit crabs for a couple years... who knew they lived that long.
    One ate the other when he was molting (I guess they can be cannibals during that molting time... you are supposed to separate them. I didn't know that until I googled it AFTER the fact). Eww.

    I LOVE your crab's name and the fan.tab.u.lous idea of capturing his nocturnal movement on your iPod!
    ❤Traci❤
    Dragonflies in First

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  5. That was cool!
    You should slip a "Rick Rolled" in there and show it again to your class!!
    HA!
    Staci

    Going Nutty!

    misssquirrels@yahoo.com

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  6. What a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing!

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  7. That is so cute that they named him Tator Tot Jack! Love their ideas and problem solving for how to see him in action!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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  8. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing! Why is it that we always seem to get class pets that are nocturnal? LOL

    LOVE the name! Good luck! :)

    Chrissy
    Adventures in Second Grade

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  9. Hey Sandy! I've just been blog hopping this morning and came across your blog. I'm your newest follower and absolutely love your blog!! This post has inspire me to (MAYBE) get an easy class pet for my kids next year. There is so much learning that can come from it, plus the added humor. I love his name ;) haha. I hope you have a great day. I'm looking forward to more posts from you.


    Dirty Hands Lesson Plans

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  10. Love that video and I love the idea of setting up the class for a day. I think I am going to go get that app right now. How fun would it be to play that at Open House?

    Erin
    First with Franklin

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