Welcome to our “Amazing Ocean Camp – Dive into Midnight Zone” series – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun themed activities on the ocean’s midnight zone layer! We learned all about the midnight zone, how scientists explore such deep waters, and some amazing creatures found within these dark areas – vampire squids, dumbo octopuses, and jellyfish!
Read through to check out our ideas on ways to decorate your camp area, find links to interactive online games, fun & educational videos, books – fiction and non-fiction, writing prompts or story telling ideas, science experiments, food crafts & snacks, and kid-friendly crafts all themed for the week!
DAY ONE: An Introduction to the Midnight Zone
Like most of our at home camp weeks, we kicked off the week by easing into the topic. We started off with decorating the camp area. Then we made a few crafts and performed some experiments. Like all days, we added in some interesting books and some writing / storytelling prompts to keep them learning! Click here to check out full details of the day!
DAY TWO: An Ocean Exploration Day
For this day, we learned about ocean exploration – how scientists search and investigate the ocean, the different tools they can use, and why studying the depths of the ocean is so challenging. Click here to check out full details of the day!
DAY THREE: Vampire Squids
For this day, we took a deeper look at one of the midnight zone’s inhabitants – the vampire squid! We also learned about other squid and octopus characteristics, so that we could compare. Click here to check out full details of the day!
DAY FOUR: Dumbo Octopuses
For this day, we took a deeper look at one of the midnight zone’s arguably cutest inhabitants – the dumbo octopus! We also learned about other octopus characteristics, so that we could compare. Click here to check out full details of the day!
DAY FIVE: Jellyfish
For this day, we took a deeper look at jellyfish and different types found in the midnight zone. We also learned about other jellyfish characteristics, so that we could compare. Click here to check out full details of the day!
FINISH OFF THE WEEK
Now that you’ve learned all about the midnight zone, how its explored, and met a few of the creatures deep within, it may be fun to wrap up the week by checking out a few more videos online! If you’re lucky enough to live in the California area, you might be able to take a trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Into the Deep Exhibit. If not, there are some live cams that you can follow. Otherwise, the EVNautilus shares videos of their ocean scientific explorations!
Unfortunately, because it’s so difficult to bring deep sea creatures up to the surface safely, there aren’t too many other deep sea exhibits (at least at the time of this post). However, a trip to a local aquarium can still inspire little ones as they explore ocean life!
THANK YOU!!!
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Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our other Ocean Ideas or DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
