Imagine a world that is always changing. Within hours, sometimes minutes, it can go from hot to cold or calm to stormy, from being flooded with water to out in the open air. What kinds of creatures could live in such a strange world? How do they deal with such extreme changes?
To answer these questions, a group of middle-school children went to the Bay of Fundy. There, they explored the world just described -- the tidal zone, land covered and uncovered by the ocean as the tide climbs up and down the shore. Wading into cold water, the kids found animals that defended themselves by throwing their internal organs at their enemies. They discovered creatures that cast off injured arms and grew new ones. They tickled sea anemones and played hide-and-seek with seals. After a week of sailing the ocean and tramping through seaweed, these kids came to understand this amazing, hidden world.
This is a fascinating firsthand account of the science of marine biology. As in the other Ultimate Field Trips -- Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity: Adventure in the Amzonian Rain Forest and Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs: Digging into Southwest Archaeology -- Susan E. Goodman and Michael J. Doolittle vividly portray students' scientific adventures for all readers to share.