Almost XMas Break & Dissection 2

Tomorrow, we begin our 18th week of school.  Where has the time gone? Monday and Tuesday will be normal days, but the rest of the week will be early release.  It will go quickly.

Then, hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I'll be on a plane (eventually) en-route to the Midwest for Christmas with family.  Long overdue.

The apartment is working out pretty well.  I borrowed a steam cleaner, knocked out the floors, disassembled three baseboard heaters/deep cleaned them and ripped the grody grout from the bath.  I realize I am a tenant and this is not my responsibility, however, I felt that if I had to look at that funk while showering another day I would be bathing in the ocean.  Speaking of the ocean, I have the most beautiful views.  On a sunny day, I'll have to include photos from both sides.

School has been going well.  I have been incorporating a lot more artsy stuff lately.  In the beginning of the academic year, I focus on the nitty gritty.  Get the basics down, routines...  As the holidays approach, the kids begin to get a tad squirrely, so one has to be creative and captivate the kiddos as best as he or she can.

Enjoy the photos from the classroom, a hike to Salmon Ranch, and others.

Driftwood ornaments.

Bidarki, pronounced By-dar-key.  Edible creature located at the top of the photo with the white-ish line down its back.  When the tide is low, one can go pluck them from the rocks and eat them.  Check out the how-to below.

At low tide, approach the exposed rocks.  Use your eagle eyes to find Bidarki.  It is slippery, so you'll need to watch your footing and if you go this time of year, you'll need a headlamp, the sun goes down pretty quickly.  MOST IMPORTANTLY, you'll need a dog, for emotional support.  Notice Scout's foot at the bottom.
Next, Get your knife out and pry the bidarki off the rock.

Watch your knuckles, the barnacles on the rocks will tear you up.  My friend had bloodied knuckles, anywhere else this would imply a fight, here, just beach combing.
  Next, turn the Bidarki over and give the meaty part a little scrape to clear it of any debris.

Cut the meaty part out, then dip in a nearby tide pool to loosen any sand.

Eat it!  Optional, you can use a little bull kelp for an added seaside flavour. 

Drink the "milk".  The overall taste?  Like nothing I have ever tried.  It tastes fresh like the sea and had a somewhat chewiness to it, I was told the mouth feel differs depending on the temperature and time of year.  I was a little off-put by the gritty sand, so next time, I'll rinse more.  While munching, I thought about how good it would be pan fried with a little garlic butter... Raw, quite nice.

Don your goggles, it is science time!  This week we dissected the rest of the fish dropped off by a parent in early October.  It was due time to get them out of my freezer.

Juvenile salmon.  Notice this boy's stance, he was a little apprehensive about touching the fish at first.

The underside of the big blob fish.

Team work!  Two students help one another inspect the insides of a small flounder.

Two students find out what is inside big blob Bob.

Post Dissection.  In the beginning of the week, we went over a fish packet, watched some videos, looked through books, and even did some fish art.  The following day we dissected the fish, and finally, we had a discussion about what we noticed the next day.  The kids did really well.  To be sure, I asked a lot of questions, How do you know for sure it was a backbone? What does the gill cover look like?  What texture was it?  Was it firm or soft?  The learning went both ways.  It was so cool.