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This Harp Seal Pack with learning printables is great for preschool and kindergarten children. Use this resource with clear true-to-life images and photographs to create hands-on harp seal activities for your students or for exploring marine mammals and preparing work for your Arctic & Winter Units in the classroom.
Harp seals are beloved marine mammals. The harp seal is of the family Phocidaeis. It is also known as the saddleback seal or Greenland seal. It is native to the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. Harp seals are true seals. They do not have external ear flaps. Harp seals have many different appearances throughout life.
Children will learn the stages of the harp seal life cycle, harp seal characteristics, and parts of a harp seal, practice sequencing skills and work to improve their concentration and fine motor skills.
This resource contains a harp seal life cycle diagram, worksheet, 3-part cards, information cards, harp seal characteristics, and parts of a harp seal printable.
Here is what’s included
- Harp Seal life cycle poster
- Harp Seal life cycle 3 part cards
- Harp Seal life cycle information cards
- Harp Seal life cycle coloring, cutting, and pasting worksheet
- Harp Seal life cycle tracing strips
- Parts of a Harp Seal diagram
- Parts of a Harp Seal information cards
- Parts of a Harp Seal booklet (independent writing)
- Parts of a Harp Seal student activity page
- Parts of a Harp Seal labels
- Parts of a Harp Seal tracing & independent writing
- Harp Seal characteristics color poster
- Harp Seal characteristics black line poster
- Harp Seal characteristics mat
- Harp Seal characteristics color cards
- Harp Seal characteristics tracing & coloring student booklet
- Harp Seal characteristics student booklet
Age: Preschool ages 3 – 6 years
Subjects and uses in the classroom: Marine Mammals, Vertebrates Unit, Winter Animals, Arctic Animals, Nature Table, Science Centers, Fine motor, Prewriting
How to use this resource:
Parts of a harp seal – Gather books about harp seals for children to explore. Print posters and label cards on cardstock and laminate. Cut individual label cards. Attach clear velcro to the poster without labels and label cards.
Present the poster – name all parts and invite the students to share their thoughts on the various functions of each part and do their own research or gather information from the description cards. Then read each label and invite the student to match it to the corresponding part of the animal’s body.
Life cycle poster – print on cardstock and laminate. Present all stages of the harp seal’s life cycle. Invite the children to retell them or tell their own story that features all the stages.
Harp seal life cycle 3-part cards – print on cardstock and laminate if you wish to preserve colors and card quality for future use. Place picture cards in a column and invite the children to match the picture to the picture and the word to the word. Present control cards and ask the child to lay the stages of the cycle in the correct order.
Harp seal life cycle line art – supply scissors, glue, and coloring pencils. Invite the student to color and cut cards and glue them into the correct sequence.
Harp seal tracing/labeling and coloring worksheets – print on cardstock and laminate. Supply an erasable pen. Invite the child to trace the words and color corresponding images. Alternatively, print pages on regular printing paper and invite the child to trace or label the stages of the life cycle.
After reading books on harp seals, children can be invited to name the harp seal characteristics as they place picture cards onto the mat.
There are four blackline follow-up printouts available. These can be cut to make a booklet if you wish.
Younger children are invited to color pages or draw characteristics of the animal. Emergent writers are invited to use lined booklet printout sheets to write the characteristics down by answering questions.
After completing the task volunteers may like to make a small group report about their findings.
Here is a fun activity you may like to try. Lay out the characteristics of otters and invite the children to choose and identify animal characteristics these two creatures have in common and explore how they differ.
Resources you might find helpful in your classroom
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