Bannockburn Elementary PTA

Today, BES celebrated Earth Day with grade-tailored presentations from Andrew Wilson at the Glen Echo Aquarium–deepening the students’ understanding of and connection to our beloved Chesapeake Bay. And boy oh boy, it had everything:

• We learned that Sperm whales apparently making a comeback off the Virginia coast!

We saw (and touched) 

• A large snail that casually eats other snails (rude)
• Sea stars that can drop an arm, escape, and regrow it—and then the old arm just goes ahead and grows a whole new body like it’s no big deal
• Sea urchins, which were fine until we got a close-up of the mouth… then suddenly, not fine (Napoleon’s something or other?)

And just for looking (they’ve got large claws, after all!)

• Hermit crabs whose eyes can fall off and regrow (???), plus bonus tentacles for sensing danger
• A very cute mud crab (needed after all that emotional turmoil)

And the real PSA: balloons look like jellyfish, so sea turtles eat them and get sick—so don’t let balloons float away 

All in all: equal parts fascinating, horrifying, and adorable. Ask your kids what they thought about the mud crabs exoskeleton!

Happy Earth Day from the PTA!