Squishy Squids
By: Allanah MIchelle Mednard
Introduction
Imagine being a diver, swimming in the vast Great Barrier Reef then, out of blue, something, as big as a monster, swims in front of you and is being attacked by a sperm whale. What is shocking creature? It is a squid. In my online article you will learn about the squid's body structure, diet, and its movement system.
Apperence
The appearance of the squid might petrify you, but it is an interesting thing to learn about. Squid can range in length 0.75 inches to 60 feet! The largest species of squid, the giant squid, can weigh over nearly a ton! The squid has some important parts to its body in order to survive. The parrot like beak on the mouth is used for cutting food into small pieces. Squid also use their clubs, the ends of tentacles, which have toothed suckers. You’ll be shocked to know that squid has 3 hearts and a donut-shaped brain. Squid are sensational.
Diet
Like any other animal, the squid needs food to survive in its home. Squid have an appetite for many animals such as small fish, crabs, shrimp, other squid, crustaceans, sharks, and small whales. Squid capture prey with their tentacles. Each tentacle is covered in thousands of small sucker disks, which help the creatures get a grip on their slippery prey. Once the prey has been grasped securely, they pull the food item towards their beak-like mouths. The beak tears the prey into small pieces, enabling the squid to swallow the animal.
Movement
The movement system of a squid is very unique. Squid use fins located on their heads to propel themselves when swimming at low speeds. These fins steer and stabilize the squid when moving slowly, and wrap around the body when they move quickly, by way of jet propulsion. Amazingly, the giant squid moves like all Cephalopods by rapidly expelling water from their mantle. Due to their size, they can expel a lot of water, which make them one of the fastest squid in the sea.
Closing
As you can see, squid are intelligent creatures that live in our ocean floors. With an unique body structure, peculiar diet, and a complex movement system, the squid is definitely is animal I would enjoy learning more about.
Video
Watch this video if you want to more about the squid!
The Myth of Giant Squids! - Fact or Fictional w/ Veronica Belmont
Poem
Check out my poem about squids!
Word Wall
This is my word wall on squids! It was made on Google Drawings.
Comic
Check out my Fun Facts comic made by Google Draw.
Google Forms Quzzle
Test your knowledge! All answers are in this article!
Go Fish!
In GoFish, we learned how to budget. My group was Alessia Turelli and Avery Marques. On Day 1 we added decorations. Our theme was Finding Nemo. We put in a Nemo and Dory statue. We also put a background, a fake coral, and a Top Fin Castle. After, we found out that we spent $129.21. On Day 2, we bought 5 fish. They were the Comet Goldfish, Blue Crowntail Betta, a Red Veiltail Betta, a Blue Tang (Dory), and a Lemon Peel Angel. I had a blast in GoFish.
These are some the fish we used in our tank!
LInks
Do you want to know more about the squid? Check out these websites that helped my research!
Diorama
This is a picture of my diorama. Many animals are including like the squid, my main topic.