2nd Grade Snail Experiments

Today was the first day with our snails.  We recorded our observations and reviewed how to handle our classroom guests.  Then we conducted our first experiment to answer the questions:  How sticky is snail slime? and Why do snails need sticky slime?  First, we had our snails make slime trails all over a piece of transparency film.  Then we put sand, a leaf, a dime, and a piece of aluminum foil on the slime trail and held the film upside down to see if the slime trail would hold the objects.  Most slime trails held sand, but did not hold anything else.  The students noticed that the snails did not leave very much slime.  They think that is because they need more moisture, so next week we will make sure they have lots of moisture in their habitat ahead of time.  They were still able to conclude that snails need sticky slime in order to climb upside down on logs, etc.  This conclusion was made primarily based on their observations.