South Walton Turtle Watch Sea Turtle Curriculum

Spelling and Vocabulary

1. habitat
2. migration
3. hatchling
4. pollution
5. endangered
6. sargassum
7. flippers
8. predators
9. incubation
10. conservation
11. satellite
12. threatened
13. Turtle Excluder Device
14. loggerhead
15. instinct
16. vulnerable
17. herbivore
18. carnivore
19. omnivore
20. extinction

1. habitat - The natural characteristics of the area where an organism lives.

2. migration - The movement from one place to another. Sea turtles move to and from their nesting grounds and can be thousands of miles.

3. hatchling - The stage of life that includes the first several weeks after the turtle leaves its egg, makes its way to the surface, emerges from the sand, crawls to the sea, and begins to swim out into the ocean.

4. pollution - The dirty or harmful condition of water, air, or soil.

5. endangered – Animals that are in danger of dying out in the natural places where they live.

6. sargassum – Beds of brown seaweed that hide and protect the hatchlings in the Sargasso Sea.

7. flippers - The limbs of sea turtles.

8. predator - Any animal that preys on another organism as a source of food. This includes both herbivores and carnivores.

9. incubation - The development of embryos in the eggs of a nest.

10. conservation -The careful management of the environment and natural resources.

11. satellite - An object that travels around the earth and allows researchers to track movements and behaviors of sea turtles.

12. threatened - A group of animals that are endangered, vulnerable, or rare.

13. Turtle Excluder Device - A gear modification used in shrimp trawls for excluding sea turtles caught in the net before they drown.

14. loggerhead - One of the seven species of marine turtles . Its Latin name is Caretta caretta. It has a large loggerhead because of its large jaw used for crushing mollusks and crustaceans.

15. instinct – A behavior that is not learned.

16. vulnerable – A species that may become endangered because they face certain dangers where they live.

17. herbivore - An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants. Green sea turtles are largely herbivores.

18. carnivore - An organism that primarily eats other animals.

19. omnivore - An animal that eats both plants and animals. Hawksbill turtles are omnivores, eating algae, sponge and corals.

20. extinction – Animals that have died out and have not been seen for at least 50 years in the wild or places that are not controlled by people.

South Walton Turtle Watch

Florida Sea Turtle Grants Program

Van R. Butler Elementary School