On Thursday,  May 30^th, Year Three, Year Four and Year Six went on a trip to Rio Oceanarium. Throughout the year Upper Primary has used scientific inquiry to study many different topics including habitats and animal survival. Therefore it was decided that a trip to the Oceanarium was a great idea for our AIS students to benefit from hands on learning.

On Thursday morning we departed from school at 10:15am and we were all very excited. We arrived at the Oceanarium and our tour guide joined us to explain all about the different fish and animals we would see.

Our tour began with observing the natural habitat of penguins with students having the opportunity to watch them walking, swimming and even one penguin sitting on a nest of eggs. We had fun waiting for the penguin to stand up so we could catch a quick glimpse of the eggs.

We watched the seals swimming gracefully through the water too. We were very lucky because the Oceanarium had animals that were not from the ocean also. We enjoyed seeing raccoons, snakes and monkeys too. We had lots of fun watching the monkeys running around and fighting over food.

The Oceanarium was very interesting because there was a bridge that was transparent so that when we walked over it, we could see the fish swimming underneath us. There were even some sharks swimming beneath our feet!

We continued on our tour and came across a pond that had a large tree in the middle of it. Lots of large fish swam all around it and they were splashing our hands. As we travelled further along our journey we went through a tunnel.  The tunnel was also transparent on all sides so as we walked we could see sharks, sting rays, and many other exotic fish swimming around and over us.

Then suddenly we walked around the corner and saw lots of starfish stuck to the walls and stones but what we didn’t notice at first were the massive sharks. These sharks seemed to be sleeping allowing the children to take many photos.

Some Quotes from the Children 

• My favourite part of the trip was the penguins, I liked how they swam and they had a toy – Pablo Year 3.

• My favourite part of the trip was the monkeys, they were beautiful, they had big tails and they were so fast – Gherman Year 3.

• My favourite part was the penguin eating a fish – Akim Year 3.

• I loved the crocodile under the water – Ruslan Year 3.

• I liked the fish swimming around the tree in the big pond – Polina Year 4.

• My favourite part was the snake, the shark and the penguins – Ruslan Year 4.

• I liked the very big gray fish and the small colourful fish – Dinara Year 4.

• I really liked the wallabies, the birds that were with the wallabies and the monkeys that were pretty, funny and very acrobatic –Maxim Year 6.

• I really enjoyed the black fish with a mouth like a platypus. I also enjoyed the sharks but mostly the sting rays –Ivan Year 6.

• I enjoyed the whole excursion but especially the monkeys, the sea cat and the stingray –Muslim Year 6.

• I liked the seals and the penguins. I really liked the small monkeys too – Katya Year 6.

• I liked the really small fish, they were red and blue. I also liked the fish that were triangles and cubes – Jasmine Year 6.