Octopus

“Oxford the Octopus” – Song and Companion lesson

October Sale!
For Teachers and Homeschoolers:

Our theme for October is the amazing Octopus! What do the octopus and the month of October have in common? They both have the root “octo” which means “eight” in Latin. The octopus has eight arms, so its name makes sense. But why does October, the tenth month of the year, have a root of “octo”?
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Learn Why the Ocean is So Important

Check out this Ocean Fact Sheet from NOAA:

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Download Eco-Wonder Certificate for Ocean Stewardship

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Read “What the Octopus Knows” by Sy Montgomery and watch our music video “Oxford the Octopus”

Dear Octopus and Mollusk Lovers,

I’m excited to share with you a fascinating article about octopuses and their unique ways of being, written by one of my favorite journalists and naturalists, Sy Montgomery and published in the LA Times online.

Below are excerpts from Sy’s article, “WHAT THE OCTOPUS KNOWS”. When you are finished reading, let your octopus awe continue as you sing along with our all time favorite octopus song video, OXFORD THE OCTOPUS! The more I learn about this amazing creature, the more I am convinced that we are sharing our world with countless intelligent animals from whom we have much to learn!

with love and an eight-armed hug,
Birdsong

From “WHAT THE OCTOPUS KNOWS” by Sy Montgomery:
“IT CAN CHANGE COLOR and shape. It can taste with its skin. It has a beak like a parrot, venom like a snake and ink like an old-fashioned pen,

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Watch our kids song video about a very clever invertebrate – “OXFORD THE OCTOPUS”

Teachers and Parents:
We’ve created an interactive companion lesson that features this video and helps children dive deeper into the song’s content. Lesson includes questions, activities, crafts, song lyrics and resources for additional learning. This lesson meets CCSS in English/Language Arts and Next generation Science.

A Message from Oxford the Octopus

KEEP THE OCEAN CLEAN!

Coloring pages,  a message from Oxford the Octopus,  and a short song about keeping the ocean clean (at the very end).

READ OXFORD’S  MESSAGE:

Dear Friends,

Did you know there is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States that is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? My friends at the Surfrider Foundation say that “100 million tons of plastic” swirl in that patch. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zooplankton by six to one! The bad news is that this plastic ends up in the stomachs of my friends, the marine birds and ocean animals. In fact, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals around the world die each year due from swallowing or getting tangled in plastic.

Turtle with plastic bag. Photo: Melbourne Zoo

Plastic is made from petroleum and it lasts almost forever. Every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence. That’s why it’s so important to me that all people try to greatly reduce their use of plastics, especially plastics we use only once and throw away.  You can make a difference and help protect the ocean, beaches and my friends who live in the sea. Here are some things that you and your families can do:

1. Use reusable bottles for water and other drinks. (By using just one reusable bottle, you will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.

2. Bring cloth or reusable bags to the grocery store to carry your things. (For each reusable bag you use, it will save approximately 400 plastics from being used).

3. Reuse or recycle the plastic bags you already have. (For every thirteen plastic bags you don’t use, you will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile).

4. Learn more and share ideas with others on how to reduce plastic use.

5. Don’t litter. Ever. (But you knew that already)

6. Download and color my Eco-Wonder certificate

7. Sing along to my song “Oxford the Octopus”

8. Still want to color? Download another coloring page of mine!

Thank you for helping to keep the ocean clean.  After all, the ocean is my home.

Sincerely,

Oxford the Octopus

p.s. To find out more about how to keep the ocean clean for all  ocean animals, listen to to the first two verses and chorus of our song “Keep the Ocean Clean”  from the CD “IF I WERE A FISH an Other Ocean Songs for Kids” by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. Just click on the words below:

Song Sample: “Keep the Ocean Clean” first two  verses and chorus from CD “IF I WERE A FISH and other Ocean Songs for Kids” by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. It has lots of suggestions about how to keep the ocean clean for ocean animals and for all of us.