We have combined the children’s interest in making movies with their interest in biology. This is our second movie in our series of biology themes they have chosen. They have made the movie on their own. As a parent, I have only contributed with the advise on ideas and helped with the planning of their time spend on the project. The project didn’t really happen, until we put the project on our weekly schedule. They had to have a set time to work on it. Like an author, sometimes needs to set himself a set time where he works on a book. Then things started to happen.
Octopuses is an amazing category of sea animals. There are 800 different species, and they are split into 5 categories:
- Nautilus.
- 10- armed octopuses.
- 8-armed octopuses.
- Sepia octopuses.
- Vampire Octopus from hell.
Nautilus.
5 species. It has a shell. No ink. Can get up to 20 years old. Has 90 tentacles without suction cups. Found around Australia and in the Pacific ocean.
10-armed octopuses.
300 species. Spine of cartilage. Can swim very fast. More than half of them light in the dark. 13 species in Denmark. One of the 10-armed species is the kolos octopus. It is the largest octopus found. It can be up to 10 meters long and weigh 500 kg. It can put up quite a fight with sperm whales who likes to eat them. It has eyes the size of a football.
8-armed octopuses.
Spits poison. Can get through very small gaps. Very soft, apart from their beak. Can change colour and shape. Can let go of an arm and regrow it. Can get up to 5 years old. Very strong- can lift up to 33 kg. Clever brain.
Sepia octopuses.
120 species. The chameleon of the sea. Can change colour and shape. Has an inside shell. They are cannibals. Has 10 arms. Usually get 1-2 years old.
Vampire squid from hell.
Likes to be on its own. It has light cells, so it can choose where on the body it want to light. Around 28 cm long. Turns inside out, and shows some spikes it has on the inside. That makes it seem invisible. It shoots off blue slime which lights up. Lives at 1 km depth.