About This Lesson
Use this lesson when teaching animal structures and functions, movement, adaptations, coastal habitats, or animals of the
Gulf of Mexico.
Students will learn about the Atlantic ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata), a crab found on sandy beaches along the Gulf Coast.
Students will examine how a ghost crab's external structures help it live and move in a sandy beach environment.
Students will then create a movable cardboard ghost crab model with jointed legs. Moving the model's legs gives students a
simple way to investigate how jointed appendages help an animal move.
