Don't step on the seaweeds!
A 'bloom' of seaweeds collected on the high shore make a good 'first station' to sensitise visitors to the fact that every inch of the shore is alive. Show them the tiny animals that live among the seaweeds so they avoid stepping on thick layers of seaweed.

It's also a good activity to do if the tide is too high to go out and you need to amuse the visitors on the high shore for a while more.

What are seaweeds?
Seaweeds are algae ('el-gay')

• You may have seaweeds in YOUR HOUSE!
  Examples of algae found in ordinary people's homes:
  Your bathroom (if you don't clean it)
  Your aquarium (if you don't clean it)
  

Fascinating seaweeds!
Seaweeds are like weird life from another planet! 'Ordinary' plants have specific structures like leaves, stems, roots. Seaweeds don't have any of these and come in a wide variety of forms.

• How many different kinds of seaweeds can you see around you?
  Describe their shapes, colours, patterns.
  
  
• Who can find the biggest seaweed? The smallest?
  
  
• Feel them. What do they feel like?
  A slimy coating or leathery surface reduces water loss when the seaweed is out of water at low tide.
  Some seaweeds are hard because they incorporate calcium into their bodies.
  Some seaweeds have a furry or velvety layer of fine hairs.
  
  
• Smell them. What do they smell like?
  Some seaweeds have a funny 'medicinal' smell. Seaweeds also protect themselves from being eaten by containing unpleasant tasting chemicals such as iodine.
  

• Food: seaweeds are eaten by many different kinds of animals. These include slugs, fishes and the Green sea turtle.
  
• Shelter: many small animals hide among seaweeds. Some animals also lay their eggs on seaweeds.
• Let's see if we can find some animals among the seaweeds? Be gentle when you look!
  
• Food chain: These small animals are in turn eaten by bigger animals.
  

• Agar-agar comes from seaweed. Agar-agar is used to make jellies.
  
• Sushi is wrapped in seaweed.
  
• Red seaweeds are a source of a substance used to gel and stabilise food such as chocolate milk and yoghurt.
  
• Brown seaweeds are a source of a substance used to make food thicker, creamier and more stable. For example, to make smoother ice cream.
• Seaweed in our everyday food look at the labels of the food products in your kitchen. Find out which ones contain extracts of seaweeds. Hint: look for words such as 'agar', 'carrageenan', 'alginate'.

Other uses of seaweeds

• You can eat seaweed if you are a pig! Seaweeds are also fed to livestock. In the past, Sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) were collected in boatloads in the Straits of Johor, washed in freshwater then cooked and fed to pigs.
• Seaweeds are also used as fertiliser to grow some of the food we eat.
  
• Seaweed Farm! In some places such as the Philippines, there are farms growing seaweeds. For sale as food and for their important extracts. Seaweeds provide important income for these coastal dwellers.
  

Seaweed myths to dispel

• Seaweeds are not 'weeds' i.e., they are NOT rubbish plants. They are an essential part of the natural ecosystem. And a vital part of the food chain that provides our seafood.
  
  
• Seaweeds are not evil. While much media coverage may have been given to red tide and other sudden blooms of algae, most algae are harmless.