How to Create a Tide Pool Mural

Murals are useful learning tools for students. Learning about tide pools can be fun if you make a tide pool mural. Coastlines contain many types of animals that make their home there. Making your own is easy if you follow these steps to create a tide pool mural.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Get a board to put your tide pool mural on. You can use cardboard, hardwood or special types of poster boards found at craft stores.

2. Know that there are four zones in tide pools. All of these zones are sandy, but some are more wet than others. The lowest zone is usually wet, the middle tide zone is half and half, and the high tide zone is wet during high tide. The spray zone is mostly dry, but can get wet during extremely high tides or stormy weather.

3. Divide your mural into these four zones in a somewhat vertical fashion. The lowest tide you may want to color blue since its usually wet, and the other three zones you can make sandy-colored.

4. Label each tide zone with its name, from the lowest to highest. Their names, in order, are the Lower Litterol Zone, the Lower Mid-litterol Zone, the Upper Mid-litterol Zone and the Upper Litterol Zone.
   
   

5. Go to books or online resources to find which animals are located within each tide zone and what they look like.

6. Use construction paper, felt pens or other art media to illustrate your tide pool mural. Glue actual sand or real dried sea creatures onto the mural to create a realistic 3D effect.
   
   

Resources

• The Intertidal Zone--printouts, illustrations and descriptions