1. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals with a hard protective covering.

2. There are many types of mollusks, including clams, oysters, snails, squid and octopi. There are many Mollusks that we eat!

3. The Mollusk Phylum has three Main classes: 1. Gastropods (ex. - snails) 2. Bivalves (ex. - clams) 3. Cephalopods (ex. - squid)

4. Mollusks have a mantle, which is protective tissue Covering its body. They breathe using gills, and they Move using a muscular foot.

5. One advancement that mollusks have is an open circulatory system. The blood is not always inside of veins.

6. Gastropods(snails) have adapted to life on land. This is a big step! Most gastropods are covered with a protective shell. Many have eyes.

7. Gastropods use a radula, a rough tongue, to eat by scraping off food.

8. The next class of mollusks is bivalves, which includes clams and oysters

9. Bivalves are covered by a hard protective Hinged shell, like this giant clam below.

10. The last class of mollusks is cephalopods, Which includes octopi and squid. Cephalopod means “head-foot”. Can you see why it has this name?

11. Cephalopods have many advancements: 1. Closed circulatory system (blood always within heart or veins) 2. A foot divided in to tentacles 3. A well-developed nervous system with eyes

12. Fact or fiction?

13. Here is a photo of a real giant squid.

14. The squid in the previous picture measured 50 feet long and weighed 5000 lbs.! It’s eyes would be almost the size of a soccer ball. And here’s an interesting fact….in the water, Giant squid are “Horace Mann” maroon in color. Perhaps we should reconsider our mascot?