How Do Shells Grow? - Explanation for 7-Year-Old Kids

Hi there! Let's talk about how shells grow, especially the ones you find at the beach.

Shells are like homes for animals called mollusks. These animals, like snails and clams, live inside their hard shells.

Here's how a shell grows:

1. The animal lives inside the shell. It creates the shell by making a special kind of material called calcium carbonate, which is like chalk but hard.
2. The animal adds new material to the edges of the shell. As the mollusk grows bigger, it makes its shell bigger too by adding more layers at the opening or edge of the shell.
3. The shell becomes bigger and stronger over time. Little by little, the shell grows as the animal grows.
4. Sometimes the shell has pretty colors and patterns! These come from the animal's body and can make the shell look beautiful.

So, the shell is not just left there; the animal inside keeps building it to have a safe and comfy home as it grows!