It Takes a Village... And What a Village!

欢迎 to our new Marine Science Blog page.

First and foremost, a huge amount of gratitude for the people who have already helped get this program moving and into the field this year- from the teachers (who enrich our marine coastal explorations, in the classroom) and parents who clear busy schedules to chaperone and learn alongside our students- to the many community members who gave of their time to be interviewed by the fifth graders as they studied our local Pillar Point Harbor. Great thanks to Amy Shandley this week! She is our own Sea Crest second-grade math and science teacher and shared her passion and rock collection with the 7th graders who are learning about coastal geology.

也, 瑞安Seelbach, geologist and Mavericks surf contest competitor, who came in this Monday to enrich this geological study- talking to the students about our local coastal formations.

的 seventh graders will be traveling to Bean Hollow (Pebble beach) tomorrow to explore our local coastal geology firsthand. And we are all excited to learn (and to apply our own learning) in the field.

的se seventh graders will also be sharing learning from their Catalina Island study with the rest of the upper school on Friday afternoon. 的y have been working together with the 8th graders to research and create a slide show for the rest of the upper school- featuring the animals, 植物, geology and resources of the island, as well as the life in the ocean. 的se presentations are in culmination and research following their field experience on Catalina Island in early October.

So much more to catch up on, but we will start with our last couple of weeks...

的 一年级 students have been learning about the intertidal zone and how animals and sea weed/植物 have to adapt to hold on/ hide and protect themselves (from all of the variables, as well as predators). Two weeks ago we traveled to the Seymour Marine Discovery Museum Lab, and students got to examine many of these intertidal animals and their functions. 回到实验室, we have been using our own touch tank to explore the body design, 行为, and feeding of our local intertidal animals ( including urchins, hermit and shore crabs, 海葵, 杜父鱼, 和贻贝). We also built our own tide pools and conducted tests to see how tidal ranges change and how animals are impacted.

In 幼儿园, students have been learning about the characteristics of living organisms and habitats. Students have been examining water habitats- both salty and fresh. 的y have designed and built ponds, rivers, lakes, and ocean shore habitats. 也, they have been learning about the animals that live within these habitats, zooming in on the anatomy of a fish. Students have been using our lab ( as well as other books and photos) to examine and illustrate fish - looking at how they share basic fish characteristics but also vary in their shapes and sizes.

In Junior 幼儿园, students have been exploring life in the ocean- illustrating their own favorite ocean scenes and found beach items and then examining live hermit crabs and urchins up close, and feeding them. 的 students have been learning about what makes something living and what all animals need. We are looking at fish and invertebrate bodies and exploring all of the living organisms within our tropical and touch tanks.