November 1997
Students Research Marine Life with Harbor Explorations
On October 21st, 28 ninth graders and their teachers from Medfield High School travelled over an hour to Dorchester Bay for a morning on the research vessel, Envirolab III. After releasing an otter trawl net and a plankton net into the harbor, they gathered around three salt water tanks on the rear deck of the boat. Ten minutes later, the nets were reeled in. The catch of the day included several flounder, a jellyfish, two starfish, sea squirts, numerous brown skates, and many crabs, one of which was hauled up in its new home, a discarded beer bottle.
As Rick Schmidt, one of Envirolab III's two marine science instructors, hands a brown skate down the line of students, responses to getting up close and personal range from "Oh no" and "I'm not touching that!" to "Cool!"
"How does a skate get around?" Schmidt asks the group.
"On rollerblades," comes the response from someone at the back of the crowd.
Jokes aside, the students hold and examine the animals, and ask questions about the marine environment. At the bow of the ship, the other group of students is taking water samples to test today's waters for salinity, density, ph, and clarity with Berit Solstad, Envirolab III's other marine science instructor. They also take a sample of sediment from the harbor floor and examine it for odor, texture, and color. Some students go to the wheelhouse to learn about navigation and meteorology with ship's captain, Bill Madison.
Nineteen weeks out of the year, five days a week, the crew of Envirolab III engages with Massachusetts students in hands-on marine science education. Over the last 8 years, that adds up to approximately 80,000 Massachusetts students and 4800 teachers who have taken advantage of Harbor Explorations and Envirolab III, adding a measure of practice to classroom theory.
The Medfield students seemed particularly knowledgeable about marine science, answering many of the questions posed by the instructors. Their teacher, Carol Kryzanek, is a graduate of the Harbor Explorations Summer Institute for Teachers, a three-week program designed to provide hands-on training for teachers aboard the Envirolab III during July.
"My environmental science curriculum is a result of the training and equipment I received from the Institute," says Kryzanek. "For teachers, the program is really outstanding."
Kryzanek says that all of her students studied the Charles River watershed as 8th graders, and that she incorporated the study of a small stream that runs behind the high school into the Charles as part of the curriculum this year. The intent is to have students draw a connection -- from their local stream, to the Charles River, and finally to the Boston Harbor.
Mike Borek, Harbor Explorations coordinator, says that the summer institute exposes teachers to marine science and to as many local resources as possible, including such programs of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, Whalenet at Simmons College, the Massachusetts Bays Program, Massachusetts Marine Educators and others. Teachers then use the resources to enrich their curriculum.
Kryzanek's students appear to be reaping the benefits of such enrichment. "As more teachers come through the summer institute, we see more classrooms coming in well-prepared and excited about what they are doing on the boat," says instructor Solstad. "Medfield High School is a good example."
Borek says that Envirolab III's program can be modified to suit 5th graders through high school students by going into more or less depth on the testing and other activities. "Depending on the sophistication of the group, the crew can put things into the context of weather conditions, seasonal and other changes," he says.
Since 1985, Harbor Explorations has been engaged in marine education from UMass Boston. Its offices are located in the Institute for Learning and Teaching in the Graduate College of Education.