Plankton and SeaTurtles

Joey and Emily snuggle to stay warm.

     Today and tomorrow are supposed to be the coldest two days we've had this winter.  Nevertheless, we traveled to James Island once again for a fabulous field trip at the Department of Natural Resources!  This time we had the option of keeping Joey with the older kids, so we chose to stay together.

 Yes, it was cold near that water!

First, the kids met in a classroom for a presentation about phytoplankton and zooplankton. Plankton is important and must be monitored. It is the base of the food chain and 60 % of our oxygen is produced by it. The phytoplankton are microscopic plant material that depend on photosynthesis, and the zooplankton are microscopic animals such as baby crustaceans.  Even jellyfish are a type of zooplankton, because they "drift". Although some jellyfish can "propel", they cannot steer themselves. Some plankton are toxic and destructive like the dinoflagellites that cause "red tide".

Here, the instructor holds a filter the students will use to collect their own plankton for study.

The kids gathered outside on the dock.

Emily and Joey filter the plankton.

The students look at their collected samples under the microscope.

An instructor also projects the image from her microscope onto a screen to help the students identify the different types of plankton. This technology is amazing to me. A "ruler" runs along the top of the screen and measures the plankton to "scale". The instructor can also take "pictures" of her observations as they move across the screen.  It was fascinating to see a variety of things scitter about and occasionally even eat each other.

A large, wiggly, adult copepod takes center stage.

After viewing their samples, the students used a chart to identify their plankton.

Daddy looks on.

Joey's zooplankton
The students sketched and labeled what they saw under their microscopes.

Hayden, our first homeschool graduate, listens to the presentation too.

She couldn't resist checking things out under the microscope too.

The students switched classrooms with another group for the presentation about sea turtles.

After the presentation, small groups were given a bucket representing a turtle nest and an inventory sheet.  In April, many volunteers will begin training to assist in turtle nest protection along the coast of South Carolina. If a nest is located in a dangerous place, the volunteers may have to relocate the nest or even assist the babies.

The kids sort and take inventory of their nests. The boys had a "nest" from Folly Beach.  The ping pong balls represented the eggs. "Crushed" ping pong balls ones were the "hatched" ones.  Small turtle toys represented live babies stuck in the pit-like nest that have to be rescued.  If the baby has an "x" its belly, it didn't survive.

A "hatched" egg

After counting eggs, empty shells, and live and dead babies, the students recorded how many were male and female.

The "hatched" eggs have temperatures written on them. If the temperature on the shell is under 30 degrees Celsius, the baby was a male.  If it was over 30 degrees, it was a female.  Temperature manipulates the gender of the turtles.  Eggs on the top of the nest (closer to the sunlight) tend to be female, while the eggs underneath where it is colder tend to be male. The instructor said the kids could remember this by the phrases, "hot chicks and cool dudes". I suppose that is okay for turtles..... An overly hot summer can produce an overabundance of females and a cooler one would have the opposite effect.

Emily's nest was from "Botany Bay".  After each group gathered their data, the instructor compared the combined, class results on the board to look for patterns, concerns, or surprises.

A lone egg from each nest is taken for DNA samples.  Each bucket nest had a "reading".
The students wandered around the room trying to match their DNA samples to other DNA sample readings of tagged females in various areas of the classroom. In other words, they were looking for their "mommys".

Here, a student compares her baby DNA with the mother's.

 Sometimes a female will have more than one nest.  The scientists track and record this information.

A model of a turtle nest.  The babies follow the light of the moon to the ocean.  When the babies begin hatching, streetlights are turned off, and folks who live nearby turn off their lights, so the babies don't get confused and go the wrong way.

The last activity was kind of like a turtle C.S.I.  Each group was given a large plastic turtle that had "died".  The group had to determine what had happened.  First the turtle had to be measured, and its species identified.

 The boys' case was obvious.  Their turtle had mistaken a plastic bag for its favorite food, jellyfish.  Since the turtle cannot process the bag, it would make the turtle feel continuously full and contribute to its starvation.

Emily's turtle didn't have obvious injuries, so an x-ray had been taken.  The outline of large fishhooks were seen in the x-ray. In the other groups, one turtle had a gash on its shell where it had been most likely hit by a boat, another's fin was missing from a boat propeller, and another had fish netting stuck around its head.  Although predators eat turtles, the scientists try to prevent accidental,
man-made tragedies for the turtles.

It was a fun, cold, and interesting day at the Department of Natural Resources!
Now off to Chick fil-A for some lunch!

Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures...." Genesis 1:20

Happy Birthday, Emily!

We have another adult in the house!

A Birthday and a Field Trip

Baby Joey is now in the double digits like the rest of them! Does he look happy or what?  Emily (third from left) got her braces on a couple of days ago.  She now joins Hayden and Samuel in the braces club. She still managed to eat cake and ice cream (although mostly the softer ice cream)!

After spending a day on James Island at the Department of Natural Resources, we returned home to celebrate Joey's 10th.

     We had another opportunity for a free field trip today and we took advantage of it!  I can't say enough about the Department of Natural Resources.  I am so impressed!  

Today's topic: Sharks and Fish.

Does this response look familiar?  Reminds me of his brother, Harrison.  Here, Joseph is touching a dead fish.  I have to say, today's classes smelled a little like CAT FOOD.

First, the younger kiddos had to locate and identify the outer parts of the fish. Our friends, the Blauchs were there too! Joey and Nathan worked together.

After watching a presentation and learning the outside parts of the fish, Joey and Nathan cover it with paint.

Big sister, Hayden helps them to make a fish print.

Hayden watches over the little artists. They learned that fish prints were made by the early Japanese before cameras were invented to brag about the size of their catches!

 After everyone's work is hung to dry, the next activity begins.

The instructor teaches them an interactive song about the parts of a fish sung to, "Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes......"

Can you sing, "operculum"?

Meanwhile........

The teenagers dissect a shark in an outer building.  As usual, Emily and Benjamin (Blauch) did most of the cutting.

A couple of funny moments: Here, Jacob realizes his brother Benjamin just wiped his hand on Jacob's shoulder.  He is about as thrilled about this entire experience as Harrison.

The group next to ours had a "fresh" shark so it was uh, juicier.  When the group turned it over, all the "guts" spilled out.  Harrison looked over just in time to see it.  Emily ran over there shortly afterward to see it on purpose.......

After the first hour, the two classes switched buildings and the teens learned about fish and the younger ones learned about sharks.

Here, Joey and some new friends locate the outer parts of the shark after a presentation.

Next, they went outside.  Each child had a card clothes-pinned to his clothes with a picture/name of a type of shark on it.  After learning the different characteristics of the several varieties, several games were played to practice their "shark senses".

A blind-folded student tries to identify which child gently threw a bean bag at her by her sense of touch.

 Joey's label said, "Dogfish".  The three dogfish had to compete in an obstacle course wearing goggles and a boot. 

Here, Joey weaves through the tables.

He gets under the limbo bar for the win!

The teens have been given the fish from the earlier group.  Yes, they still had some paint on them.

Emily is partnered up with her good friend Avery Gibson for the fish dissection.

Harrison is back with Benjamin and a new friend named Gabriel.

Samuel works with Avery's brother, Harlan.

Could it be?  Is Harrison actually performing an incision?

No, he wanted to REMOVE THE EYEBALL.  This was OPTIONAL.  In the picture below, he is DANGLING the eyeball.  I don't think he is squeamish at all.  I think he likes DRAMA and testing his mama.

What do YOU think?

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward,

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one's youth.

Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;

They shall not be ashamed,

But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127:3-5

A Beachy, Wintry, Field Trip

A lovely, little squid is presented to my teenagers for dissection.

Can you guess which child of mine wants to major in biology and which one does not?

    South Carolina offers mild fall and winter months with a rare day or two of snow.  But even with the milder temperatures in December, it was still a pretty chilly day for a trip out to the coast! Yes, today we found ourselves zipping over to the Department of Natural Resources on James Island for FREE science opportunities for the kiddos. My three teenagers, Emily, Harrison, and Samuel, met with other home schoolers in our support group to learn everything they ever wanted to learn about squid and even stuff they didn't.
   Harrison is taking biology this year, and as you can probably imagine, he has not been the most enthusiastic student. Emily, on the other hand, has been a little scientist ever since she could mix things. I can't tell you how many times I have discovered mystery items in my freezer, had my baking soda disappear way too quickly, or found her outside in the dirt, planting something new. Emily insisted on taking Honors Biology her Freshman year and desires to pursue it in more depth at our local, Christian college next year. She is a Senior now and is LOVING her anatomy class.
   Emily followed me to my "mole removal" procedure last summer because she WANTED TO WATCH (yes, they let her), and then joined me at the hematologist when I had my blood tested because of a low platelet count. She will be accompanying her sister, Hayden to her orthodontist appointment next week, and then will have the personal experience herself in January. Every doctor's appointment around here is an opportunity for a field trip for Emily. She wanted to be here today because to her, the idea of dissecting anything is a thrill.
    I was horrified to find two deer legs in my garage refrigerator last week. Emily had talked her dad into bringing them home from his seasonal part-time job at a deer processing business. She was studying joints in anatomy and wanted to study some real knees. I shudder to think what our trash collectors think of us. Yikes. Interestingly enough. Harrison has frequently assisted Scott in deer processing and doesn't seem to have a problem cutting up deer. He says blood doesn't bother him. It is the slime.........Emily, interestingly enough, hates blood. What a pair.

    Harrison is more of a political guy.  He loves history and watching the news almost as much as watching football. These two are currently taking a Constitutional Law class together. This class is more of a challenge for Emily, who is doing very well; but Harrison eats that stuff with a spoon.

Meanwhile in another building...............

My nine year old, Joseph (center), enthusiastically raises his hand during a salt marsh study while my faithful assistant, Hayden (a home school graduate) keeps an eye on him while sitting on the floor, (at the back of the class).  She continues to pursue her writing, but will attend college with her sister next year.  Like Harrison, she is a history lover.

Joseph hasn't had much classroom experience outside of our home, and it is always interesting to me to see how my kids respond in a group setting away from their usual classmates (siblings).  

The dissection class held about twenty teenagers. Another group of twenty from our group met an hour before we did.  My husband is standing in the back keeping an eye on our three while I "float" back and forth between the two classes observing and taking pictures.

The materials and presentation were well-organized and informative.

The kids receive their squid and work in teams of two. Our friends, the Blauch family, also participated today.  Harrison's friend, Benjamin (sitting next to him), who wants to be a marine biologist, patiently listens to Harrison explain why this activity is inappropriate for young minds
due to its grossness.

Dad wanders over. My husband, Scott, had actually begun to pursue a degree in marine biology about eight years after receiving his degree in business, but decided not to continue after we began expecting child number two (Emily). Over the years, he has had several salt water fish tanks and even experimented with tilapia farming. Harrison is surrounded and outnumbered by biology lovers today!

Samuel and his lab partner count appendages on the squid. Samuel enjoyed this activity far more than he expected today. 

Joey's group goes outside on a marsh scavenger hunt to locate some of the items and critters they discussed and touched during their lesson.

Back at the lab, Emily uses the probe to locate the "beak".

Sammy cuts the squid to identify more parts.

Emily and Harrison have a male.  Samuel and his lab partner have a female.

Somehow, Harrison managed to get through the entire lab without actually touching the squid.  When Emily insisted that he at least break open the ink sac; he used her hand to do it.  Sigh.  I can't be too hard on him.  I did the same thing in college.  I was always the "scribe" in these types of labs.  I took the notes while the other partner did all the messy stuff.

Now for assessment.  The students complete a labeling worksheet.

Joey's group finished up their scavenger hunt by taking a few minutes to "clean up" pollution in the marsh area and returning all the shells, hermit crabs, etc. that the students had collected.

The kids returned to the shelter and volunteered to reach in to the "mystery bag".  The objects in the bag were used to explain how the marsh is used and contributed to by animals, plants, and water.  Some of the objects were a pillow (migrating birds use the marsh to rest), coffee filters (oysters filter the water), an apple (the marsh provides food) and a whisk (because the marsh is where the salt and fresh water mix).

Joey tastes a tiny "sea pickle".  This salty, little plant grows among the marsh.  Joey learned that these are sometimes used as a salad topping in some of the fancier restaurants. I think Joey harvested enough of these to store in a pickle jar!  He even put a couple on his chicken sandwich for dinner!

Fascinating Fact:  Below is a picture of a squid "pen".  The kids located and removed these during their dissection.  Because squids are invertebrates and have no backbones, these "pens" give the squid support instead.  They are located where a backbone would be and are nestled underneath the ink sac.  Seriously, a pen and ink are found inside these little guys!  The Lord definitely has a sense of humor!

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Who made heaven and earth,

The sea, and all that is in them;

Who keeps truth forever.......

Psalm 146:5-6

~Jennifer