As part of the seaweed lab the students drew field sketches and identified the seaweeds they needed to know for the zonation lab in the afternoon. Some of the samples they identified were rockweed, knotted wrack, red tubed weed (an epiphyte on the knotted wrack), and irish moss. To finish up the lab they developed a dichotomous key of the seaweeds while on the bus trip to Green’s Point.
The ARC is a museum of preserved marine specimens from the North Atlantic. The students were lucky to tour this facility as it is not open to the public. Some of the specimens the students got to see during the tour were angler fish, puffer fish, and a porbeagle shark head. According to the students the coolest creature they got to see during the tour was the whale fetus.
Just before lunch while the tide was receding the students went to the beach to recapture the periwinkles they had previously marked. The purpose of this was to estimate the periwinkle population. Some of the students found 21 of the 25 periwinkles they had marked while others only found 4. Quite the difference. They group also learned a valuable lesson: don’t try to recapture periwinkles when the tide is high and always check the tide chart yourself.
After lunch the students boarded the bus to head to Green’s Point to complete their zonation lab. During the zonation lab the students worked in groups of four along a transect line to identify and count the animals and seaweeds in their quadrate.
For the evening the students were dropped off in town to have supper and check out the shops and scenery of the beautiful seaside location. I am guessing seafood was on menu!
Identifying seaweeds.
Deep sea fish specimen at the ARC.
Porbeagle head at the ARC.
Searching through the seaweed during the zonation lab.
Say "Periwinkle"!
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