Glenburnie - Day 1 and 2

Monday afternoon the Grade 8 students from Glenburnie School arrived on campus for their end of year trip.  After getting their luggage stashed in Needler Hall, they headed to the aquarium for a tour and to see the seal feeding.  The highlight for the students was the touch tanks that are filled with animals such as sea stars, urchins, crabs, sea cucumbers, and skates.  They also quite enjoyed watching Snorkel and Loki, the harbour seals have their supper.

Next the group had a scavenger hunt around campus.  Some of the groups did very well and some not so much.  But everyone got a small treat at the end regardless.

In the evening the group walked into town to visit the really cool playground at the elementary school.

Tuesday morning armed with our buckets we ventured across town to Indian Point to explore the intertidal zone.  The students searched under rocks and seaweed to see what was hiding while the tide was out.  They found rock gunnel fish, sea stars, urchins, and lots of green crabs!  Everyone was on the hunt for the biggest crab.  It was a beautiful morning on the beach.

Just before lunch the group assembled in the theatre to learn about lobsters. Do you know how to tell if your lobster is a boy or girl?

In the afternoon the group studied plankton in the lab and also went out on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray.  On the boat the students collected plankton, sorted the animals (and rocks) that came up in the scallop drags, and gathered data on the temperature and salinity.  The sun was shining so it was a lovely afternoon on the water.