Vincent Massey Elementary School

On this cold and blustery day we hosted the grade 6 students from Vincent Massey Elementary School as part of The Ocean Discovery Program.  Thankfully, they were well prepared for the weather and had winter coats, hats, and mitts to keep them warm while we explored the intertidal zone.  Imagine, last week we were on the beach in t-shirts! 

Regardless of the weather the students enthusiastically searched under the rocks and seaweed to see which animals were hiding from the wind.  Today, they found lots of sideswimmers and periwinkles.  But as much as they enjoyed the beach I think they were pretty happy to get back to the lab where it was warm!  In the lab the students enjoyed using the microscopes during the plankton lab, getting up close to Pumpkin our black and orange spotted lobster and seeing the sea slug, a red-gilled nudibranch, laying eggs on the glass tank in the lab.   

The highlight of my day was when a few of the girl chose a crab first during the classification lab!  Usually grade 6 girls tend to be nervous or afraid of the crabs so I was happy when they chose the crab and named her Tina!  

Thank you to the Vincent Massey grade 6 class and their teacher for a wonderful day.  I look forward to visiting their school for the follow-up next week!     

For more information on The Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program visit our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/grade_6.html.

All bundled up to explore the intertidal zone.

There was lots of wind and waves at Brandy Cove.

Searching for copepods!

Red-gilled nudibranch and eggs.