Recruiting Students for a Field Course

Interested in bringing students to the Huntsman on a field course?  Here are some tips to help you recruit students to make your dream a reality.

1) Promote your field course.
Put up posters, post items in the school newspaper/newsletter, use social media, be in the morning announcements, post on the school website, send home notices to parents, have information available at parent/teacher conferences, promote at events such as dances, socials, or sports games, and don't forget to have other teachers in the school suggest your field course to potential students.

2) Partner with another school.
For small schools or classes, partnering with another school in the local area can alleviate some of the financial aspects of the trip.  We have a number of schools that have very successful partnerships.

3) Have multiple meetings.
Schedule meetings on different days and at different times to accommodate people's busy lives. Previous commitments may prevent some students or parents from attending the first meeting so make sure there are alternatives.

4) Have fundraisers.
Fundraising promotes the trip to the school community, while also bringing down the cost for students.  Decreasing the cost per individual can make it easier for those with less financial flexibility to come on the trip.

5) Use past participants.
If you have brought students to the Huntsman before enlist these past participants and their parents to speak at information meetings.  They can bring pictures, powerpoints, or souvenirs to share why their experience was beneficial to them.

6) Use our resources.
Such as the Education Department video, twitter account, facebook page and this blog.  We post lots of pictures and videos of what students are seeing and doing while they are here at the Huntsman.  A picture speaks a thousand words!

7) Its educational and fun!
Making curriculum connections may be important to get parents, principals and the school district on board.  For students it may be important to mention the fun they will be having while learning: being on a boat, touching sea stars and other marine creatures, hanging out with seals and spending time with friends exploring St. Andrews by-the-Sea.

For more information about Huntsman field courses email, call (506) 529-1200 or visit our website for more information.

South Carleton & Bell High Schools - Day 2

Yesterday morning we hit the beach very early to catch low tide.  The students had a wonderful time exploring the intertidal zone in search of crabs, sea stars, urchins and other marine creatures.  They also got to see large sections of the beach covered by the incoming tide which really sent home the message that this is a marine habitat.

We then had a short stop at Ministers Island to walk on the access road and then see it become covered by the tide, making the island back into an island.  As one of the teachers joked it was like watching a reverse Moses.  After a quick stop in town for snacks the group headed into the labs to identify the invertebrates they had collected over the past few days.  Everyone was very excited to get up close and hands-on with all of the animals, including hermit crabs, sea anemones, and brittle stars.

In the afternoon we had a presentation on invasive species in the local marine environment and then we did a study of echinoderms in the lab.  It was amazing to be able to look at the sea urchins using the new microscopes and see the fine anatomical features such as the pedicellaria.  The students were thoroughly excited to see the urchins pooping!  Haha! 

In the evening the crew joined me for a brief presentation on the whales that visit the Bay of Fundy in preparation for the trip to Grand Manan.

This morning the students will soon catch the ferry to the island and then head out further into the bay in search of whales.  Good luck!

Checking under rocks for animals waiting for the tide to come back in.

Found a green crab!

  

Exploring the intertidal zone at Indian Point.

Your boots are only waterproof to the top!

Showing off their finds to one of the teachers.

Experiencing the tide coming in.

Checking out the access road to Ministers Island, 

which is soon to be underwater.

Can you spot the toad crab?

Beautiful little sea anemone.

Describing and identifying the collected invertebrates.

Drawing the invertebrates.

Underside of a sea urchin.

Everyone excited about sea urchin poop!

View through the microscope.

Gorgeous pattern on a sea urchin test.

Today the group is headed to Grand Manan via the ferry.

Bell & South Carleton High Schools - Day 1

Today we welcomed Bell and South Carleton High Schools to campus.  Unfortunately, the day started off with rain but progressed to sunny skies by the afternoon.  Throughout the day the students took part in three different activities to introduce them to the local marine environment: a tour of the aquarium, a study of plankton in the lab, and a trip on the Fundy Spray to collect plankton, benthic invertebrates, and oceanographic data such as sea temperature and salinity.  Below are some pictures from our great day.

Studying plankton in the lab.

Drawing plankton.

Copepod.

Watching the seahorse feeding.

Checking out the seals.

Watching the seal feeding.

Collecting plankton.

Plankton samples.

Scallop drag.

Rock crab.

Sorting the through the contents of the scallop drag.

Hermit crab.

Rain shower.

Motoring through St. Andrews Harbour.

Copying down all the data we collected.

Tide is getting lower.

Bell & South Carleton High Schools - Last Day

The group from Ottawa awoke to another beautiful sunny day.  After breakfast at Anderson House the students went in search of marine worms at Pottery Creek.  Some of the worm species found were red-lined, blood, clam, bamboo, and milky ribbon.  The students did a great job and it was fun to hear the shrieks of excitement (terror? shock?) as the students saw the proboscis shoot out of the blood worm!  Who knew that worms could have teeth?  Then the group continued into town for a bit of sightseeing and shopping.

This afternoon the students are working on a number of different behaviour experiments with the invertebrates they collected earlier in the week.  Some of the students are looking at the feeding rate of barnacles at different temperatures, some are determining if size affects the flipping rate of sea stars or sea urchins, and other are testing the strength of echinoderm tube feet.  It will be interesting to see their results.

As a special surprise the schools presented a plaque to our organization "In celebration of 15 years of successful partnership".  That was a wonderful honour!  We can't wait for 15 more years!

This evening the big red bus will pull away from campus on route to Ottawa.  We wish you all a wonderful and safe trip home.  Come back and visit again!

Buckets, shovels and boots.

On the hunt for marine worms.

Some of the students found clams in the sediment.

And that is only a part of the worm!

The tide was pushing us up the beach.

Now that's a big clam worm!

Peaking into the dark to see if the crab is moving to or away from the light.

Doing the splits!

Testing the strength of a sea stars tube feet.

Testing the feeding rate of barnacles at different temperature.

The beautiful plaque the schools presented to 

the Huntsman for 15 years of partnership.

Take Me Outside

Here are five great marine themed activities to do with your students for Take Me Outside Day on October 29th.

     1.  Use sidewalk chalk to mark out the real life lengths of whales or sharks.
          You can then see how many students it takes to match the animal's length.

     2.  Explore a local beach.  Gently look under rocks and seaweed for the animals hiding at low tide.

     3.  Play foxes and kittiwakes. 

     4.  Play Plankton in the Air.

     5.  Do an experiment outside, such as Ocean Currents.

Or you can come visit us.  We have lots of activities that can keep you and your students outside for the day or even for a week.  Check out what we have to offer on our website.