Marine Activities

Twice a year we publish SeaWords: Marine Biology in the Classroom, a newsletter for teachers. We always include an engaging marine themed activity or experiment on page 4. Below are the links to activities from past newsletters:

Buoy, oh Buoyancy
Mollusc Dichotomous Key
Whaley, Whaley Big
Papier Mache Seabird Eggs
Squid Propulsion Experiment
Marine Debris Experiment
The Great Diatom Race
Fish Shapes
Floating Fishes
Ocean Currents
Studying the Response of Marine Arthropods to Light
Calculating common periwinkle populations
Right-side Up
Mapping Right Whales (sightings data)
Some Like it Hot!
Apple Ocean

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If you are curious about the tides of the Bay of Fundy check out our short, 10-minute video, The Living Tides of Fundy Bay.

We also post student collected data sets on our website. Data sets include whale sightings, invasive green crab monitoring data, water temperature, salinity, and lists of animals collected using our benthic/scallop drag.

We would love to hear from you if you try our activities in your classroom or at home. You can tag us on Twitter using @HuntsmanEdDept. Happy experimenting!

SeaWords Fall 2018

Check out the Fall 2018 edition of the Huntsman Education Department newsletter, SeaWords: Marine Biology in the Classroom. We publish this newsletter specifically for teachers twice a year.

In this edition you will find:

• Accessing the Coast - Lighthouses
• Unique Opportunity: Exploring Albatross Boluses
• Alumni Corner with Jill Corey
• Activity: Buoy, oh Buoyancy
• Sea Creature Facts: Ocean Sunfish
• Dates for our summer field courses & day programs
• A contest!

If you have any marine biology questions, feature ideas, things you'd like to see us cover, or would like to be added to our contact list send us an email.

Saint John High Fall 2018

This weekend on campus we had the Grade 12 IB Biology students from Saint John High School. While here the students completed a number of different labs and studies using live marine creatures in the lab and on the shore.

Field sketches to identify intertidal invertebrates and seaweeds in preparation for the zonation field work.

Presentation by Dr. Ben Speers-Roesch, an Assistant Professor at UNB Saint John that is at the Huntsman as part of the Marine Semester.

Some of the students in the Marine Semester are studying mummichogs and their behaviour in the cold.

On the shore starting a mark-recapture with periwinkles.

Studying the zonation patterns in the intertidal zone.

Counting living organisms within the quadrate.

Does size affect the flipping rate of sea urchins?

Combining the classes urchin data to see if there is a relationship.

 

Independent study experiments: are urchins light sensitive?

Are seaweeds osmoregulators or osmoconformers?

Are green crabs osmoregulators or osmoconformers?

Charles P. Allen High School 2018

The past few days we've had two classes of Grade 11 IB Biology students on campus from Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Below are a few pictures from their marine biology field course.

Specimen and data collection trip on the Huntsman research vessel, the Fundy Spray.

Zooplankton and phytoplankton collected from the bay.

Using microscopes to view the plankton.

The view at 100x magnification. 

Drawing and describing the marine invertebrates.

A toad crab.

Searching for green crabs, an invasive species.

The students found 142 green crabs. Data was gathered about the size and gender of each crab.

Testing to see if temperature effects the feeding rate of barnacles.

Does size effect the flipping rate of sea urchins...

or sea stars? 

Bell 2018

This week on campus we have a group of students from Bell High School from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. This is the 18th year this school has had a field course at the Huntsman! The students explored marine biology and the local history of St. Andrews and Grand Manan Island.

Collecting trip aboard the research vessel, the Fundy Spray.

Plankton collected from the bay.

Identifying and drawing the plankton.

View of phytoplankton and zooplankton at 100x magnification.

Using a dichotomous key and field guides to identify the marine invertebrates collected from the boat trip.

Crossing a sand bar to Ministers Island.

Ministers Island is home to the historic summer estate of Sir William Van Horne. He was instrumental in getting the railway completed across Canada. 

The barn on the estate has recently been restored.

Exploring the intertidal zone at low tide.

Many animals were found hiding under the rocks.

Getting a closer look at the external anatomy of sea urchins.

Visiting the St. Andrews Bird Banding Station on the Huntsman campus.

A chickadee was found in one of the mist nets.

Heading off to see the mist nets.

In the lab completing behaviour experiments.

Searching for invasive green crabs.

Data is gathered on the size and gender of each crab. In 30 minutes the students found 179 crabs.

We even found a few rock gunnel fish.

Lisgar & Colonel By 2018

This week on campus we welcomed students from Lisgar Collegiate Institute and Colonel By Secondary School from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. The students were engaged in marine biology by exploring the bay on foot and by boat. During low tide the students searched the intertidal zone for animals and seaweeds. At high tide the students gathered subtidal animals by boat or studied the specimens they collected in the lab. The students also went whale watching with Quoddy Link Marine and took an overnight trip to Grand Manan Island to explore island industries.

Identifying plankton collected from the bay.

Cool find! This medusa is the reproductive stage of a hydrozoan.

Drawings of the plankton.

Larva of a gastropod at 40x magnification.

Collecting plankton on the Huntsman research vessel, the Fundy Spray.

Sea cucumber found while sorting through the benthic drag.

Sponge

This sea star is supposed to have five arms.

Sea peaches

Rock crab

That's a big sea star!

Day 2 started with a trip to explore the intertidal zone at low tide.

Searching under rocks to find animals.

Sea stars attached to the under side of a rock in the tide pool.

Back in the lab drawing and describing the live marine invertebrates.

Learning about the anatomy and life cycle of lobsters. Notice the tail is half and half.

Getting a closer look at urchins while studying echinoderm anatomy. 

Exploring a muddy beach to see what animals live in the sediment when the tide goes out.

Winners of the longest worm competition: blood worm

and the milky ribbon worm.

 

Collecting data on the invasive green crabs.

Testing to see how temperature affects the feeding rate of barnacles.

Does size affect the flipping rate of urchins?