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No seine, no gain
Students get up close and personal with environment
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GRETCHEN PHILLIPS
Ken Hastings, a member of the Port Tobacco River Conservancy, shows Benjamin Stoddard students William Bonilla, left, Nicholas Williams, Kreig Wiggins and Kyree Earles a gizzard shad caught with a seine net last week. At right, volunteers Phil Angle and Dave Orzechowsk sort through other fish.
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There was something fishy about the learning going on at the Chesapeake Bay watershed field trip last week at Chapel Point State Park.
Students from St. Mary's and Charles counties participated in a National Defense Education-sponsored science, technology, engineering and math — STEM — program where students were able to meet with professionals in the science and engineering fields to learn firsthand about fish seining, soil sampling, plant life and pollution.
Students from Indian Head and J.P. Ryon elementary schools, Benjamin Stoddert Middle School and Mother Catherine Spalding School had the first experience with the Chapel Point field trip Oct. 7, and schools from other area schools will be participating in coming weeks.
Mike Ficalora, a teacher a Piccowaxen Middle School, volunteered to help with the trip even though his school didn't attend.
Ficalora said he was taking students on a nature trail during the field trip and said it was important for students to see the environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay.
Students' expressions and their inquisitive natures spoke out on whether or not they were having a good time.
Alyssa Miller, 10, of Indian Head Elementary said the different activities made the trip exciting. She said she especially learned about different plants such as sassafras trees.
"It smells like Fruit-Loops," she said while eating her lunch. Sassafras was the original flavoring for root beer.
Many students who had not yet been to the fish seining station of the trip were anxiously awaiting their turn to catch fish in nets.
"It looks like fun," said Zachary McIntosh, 10, of Indian Head Elementary.
A group of students from Benjamin Stoddert were having a turn at the seining station shortly after lunch.
Ken Hastings of the Port Tobacco Conservancy and volunteer from the University of Maryland Dave Orzechowsk waded into the water with the seine nets and formed the shape of a big square in the water and closed in the square slowly as they walked back in. Students were skeptical as to what would be inside the net. Stepping closer to the shore as the two men along with volunteer Phil Angle closed in the two ends of the net, student began to see what had just taken place without a fishing pole.
"I see one," one student shouted as the shadow of a fish darted across the net. Draining the water, students then saw and were able to help identify several different types of fish including some perch, bay anchovies and gizzard shad.
Hastings, Angle and other volunteers explained to students about the various fish species in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and even allowed students to touch and throw back some of the fish.
Along with learning about fish, students learned a lot about plant life including what to avoid.
Zakura Gibbs, 11, of Indian Head Elementary said she learned a trick to avoid poison ivy. The first trick obviously, is to not touch poison ivy. However, Gibbs said, if one encounters it, there is a certain type of leaf that when crumbled up really fine and rubbed on the contact point of the poison ivy prevents the bumps and itching from occurring. Unfortunately, Gibbs could not recall at the time what leaf had these special powers.
Environmentalist Heather Zdobysz, who helped coordinate the trip, took students around the water's edge and in other areas to collect trash.
Zdobysz talked to students about how everything people do in their lives affects the environment.
After two groups went on a trash-collecting adventure with her, students had collected 70 pounds of trash. Students also inspected various types of soils and found out that soil is darker at the top as animals help break organic material down into soil components that plants use as nutrients.
Miranda Ward, seventh-grade science teacher at Benjamin Stoddert, said she liked how students were able to learn something in class and then see it take place in the field like with the soils and the pollution.
She said students were also hearing a lot of similar terms from scientists and experts they have heard in class."This is perfect for what we are doing," Ward said.
Students from Stoddert are currently learning about ecology, so being able to go out to the park and listen and learn from experts was right up their alley, Ward said.
Fitting in with what schools are teaching and exposing students to a world of science and engineering is exactly what the purpose of the trip was for according to coordinator Tom Palathra, a chemical engineer.
"We're trying to integrate engineering math and life sciences ... you can talk about it as much as you want, but hands on experience is essential to learning," Palathra said.
The series of field trips coincides with a several-week program where experts in the field come into classrooms for STEM-related activities.
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