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Goal

Students will be able to use marine science tools to improve their understanding of the proper use of water sampling equipment to increase knowledge of marine species and water quality techniques as well as increase assessment scores.  

Category

Learning Aids - Sunshine state book sets, robotics kits, puzzle boards, science models, engineering supplies, etc. 

What will be done with my students

AICE Marine and Marine Regular students have been given the opportunity to experience hands on field trips at Rookery Bay or FGCU Vester Lab for the past 13 years I have been at PRHS. However, over the course of the last few years only a couple classes were able to attend each year due to hurricane damages, daily weather events, dock repairs, staffing, and bus accommodations. This past year, all of my Rookery Bay trips were cancelled so I took some students to conduct hands on learning at Tigertail Beach. I had limited amount of marine tools, but hands on learning definitely occurred with what we had. On their AICE exam in April, they must know how to use certain marine water sampling tools such as pH meters, refractometers, secchi discs, plankton tows etc to answer open ended questions. This is an excellent opportunity for all marine students to learn how to use these tools in the estuaries located here in Naples, Florida. Each class will take a bus, provided by the science district (Ryan Westberry), to Tigertail Beach. I have approximately 200 students each year that will be split into 6 different field trips. Each trip will consist of +/- 30 students with four chaperones and separated into four groups that will rotate through each station.
Station 1 will have two seine nets and a dip net where they will catch local fish species for identification purposes. Colored species collection cards will be made and used for identification purposes. Some of these species will be brought back to the classroom for further investigations of the species, upkeep of the aquariums for their habitat, and proper feeding and maintenance. I have my species collector permit for proper collection techniques.
Station 2 will have a plankton tow and plankton dip net. Remote controlled boats will pull the plankton nets through the water collecting surface samples such as zooplankton and phytoplankton. These samples can not been seen by the naked eye and will be brought back to school to observe under the microscopes. Identification of these species will be reverenced on exams to determine shapes of the caudal fin (tail of the fish) for the source of power for propulsion. (there are 5 different shapes). Colored plankton and caudal tail identification cards will be made and used for references.
Station 3 will have water quality tools where they will determine the pH, salinity, temperature, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen. Data will be recorded and compared to other field trip data and to determine trends in water quality.
Station 4 will have equipment to collect random sampling data which will measure marine biodiversity. Frame quadrant tools will be used to estimate populations for sessile (immobile) marine species. Belt transects lines will be used to gather data on the distribution and abundance of the zonation of marine species.
Ethical methods will be used during all investigations to protect our natural habitat.  

Benefits to my students

Students will increase their knowledge of the estuaries located here in Naples, Florida. Their research while on the field trip will help determine data trends, species identification, and hands on knowledge of how to use marine water sampling tools. All information gained on these field trips will be used on assessments which will show an increase in understanding of marine tool concepts.  

Budget Narrative

All of the items listed above will be used for all field trips over the course of at least five years. The only consumables would be the paper and the colored ink.
Some items I have purchased over the years will also be used to decrease purchase costs such as an additional seine net, live bait coolers, secchi disk and tape measure, depth finder, and frame quadrants.
These budget items are critical for successfully teaching marine science students how to accurately conduct water quality testing, species identification, and observing marine biodiversity. These tools will help marine science students be successful in their knowledge of the estuaries in Naples, Florida and achieving high scores on assessments.  

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