aking Art” display. On a large tarp,


oy as a group making a giant sea nderwater forest.


Eelgrass as Teacher


(continued)


• Turn rocks back gently after lifting them • Fill in any holes when digging • Wash hands in the tub of saltwater next to the touch tanks before touch- ing animals and plants


The matted rhizomes help capture sediment and decreases


uaint n a n fry ch. r, from


mens ort


erosion (Phillips, 1984) which is important for shoreline homeowners. All these benefits of this underwater vegetation can be demonstrated to school children in their classroom and outside on their local beach or estuary. It takes little or lots of time, depending on how far and deeply you as an educa- tor would like to extend the lessons. This article assumes that you have the opportunity to visit your local eelgrass more than once over the school year.


I thought in Beach seining is exciting! Beach seining is exciting


1993 I had found a simple way to teach ecological systems to children. Thirteen years later, after all


the SCUBA dives, seining, kayaking, tide pooling, and map- ping and restoring of eelgrass, I am still entranced with this nearshore plant that makes up underwater emerald forests.


Classroom Activities


A network of eelgrass conservationists along the entire coast of British Columbia maps eelgrass beds and locates potential restoration sites. Many of these individuals come into their local schools to help teachers with exploring the mysteries of eelgrass. They bring resource books with plenty of photographs, maps, stories, colouring books, overhead drawings and graphs of food webs found in eelgrass habitats, and eelgrass plants found along the beach. You can provide li- brary books, web sites, stray eelgrass plants and help students explore ideas on how they would like to investigate their local eelgrass beds.


Beach specimen press on the beach


In preparation for the first field trip, students can for- mulate questions they wish to answer during their field trip, and discuss their hypotheses in small groups. For example, one group of fifth graders might formulate the following: “If young crabs use eelgrass for shelter, then they will be found in areas hidden from their predators.” They then could create a data sheet with spaces to record how many and what kinds, sizes and locations of crabs they observe.


Students should be reminded that they are visiting the


living rooms (or habitats, depending upon the age group) of intertidal animals and plants that are already stressed from exposure to the sun. Examples of good beach manners are:


Page 28 5


Find: • Two different kinds of edges on seaweeds. • Evidence of an animal having eaten something. • Three seaweed leaves with different textures (smooth, prickly, etc.) • Four different odors/smells. • Five different sizes of barnacle. • Six different kinds of birds on the shore or near-by • Seven human activities on or near the shore. • Remember eight different sounds and repeat them to the group • Name nine different ways people are using the shore or waters near-by.


The third station can be a “Making Art” display. On a large tarp, students at all grade levels enjoy as a group making


www.clearingmagazine.org/online CLEARING 2010


• Handle animals and plants gently. • Avoid walking on plants and animals • Do not remove attached animals or plants.


• Leave the plants and animals in their natural homes (habitats). It is important that students be comfortable and safe and


be respectful for the life they will encounter on their field trip. Sunscreen, extra socks, drinking water, towels and gumboots or shoes that can get wet or muddy. They can add their own beach etiquette rules.


Field Trip Activities Students can become familiar with eelgrass ecology dur-


ing a preliminary field trip lasting usually an hour and a half. Prior to the actual field trip, the class can be divided into three groups. We usually have three groups of ten students each.


The first beach station is the ”Habitat Aquaria.” We use two glass 33 gallon aquaria placed within a wooden frame and supported by two wooden supports. We fill the first aquarium with sand and “living rocks,” drift eelgrass and crab and chitons, sea cucumbers, small seastars, sand dollars, clams and the like collected by SCUBA divers. We place rockier substrate in the second aquarium with drift kelp and other seaweeds, urchins, living rocks with tunicates and coral algae living on them, limpets, turban snails, and crabs to demonstrate what lives beyond the shallow eelgrass meadows. Simple rubber tubs can be substituted for glass aquaria. Laminated field guides are distributed so that the students can identify and ob- serve animals on their own before they are told what is in the aquaria. Buckets and tubs surround the aquaria are filled with seaweed and kelp to shade the animals that can be touched by the students under supervision. A hand washing tub full of saltwater ensures that sunscreen on the students’ hands will not harm the animals in the touch tubs.


The second station can be a “Detective Game.” Using the field guides students are asked to find and observe, without collecting, animals that have hard shells, or live in a commu- nity, or plants that have knobs growing on their blades. They convene after 15 minutes or so to share their findings. Detec- tive questions could be ones such as:


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