A Recycling Blog

Check out this blog by another teacher who went on a research trip to the Arctic! It is all about recycling. There are a lot of ideas of "green" things you can do to keep our planet clean. My favorite post is about recycling in Egypt! You can click on the months list in "Archives" on the right side of the blog page to see more postings. Ms. Santoro is the teacher's name and she went on her trip last year so she has a lot of postings! If you have a new idea about how to recycle, post a comment on her blog and tell her you are from Pinckney, Michigan!
http://www.earthwatch2.org/lff/santoro

Recycling Game!

I found this cool recycling game on line! Use the arrow buttons to move Michael around town to pick up the trash and take it to the recycling containers.
Click here:
http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/games/game_michael_recycle.html

E Cards!

Sending an e-card is fun because you can be creative with the animation and music you use and type your own personal message. You can also save paper! You will need your own email address to send an e-card (or ask your parents to use theirs) and know the email address of who you want to send it to.
Try this website:
http://www.egreetings.com/

GREEN IDEAS

After visiting the coral reefs around San Salvador Island and seeing the reefs that are struggling due to warmer ocean temperatures as a result of climate change, I am aware of how important it is for all of us to do everything we can to keep the Earth clean for all living things.

Compare these two photos: a healthy reef and the photo I took underwater on the island.

Link to healthy reef photos:
http://www.nature.org/joinanddonate/rescuereef/explore/photos.html

Compare with this picture I took underwater:








We can all help the keep the oceans and land clean for people, animals, fish and all living things.
Take the quiz on this website to see how much pollution you create:
http://meetthegreens.pbskids.org/features/carbon-calculator.html

Leave a comment about what you found out from this website and what GREEN choices you are making for the earth!

Bahamian Music

I love the music of the Bahamas! It is so fun and upbeat. Many of you asked about the music so I am including this link to some radio stations from the Bahamas you can listen to right on your computer. I like the DBT Radio link.
http://www.dabahamianting.tv
Post a comment about what you think of the music!

Tide Pools

Tide Pools

Last night, Thurs. Feb 19, we went out at low tide to see what creatures we could find in the tide pools. Low tide was at about 9:30 p.m. so it was really dark! We could see a lot of stars and even the Milky Way Galaxy. To understand the ocean tides, imagine you are standing in the end zone of a football field and that’s where the water touches the beach. At low tide, gravitational force pulls the water out to sea. So now the water touches the beach at the 50-yard line of a football field. We explored pools of water that remain in rock and little sand holes in a space as big as from the end zone to the 50 yard line. Check out this link to learn anything about oceans:
http://www.cybrary.org/ocean.htm
You can go to Wikipedia or Encarta to search any of the sea life I saw. Also there are some fun things on Neat Links I think you will like.

We saw sea Anemones, Blunt-Spined Brittle Star, An Octopus (can you see it in the photo?), another Sharp Tail Eel, lots of Sea Urchins, Snails, Crabs, Sea Cucumber, Coral, Sponges, Minnows, Tiny Golden Coral Shrimp, and Bearded Fireworm. The rocks are jagged and very slippery so we had to be careful!

I had so much fun exploring the tide pools last night I decided to do it again this morning since it was our last day here and we could choose what we wanted to do. For lunch we went to a local restaurant to have traditional Bahamian food: fish, chicken, macaroni and cheese, fish fritters, beans and rice, rolls, coleslaw and for dessert, guava duff! I thought it was delicious! This evening we will get together to talk about the data we collected and how each of us will take this experience home to impact our students and communities.

CHALLENGE: Bring your ocean drawings to school the week of March 2nd that represent how many times you have been on the blog and worked on a challenge question. If you painted, drew a picture or wrote an answer on paper, bring that, too. I will have some things from the Bahamas to show you and some photos next time I see you.

Water Testing

Another windy day! Most of the group went to visit a lighthouse and swim in a cave. I stayed at the research center to help with testing the water samples we took from two reefs on the island and video conference with the third graders at Pinckney Elementary. I was the only teacher that was able to successfully have audio and video! The internet service is not very reliable here.
To collect the water samples we had to swim down to a marker on the reef and scoop up one cup of water. Then in the lab we do about 20 different tests. One of the tests I did was to determine the pollution level. I was supposed to add one drop of a chemical at a time until the reef water turned yellow. Each drop that it takes to make the water turn yellow indicates a higher level of pollution. I added 22 drops and it still did not turn yellow! What do you think that means?
This afternoon we tried to go to one of the testing sites but the water was too rough. So we went to another reef and mapped out what shape the patches of coral are and measured their size. The coral reefs here are not very healthy. They are not colorful and full of fish like other reefs I have snorkeled. When the next research team is here in July they will look at our maps and see if the coral has changed.
Yesterday before dinner a wood carver from the island came to display his work. He carves from trees on the island in the shape of fish, turtles, fish or whatever you want. I put in a special order for a starfish.

p.s. We just got back from tide pool exploring at night! More about the octopus tomorrow!

CHALLENGE QUESTION: Why do you think the water is so polluted here? Why do you think the reef is not colorful? What do you think you can do about it? Do some of your own research to find the answers. Write your answer or post it on the blog. I love reading your comments!