Project Oceanology

This past month, on the 16th and 17th of November, a group of about 40 LR students ranging from sophomores to seniors set off at 6am with Ms. Wolff, Mr. Mess, and our own lovely bus driver Carla. The group pulled into the University of Connecticut Campus at Avery Point around noon on Wednesday. Our group of ocean explorers set off to explore a piece of the beach on campus, looking for algae, barnacles, crabs, and other living organisms. Once the data was collected, they set off to the lab. While in the lab, groups learned about estuaries, water quality, and how to test density, salinity, nitrates, phosphates, temperature, and more. The following day, the ocean explorers packed onto a boat and hit the water! It is here that they caught a variety of fish, crabs, dog fish (aka baby sharks), and more, all while learning about the qualities of estuaries such as the Long Island Sound (and unofficially saw a Naval Submarine test in action). While on the boat, they learned how to test for all of those aforementioned water qualities “in the field,” the field being the Long Island Sound. It should also be added that on the way home, the students were able to stop at a submarine museum that was very interactive and even let you explore the inside of a real sub that was submerged in the water. Recently, all of the lovely pictures of the students have been circulating on the school website and LR TVs. In all, Project O went off perfectly!