Students in Ms. Carone and Ms. Williams Oceans classes at High School West recently headed to Sunken Meadow State Park to model how we explore, monitor, and protect our waters.
In the morning, they worked with staff at Western Suffolk BOCES to design and engineer underwater robots called Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV’s) that had to perform various tasks when deployed in the water at the park. This hands-on activity helped students recognize that sometimes the tools we need to help us better understand our world just don’t exist yet, and gave them a chance to use their creativity and skills to change that!
Then in the afternoon, students participated in a beach clean and completed a training they’ve been working towards with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSEAS). The goal of the training was to help students learn how to monitor our beaches for marine debris.
Additionally, students searched for federally protected sea turtles, who, while migrating through our waters may get caught by a sudden cold shift in the weather, resulting in a state similar to hypothermia. These “cold stunned” turtles frequently die if they are left on the beach or illegally picked up and returned to the water by well-intentioned beachgoers instead of making their way to the AMSEAS facility for treatment and appropriate reacclimation to the water. Students used models of turtles to role play proper procedures they would use to help facilitate the AMSEAS rescue and rehab process.
Anyone who would like to obtain this certification can speak with AMSEAS next weekend (10/21) at Sunken Meadow State Park, as they are one of the sponsors of the Ecology Club/GreenTeam Community-Wide Annual Beach Cleanup from 10am-12pm.
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