Marine Biology is designed to inspire young adults to understand and care about the ocean, regardless of what occupation they pursue. One of the main goals has been to motivate students with authentic activities that are real contributions to the community and nature and involve students with organizations outside their schools. Students have collaborated with Friends of the Winooski, the UVM Watershed Alliance, the Montpelier Conservation Board, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science, the Central Caribbean Research Center (CCMI), and The Reef Environmental Educational Foundation, to name a few. We have always found that students are motivated to learn more and at a deeper level when they know their work is real and is available to the public.
The course is educationally innovative in that it is a hybrid course combining virtual and in-person learning. Students in grades 9-12 from multiple schools are all in the same class. The first half of the course will be primarily virtual, but there will be a monthly meeting in the evenings. During this time, we will learn about water’s chemical and physical characteristics, ocean origins, ocean environments (rocky, sandy, estuarine, coral reef, open water, deep ocean, etc.), invertebrates, vertebrates, and plankton. In the second half of the course, students will read and use REEF Creatures Identification, REEF Coral Identification, REEF Fish Identification, and REEF Fish Behavior by Paul Humann & Ned Deloach to prepare for research in the Caribbean.
Students in this class are intimately involved with the ocean as they collect data while snorkeling or diving on fish species and their abundance. They also directly observe marine invertebrates, coastal plants, and marine geology. Hopefully, with such a positive experience with their marine encounters, students will enjoy and understand the marine ecosystem and want to protect it. The research centers we visit welcome our fish research because we are the only group collecting this data at shallow depths. Our data is available worldwide on the REEF website.
As our amazing planet changes over time, it becomes increasingly apparent how human activity has made environmental impacts. In the Marine Biology course, students will delve deep into Earth’s bodies of water and study geologic structures and how they impact the oceans. Students will investigate the characteristics of various populations, life distribution patterns in our aquatic systems, and ongoing changes occurring daily in our precious ecosystems.
In late June, we will have 3 in-person days in the Montpelier area to prepare us for our research trip to the Caribbean.
Students will collect fish data while snorkeling or scuba diving if they are certified.