Recently, Mount Madonna School
(MMS) fourth and fifth grade students visited the Seymour Marine Science Center
at the University of California, Santa Cruz; this off-campus learning adventure
was included to support students’ studies of local watersheds, food webs and
the ocean ecosystems.
“Students visited the marine
center to help them develop a deeper understanding of how matter changes as it
moves through food webs and watersheds,” said fourth grade teacher Nick
Cabassa. “Learning about ecosystems is part of the fourth grade science
standards, and beyond that, I want each student to gain a deeper understanding
of how their own personal actions can affect the watershed and ocean
ecosystem.”
Fifth grade students have
chosen orcas – or killer whales – as the focus of their class’ year-long,
cross-curricular environmental learning and community service project. The
science center exhibits and activities help to enhance their understanding of
the orca’s ecosystem.
“This field trip was a
wonderful way for students to understand how the broader ecosystem is connected
and how deeply each human action affects the ocean ecosystem,” said fifth grade
teacher Jessica Cambell. “This aligns with students’ orca project, as they
learned about plastic pollution, a threat to orcas, as well as issues that Coho
Salmon are facing locally with the various dams that prevent spawned salmon
from returning to the ocean.
“This directly connects to the
biggest threat facing the most endangered orca population, the Southern
resident orcas, as they are starving due to a lack of Chinook Salmon returning
to the ocean. In the last few years, the Southern resident orcas have come
farther and farther south in search of salmon, and the Coho Salmon found off of
coastal California are helping to feed them, but sadly these salmon are also
low in numbers due to the many dams. Students were able to put together all the
pieces through different lab activities and directly connect what they learned
to their project.”
