Free Science Classes for Local Schools

Winter Classes Teach Students About Conservation and the Salish Sea

Since 2008, the AmeriCorps members at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center have coordinated free science classes (FSC), a grant-funded winter program that offers free classes and bus fares to schools within about an hour’s drive of Port Townsend. We reach out mainly to schools with a higher percentage of students on free or reduced-price lunches, which otherwise might not have the chance to visit our exhibits.

The goal of this program is to introduce and inspire conservation of the Salish Sea to students from the area. This year, AmeriCorps Natural History Educator Ellie Kravets took the lead on coordinating the FSC logistics.

Each class that attends takes part in one class in the museum and one in the aquarium. This year, Ellie, Mandi Johnson, Michael Siddel and I decided to design two new curricula for the classes. Both of them require a high level of participation from the class to get students excited about the material.

Ellie Kravets and students in the TownQuest class discussing how plastics can harm animals.
Photo by PTMSC staff. 

The museum class, “TownQuest: A Salish Sea Adventure,” features a “choose your own adventure” style activity in which the students make decisions as townspeople. Their decisions impact the amount of plastic waste in the Salish Sea, the morale of their fellow townspeople, or both. Students utilize their critical thinking skills to come to decisions about how to minimize and solve environmental challenges.

Students working on their "Adaptation Scavenger Hunt"
in the aquarium for the Invertebrates class.
Photo by PTMSC staff. 

The aquarium class, “Invent an Invertebrate,” focuses on various  marine invertebrates’ adaptations that help them survive in their habitat. Students learn about the adaptations, see them in the aquarium, and then invent their own invertebrate by buying various adaptations with “sand dollars.”

The final piece of the FSC puzzle is the group of volunteers that help us with each class. We wouldn’t be able to keep all of the kids engaged and focused without their help!

This is the 12th year that PTMSC has held these classes for schools in the area. Prior to this year, the program had reached 7,325 students with an average of 665 students per year. We currently have 650 students enrolled for this year, with the possibility of adding an additional 100 students from one more school.

One of my favorite parts of this program is comparing the pre- and post-FSC surveys—something that each of the students fills out to show what they learned during our classes. I love seeing their ideas about how they are going to make a difference by being more thoughtful about plastic reduction and making sustainable choices.

With five weeks of classes left to go, I’m excited to continue showing students how interesting our environment is and helping them to see that it is worth saving!

Written by AmeriCorps Aquarium Educator Marley Loomis.

Citizen Science Report - Spring 2015

Rain, rain! Please don’t go away!

With a timely rain storm, PTMSC volunteers completed our roof runoff study in November of 2014. Since then, the Citizen Science program at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center had busy fall and winter seasons. The pages that follow highlight measurable impacts our volunteers have had on the health of the Salish Sea.

In 6 years, the Citizen Science program has doubled in volunteer hours. We will engage over 100 volunteers in the coming year. This summer, we will have 18 citizen science projects engaging mem-bers of our community in civic science. These are remarkable mile-stones for the program and we’d like to thank all of YOU for mak-ing it possible.

—Jamie Montague, Citizen Science Coordinator

Earth Day

Today is April 22nd, also known as the 39th annual Earth Day. The first Earth Day took place on April 22nd, 1970 and was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. Now, not even 40 years later, communities worldwide celebrate Earth Day.

Here, in Port Townsend, we celebrate by hiking the beautiful trails, and weeding, among other things we can all do individually. It could be as simple as taking a walk on the beach and picking up any trash you see. Or researching how plastics in the environment are ending up in leatherback turtles. Or even reading The Lorax (or watching the video version) with your favorite youngster and talking about what we can do to help "speak for the trees."

Speaking of youngsters, PTMSC will be celebrating Earth Day on Sunday the 26th of this month from 1 - 4 pm at The Food Coop. Along with our famous fish printing activities, local organizations will be having a blast with "knot tying, worm bins, model airplanes, boats, live music, sea chanties..." Sounds like a grand ol' time and we hope to see you there!

Two Programs for Your Consideration

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 - Frontline journalist Hedrick Smith will investigate the poisoned waters of Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay. The special, titled "Poisoned Waters," can be seen on PBS or online between 9 and 11 pm. “The environment has slipped off our radar screen because it’s not a hot crisis like the financial meltdown, war or terrorism,” Smith says. “But pollution is a ticking time bomb. It’s a chronic cancer that is slowly eating away the natural resources that are vital to our very lives.” To view a trailer, click here.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 - In Jean-Michel Cousteau's series, Ocean Adventures, he and his crew explore the lives of orcas. The crew will travel worldwide to find these apex predators, and discuss how the health of orcas intersects with that of humans. To view a trailer, click here. To view trailers of other episodes, including those featuring sharks, beluga whales, and gray whales, click here.