Science was the focus of today’s Bravo team class. With windy weather and a small craft advisory posted, we were not able to go boating. Instead, we focused on learning more about inquiry based science.
We stared off the day with knot tying practice focusing on the bowline. This knot can be challenging to learn and there are many ways that people tie it. Our goal is to be able to tie a bowline with our eyes closed and behind our backs!
After that, we jumped in to learning about science. We started with research into a few tools we have available this year: plankton nets, refractometer, Secchi disk, thermometer, and pH strips. Students researched each tool on laptops- What is it? What does it collect or measure? How do you use it? What is the importance of that information to the marine habitat?
After learning about these tools and the parameters they measure, we started generating questions about the Port Townsend Bay habitat. We will use these questions to set up a scientific inquiry study this year.
Then we headed down to the dock. After a snack break and a moment of silence aboard our longboat Townshend, we headed to the dock to practice sampling. We made some edits to our data sheet using what we learned during our sampling- adding weather, wind speed and direction, tide height, and other observations.
We are excited to use these tools to learn more about the marine environment in this year’s class.
