90th Birthday
Dear Editor: It has been six months since my 90th birthday was celebrated in the commons at senior housing, and I know that I am very late in saying thanks to all of my family and all of you friends who attended and brought ‘‘goodies’’ to be enjoyed by all (and they sure were).
Most of all I want to take this opportunity to thank God for the many years He has given me, especially in Sitka for 50-plus of those years. Without God’s presence in my life, I do not know what this life would be, but, by his grace, I have been richly blessed.
My husband Frank and our family members, as well as our many friends through these years, have been a real part of my life. I don’t know how much more time I have on earth, only God knows, but I want to say thank you, again, to each of you.
Ruth V. Roth, Sitka
WhaleFest
Dear Editor: For many years now, I have had the opportunity to participate in the WhaleFest Scientist in the Schools Program. When a WhaleFest scientist steps into the classroom, it brings science up to a whole new level. This year’s WhaleFest BMS sixth-grade science activity involved Steve Lewis preparing students for Marnie Chapman who led students in an analysis of local waters for invertebrate invasive species.
It was an incredible experience for our students because in three days they learned enough vocabulary, local species, and concepts to be able to do a settlement plate analysis that was recorded and can be used as a comparison in years to come. The data is important for many reasons beyond documenting the spread of invasive species in Sitka harbors. It can be used to demonstrate the effects of climate change and ocean acidification in our fast changing ocean ecosystem. Just the process of collecting the data taught my students:
–how plate analysis data is collected;
–how percent is figured in data analysis;
–how students can contribute to monitoring the ocean that they depend upon;
–how students can do real science that counts.
This experience was in the planning last spring. Steve and Marnie kept me in the loop from the beginning. Marnie actually set out the plates last July and they soaked collecting many different invertebrate species. Marnie and crew brought over UAS microscopes and stages to put the plates on. She and the SSSC crew made hauling seawater, plates and ice to my room look easy. I prepared the students by doing a marine ecology unit that included collecting plankton and looking at it under microscopes beforehand.
All of Steve’s work with an improvised bingo game using a homemade “ID book” to identify organisms they might find got the students excited. When the students walked in to examine their plates they were good to go. This is actually the fourth year that my sixth-graders have gotten to do this project. This means they can compare the data they collected this year to the data collected in previous years. Also as an extra bonus, their settlement plate data is being entered into a Smithsonian Plate Watch web site that the students will be able to access. What I loved most about the project was that the students got to see a part of the fouling community (the tunicates, bryozoans, hydroids, and many invertebrate species) that they never get to see or hear about in text books or even in our plankton lab. These tiny organisms are the first layer of life that appears on settlement plates and open a whole new world to students. Through this activity students got to learn science skills by doing REAL science!
Besides teaching our Blatchley Middle School students important science skills, Sitka WhaleFest Scientists in the Schools Program is a wonderful professional development for teachers and enable them to incorporate meaningful monitoring type activities year after year. A UAS whale monitoring class that I took years ago (from Jan Straley) and SWF scientists in my class over the years have enabled me to improve my techniques for teaching students to collect data on annual sea mammal boat field trips. A SWF plankton scientist who spent a week in my classroom taught me (along with my students) how to identify plankton, teach students to collect and monitor it year after year.
Another SWF scientist taught me how to teach experiential lessons for ocean acidification way before it was brought to the attention of our media that it receives today. I could give you many more examples, but just know that the SWF Scientists in our Schools is a very powerful presence in my students AND my education.
I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to all the people who support Sitka WhaleFest either by funding, teaching, organizing, researching, volunteering, and presenting. I know personally the Sitka Sound Science Center WhaleFest team stretches every penny they get for the maximum benefit for our marine community.
Jan Straley’s vision of a forum to enrich our scientific knowledge enables us to learn the latest and greatest findings right away so we can make informed decisions and that impact life as we know it. Gunalcheesh Marnie Chapman, UAS, and Steve Lewis, for creating a research project that Blatchley Middle School sixth-graders can contribute to in years to come! I would also like to thank all the parents and teachers who encouraged their children to attend WhaleFest lectures this year. Their commitment is our hope for the future. Gunalcheesh!
Patty Dick, Blatchley Middle School
Sixth Grade Science Teacher
