Marine Science Camp: T-minus 5 weeks until camp begins!
We are pleased to announce that all field trips for 2017 Marine Science Camp are booked! We are so excited to share these adventures and curriculum with you, so to tide you over for summer we’re giving you a little sneak peek below:
Plankton Pioneers: Our small but mighty summer campers will have a day aboard our 90 foot research vessel. This Discovery Voyage includes deploying a fishing net off the stern of the boat, manning a mud claw to sample mud and invertebrates from the bottom of the Bay, and catching and examining plankton underneath a microscope. The best part? All campers get to use their muscles and their teamwork to help work the equipment!
Wetland Explorers: These Bay biologists and ecologists will visit two exciting field trip locations for a variety of activities that highlight the extremely varied local life and habitats. On their visit to Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont, campers will rotate through various stations at the wildlife preservation. The day will include: bird surveys, plankton tows, brine shrimp collection, and examining invertebrates captured in their fingertips! Their curiosity will surely be inspired by the beautiful wetland teeming with life. They will also visit the Palo Alto Baylands where campers will team up with Save the Bay for more wetland activities as well as some stewardship: they will help plant native species of local plants! Their third field trip will be a Discovery Voyage aboard MSI’s boat where they will participate in all the same fun as the Plankton Pioneers (see above), but with an added knots and nautical navigation station.
Ocean Explorers: Tidepooling, beach activities, and a stewardship activity with the California park rangers?! The field trips for this camp are truly exciting and filled with so many opportunities for exploring different beach types and the animals that call them home. Campers will enjoy a day of tidepooling and a rocky shore scavenger hunt at Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay. Their second field trip is to Dunes Beach, also in Half Moon Bay, where campers will learn about sand and the rock cycle, search for sand creatures like mole crabs and snails, and will work with the Park rangers to help remove non-native plants. They will also have a Discovery Voyage day with fishing, plankton tow, mud grab and a knots and navigation station.
Naturalists: Experienced campers will learn about biomimicry throughout their camp week, culminating in a design challenge while on their Discovery Voyage. A field trip to Bean Hollow State Beach in Pescadero will inspire campers to examine adaptations and physical pressures in depth. Their final field trip, to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, will allow campers to explore multiple ocean habitats, ecosystems and animals all within the same building!
Underwater Investigators: Middle schoolers will have a blast on their full-day canoeing
adventure. They will search for invertebrates in the mud, examine adaptations of wetland plants, and practice their chemistry with water quality testing activities. On their two-day overnight adventure, campers will travel to Angel Island State Park while on their Discovery Voyage. They will deboard and explore the island’s park and beaches while doing a variety of fun games and marine science curriculum.
Project Discovery: Bodega Bay adventures! High schoolers will learn about many coastal marine habitats and use a variety of scientific data collection methods.
