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Dauphin Island Sea Lab Field Trip
Connor's RLC class took a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab down on the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. We spent 3 days there and the kids got to do a lot of really neat things! We toured the Estuarium where we saw all kinds of different fish as well as a nurse shark and an octopus. During our beach walk we learned about different kinds of jellyfish...the one pictured above is called a moon jelly and doesn't have much of a sting. The kids touched it and even picked it up! We also took a hike through the maritime forest and visited Indian Mound Park and searched for pieces of pottery.
The next day we got to visit Fort Gaines, which helped guard the mouth of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. We had a really informative tour guide who taught us all about the fort...he even shot a musket and a cannon for us. During one of our labs the kids got to inspect lots of different sea creatures that had been preserved. Notice the picture of Connor with this shirt over his nose. The room reeked of formaldehyde, but he got over it pretty quickly after he got to "play" with a couple of different kinds of sharks. Next, the kids got to dissect a squid. They cut it open and learned how to tell if it was male or female, locate its gills and heart, and even got to extract its "spine" and use its ink sac to write their name. After the dissecting was over our guide fried up some squid (no, not the one we dissected) and the kids got to try a piece. Connor wasn't sure if he wanted to try it or not, but decided that he liked it...what isn't good fried???
The next day we went to the salt marsh and searched for crabs in what can only be described as a mud bog. The kids had a mud race and had a lot of fun getting filthy. The mud smelled SOOOO bad! It smelled like sulphur. After they got good and dirty, we headed over to the oyster beds and the kids practiced dragging seines to catch more crabs, fish, shrimp, etc. Connor and I took advantage of my aunt and uncles house on the island and stayed a couple of extra nights to enjoy the beach. Connor actually caught a puffer fish while we were swimming. We had fun touching it and watching it puff up. On Sunday, we took the ferry across the bay to Fort Morgan and headed back home. It was an awesome trip and we both really learned a lot.
Connor's RLC class took a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab down on the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. We spent 3 days there and the kids got to do a lot of really neat things! We toured the Estuarium where we saw all kinds of different fish as well as a nurse shark and an octopus. During our beach walk we learned about different kinds of jellyfish...the one pictured above is called a moon jelly and doesn't have much of a sting. The kids touched it and even picked it up! We also took a hike through the maritime forest and visited Indian Mound Park and searched for pieces of pottery.
The next day we got to visit Fort Gaines, which helped guard the mouth of Mobile Bay during the Civil War. We had a really informative tour guide who taught us all about the fort...he even shot a musket and a cannon for us. During one of our labs the kids got to inspect lots of different sea creatures that had been preserved. Notice the picture of Connor with this shirt over his nose. The room reeked of formaldehyde, but he got over it pretty quickly after he got to "play" with a couple of different kinds of sharks. Next, the kids got to dissect a squid. They cut it open and learned how to tell if it was male or female, locate its gills and heart, and even got to extract its "spine" and use its ink sac to write their name. After the dissecting was over our guide fried up some squid (no, not the one we dissected) and the kids got to try a piece. Connor wasn't sure if he wanted to try it or not, but decided that he liked it...what isn't good fried???
The next day we went to the salt marsh and searched for crabs in what can only be described as a mud bog. The kids had a mud race and had a lot of fun getting filthy. The mud smelled SOOOO bad! It smelled like sulphur. After they got good and dirty, we headed over to the oyster beds and the kids practiced dragging seines to catch more crabs, fish, shrimp, etc. Connor and I took advantage of my aunt and uncles house on the island and stayed a couple of extra nights to enjoy the beach. Connor actually caught a puffer fish while we were swimming. We had fun touching it and watching it puff up. On Sunday, we took the ferry across the bay to Fort Morgan and headed back home. It was an awesome trip and we both really learned a lot.
1 comment:
hey,
Tom called tonight and he moved to a beachfront condo with pool since the other condo was being sold. Sounds a bit better for the beach part. Also, if you post any of those fat-a$$ed pictures of me riding the motorcycles from this past weekend, I will retaliate somehow, someway, MUCH worse. Remember, I am older than you and deserve R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Jamie
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