Marine Science "Afloat" Field Trip
Today was the Marine Science "Afloat" science field trip, where we stayed on a boat pretty much the whole day.
In the morning, we learned about the Puget Sound. There were four sessions. The first session we went to we got to learn about taking water samples with a Nansen and a Niskin water bottle. They are different devices to get water samples. Then you can analyze the samples. We also used plankton nets to get plankton samples. Then we analyzed the samples under a microscope and found actual plankton in them. It was interesting. Another session we watched plankton move around in our samples under a big video microscope. We saw a baby barnacle, huge shrimp, arrow-worms, copepods, and phytoplankton among other things. The final session we learned about marine mammals and how they survived in the cold.
In the afternoon, we watched as the divers dived and the cameras on their heads projected what they were seeing. We saw many different forms of sea life, including the interesting sea cucumber and the rockfish. We also saw many sea anemone and sea stars. At the end, we saw what happened when a sea star got near an anemone and started poking it. It jumped off its rock and started wiggling and 'dancing' away. It rode the currents and flew away. Then we got to touch some of the species of animals in the Puget Sound. I touched as many as I could - including one starfish that latched onto your arm hair and when you pulled it off it hurt a bit.
In conclusion, the field trip was very fun!
In the morning, we learned about the Puget Sound. There were four sessions. The first session we went to we got to learn about taking water samples with a Nansen and a Niskin water bottle. They are different devices to get water samples. Then you can analyze the samples. We also used plankton nets to get plankton samples. Then we analyzed the samples under a microscope and found actual plankton in them. It was interesting. Another session we watched plankton move around in our samples under a big video microscope. We saw a baby barnacle, huge shrimp, arrow-worms, copepods, and phytoplankton among other things. The final session we learned about marine mammals and how they survived in the cold.
In the afternoon, we watched as the divers dived and the cameras on their heads projected what they were seeing. We saw many different forms of sea life, including the interesting sea cucumber and the rockfish. We also saw many sea anemone and sea stars. At the end, we saw what happened when a sea star got near an anemone and started poking it. It jumped off its rock and started wiggling and 'dancing' away. It rode the currents and flew away. Then we got to touch some of the species of animals in the Puget Sound. I touched as many as I could - including one starfish that latched onto your arm hair and when you pulled it off it hurt a bit.
In conclusion, the field trip was very fun!
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