Week 18

Another busy week of learning.
I was at the beach by 6:30 on Monday morning, a good low tide and one last transect to do at the southern end of the marine reserve. Was a nice time to be there too. Saw a few brittle stars down near the low tide mark too which I hadn't seen before.
With the data collected I spent a couple of days with Elise trrying to put it into a format that can go onto a GIS map. We added some photos but it took a while to change the Excel data into a csv format for the map. Eventually the data will be online as a baseline for others to see. We spent a couple of mornings on this and there was a real sense of satisfaction when we got things to work. (Though an email this weekend from Elise means I have to change some things) It is about learning anew way to present data that will become accessible for lots of others.
On Thursday afternoon I spent the time with my class. It was to prepare them for a trip to the Marine Reserve on Friday morning. My approach was different just for the hour and a bit I was there because of the things we have talked about in developing an understanding of the nature of science. It was arushed session, I had to get in what we were going to do, some species they would see, why we were doing it, why scientists would do this, as well as the usual organisation and safety stuff.

Friday morning was a lovely Taranaki day and we were at the Marine Reserve by 9:15. I set out a 45m transect and put the kids into groups 5m apart. They had a quadrat and different recording sheets. They counted and recorded what they could see. They made a good job of this. We moved the tape up the beach and they carried out 3 qudrats in total. "Look Mr Smart we found a chiton!" (On Thursday no one knew what a chiton was or had heard of one) "We found a hermit crab" It was really exciting to hear the enthusiasm of the class and their genuine excitement at learning and finding new things in the rock pools. After morning tea they had achance just to explore the reef and they found some new things then as well.

I have missed this contact with my class and know I will look forward to being back at school next year, and I know I will be a better science teacher for my experience.