Exploring Talafofo

This week for Marine Biology, we went to Talafofo to explore the estuary. When you search "estuary" on google, it'll state, "the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream." The class started around 1:20pm, and everyone had separated into pairs. Before heading to the water, Julie, our teacher assistant (TA), explained a few house rules. She explained how to row using the kayak as a safety precaution. As we strapped on our life jackets, each pair decided who would be the front and back paddler. Julie suggested that the back be the more experienced out of the pair since the back paddler is also the steerer of the kayak. The front merely sets the pace for the pair. By this time, I was extremely excited to just onto the kayak and see the river. My partner had more experience with a kayak so she was the navigator for the trip. Once our professor pushed his kayak out, the rest followed.

It was easy to go up the river. The hard part was paddling back to site (the currents were against us). The river split into two channels. What the class immediately noticed was how clear one was to the other. One touch of the water below signaled that the clearer of the two was fresh water (the other was salt water). It was interesting because the temperature of the two differed as well, although both was receiving direct sunlight. I remembered from one of the lectures that fresh water was naturally cooler than salt water. As it neared 3pm, our professor signaled it was time to go back. All in all, exploring the Talafofo estuary was definitely one for the books.

Comments

Things we can't see

There are some things the human eye simply cannot see. This week for Marine Biology, our class got to utilize two different microscopes. The professor collected some marine species to observe; some animals and planktons. It was great because all groups got to see certain mutations their bodies adapted in order to survive within their respective environment. We got to take turns to observe corals, sea spiders, snails, clams, and seaweed. It all looked a bit out of this world as if I borrowed glasses from someone who was almost blind. The sea spider creeped me out the most due to its multiple legs. I think that the most important part of the lab was seeing the plankton roaming around the water. To think that a colossal amount of animals rely on this tiny species to survive boggles my mind up to now. After all, it is what feeds almost the whole food chain, one way or another. So in that case, hurray for the tiny things that swim around in our oceans! You guys rock!

EdPuzzle

For ED271, we were introduced to a new software called EdPuzzle. What is EdPuzzle you ask? Basically it's an interactive video that allows teachers to teach outside of a classroom. This includes, but is not limited to: asking questions, customizing a video to suit the class, and adding audio notes along the way. It's a great tool to have around as a way to keep track of how students perform outside of the classroom. This is most beneficial to online students, teachers who want students to learn the topic beforehand or teachers testing students after the lesson. The topic I chose for EdPuzzle were the three states of matter. Since Crash Course is a popular youtube channel for middle, high school, and college students, I thought it would be nice to explore Crash Course within the elementary curriculum as well. After condensing the video to the length I thought students would reasonably watch, I added questions and audio notes along the video to ensure they understand it. THE ...

Under the weather

It's official. I am siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick. I was unable to attend lab this week. It was going to be at Ypao Beach where they were to feed the fish, but since I still have a severe cold, I decided it was best to stay away from the beach until I make a full recovery. For now, I must make do with nothing but soup and long hot showers to clear away this nasty cold from my system. Be gone, blasted cold!

Jennella's ED271 Blog

Search This Blog