Join the Massachusetts Marine Educators for our annual Boston Harbor Educator Conference on September 29, 2018 at UMass Boston. The theme will be “Our New Boston Harbor Shoreline.” Conference will include exciting speakers, hands-on workshops, a panel discussion and an afternoon cruise to the Boston Harbor Islands! Our keynote speaker will be Frederick A. Laskey, Executive Director, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).
This year’s workshop topics include coastal storms, sea level rise, ocean acidification, stormwater, North Atlantic right whales, sturgeon conservation, and seashells as versatile teaching tools.
Register now for the Annual Meeting and Conference at WHOI
Please mark your calendar for MME’s 41st Annual Meeting and Conference in Woods Hole at WHOI’s Clark Building, Quissett Campus, which will be held on Saturday, April 8th from 8:30am to 4:15pm.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Kara Dodge, WHOI Guest Investigator
Insights into Leatherback Behavior using Tags, Cameras and Robots
Ken Kostel, WHOI Web Science Writer/Editor
Hands Across the Water: Introducing Students to Science at Sea
WORKSHOPS
Seabird CSI: Using Chemical Tools to Study the Biology of Seabirds
How Do We Explore?
Turtle TLC: Using Sea Turtles, Cape Cod Sea Turtle Strandings, and Turtle
Tour of WHOI’s New High Speed Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
Using Atlantic Salmon Telemetry Data and Developing Stream Obstruction Bypass
The Educational Whale Watch
Discovering Oceanography and Meteorology with Real-Time NERACOOS Buoy Data
RECEPTION
All are invited to a networking reception at SEA Education immediately following the conference.
For more information, including descriptions of each session and an event flyer, please visit our website! Please help us to spread the word about this exciting event.
MME Marine Art Contest
The annual MME Marine Art Contest is now underway, and the theme for this year is “Exploring the Marine Biodiversity of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.” There are five contest divisions: K-4, 5-8, 9-12, scientific illustration, and computer graphics.
Winning entries will be posted on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary website (http://stellwagen.noaa.gov), as well as used by the sanctuary and MME in their outreach programs. Notification and certificates will be sent to the participating teachers or individual students at their schools.
Click here for an event flyer and application form. Please share and/or post with your colleagues! Winning entries from 2016 can be viewed here.
The annual MA Marine Educators’ annual marine art contest is underway with a deadline of April 28. All students in grades K-12 are invited to participate. Entry is free. The theme is “Exploring marine biodiversity at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.” Winning art is incorporated into an annual calendar and tours the region in a traveling exhibit. Click here for more information.
Join colleagues from around the region for two days of networking and learning about what we study and how we study the Boston Harbor estuary and islands. The event will feature field trips, a Science Café, keynote presentations, lightning talks, panels, concurrent presentations, and panels. Keynote speakers are Anne Giblin from the Marine Biological Laboratory and Rich Batiuk from the Chesapeake Bay Program. The event is hosted by the National Parks of Boston and the Boston Harbor Habitat Coalition with additional sponsorship from Boston Harbor Now, Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program, Northeastern University, and UMass Boston. For more information, please visit http://tinyurl.com/bh-isymposium.
Several NEOSEC members are taking part in this collaborative project, including New England Aquarium. Program participants are keeping a blog of their activities during the workshop – follow along!
Day 2 – July 16, 2010
Margaret uses her quadrate to gather data about the area
Our second day was full of even more marine adventures! Today we took the teachers out to the Boston Harbor Islands to do some field investigations using the tidepools on Lovell’s Island. After putting on sunscreen, we hopped on a boat that we chartered right from the docks of the Aquarium. After a gorgeous 40-minute ride with the city of Boston in the background, we landed on the island. With a quick welcome from the National Park Service rangers, Doug and Tim, we headed to the west end of the island to do some exploring. Here are some of the reflections from the teachers on their experience.
Margaret Nolan – 6th grade in Hamilton, MA: “The boat ride to Lovell’s Island on this beautiful day was another great experience. When first let loose on the beach, we followed our first instincts to scatter and explore. I found it interesting that we were told that this is exactly what is suggested for our students – allow about 10 minutes to take in all that they can before beginning the field work.”
Due to the negative tide, we were able to reach areas that had some interesting inhabitants. This included a brittle seastar.
Abdulmalik Jackson – 8th – 12th grade in Boston, MA: “The prior knowledge, given the day before simplified and cut the amount of actual discussion needed to clarify our objectives. I must say duplicating the model of how we, the teachers receive the data, shall make my job all the easier when in the classroom. So upon completion of yesterday’s dock instructions we teamed up and were sent off. My partner Jim and I chose a tide pool with ground water running into the ocean. Placing our quadrant in the running water initially made it easy to observe the marine life. Our instructor Bill came over and observed our saline test with hydrometer, water temperature and gave examples of “how he taught his class/students these procedures”. Within 15 minutes we observed a group of hermit crabs quickly making their way towards the rocks, moments later, the tide started coming. Thus, clarifying why hermits were scurrying for safety. Bill also explained the importance of climate changing affecting our planet, specifically marine life, that it is an extremely delicate balance.”
The group heads towards the water to measure the sea level
Joyce Nett – 4th – 6th in Lexington, MA: “The more we can use measurement in its true context, the more meaningful it will be for students and the more likely they will be able to recall the skill when needed. Collecting data allows us to start building a database from which we observe trends. After a while, we can start to make hypotheses about these trends (were they under similar conditions, time of year, place, etc.) After analysis, students will begin to refine their requirements for data, perhaps adding a more accurate global position or time of day. In other words, they are motivated to develop the standards and methods of scientists because they want to see the data! Although I think I will keep most of our studies next year to fresh water areas near our school, I will definitely use most of these data collection methods.”
The Boston Harbor Educators Conference will be held Saturday October 3, 2009. The conference title is “Celebrating the Beauty of a Resource Long Forgotten”, and will be a day of discovery featuring a cruise through the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area to Thompson Island. Using all of our senses, we will learn about the islands, their living and cultural resources and ways we can incorporate these invaluable local sites into our lesson plans.
LOCATION: UMass Boston/Fox Point Pavilion for registration at 8:00 AM, Boston Harbor Islands cruise to Thompson Island for workshops and keynote presentation. Boat departure at 9:00 AM, return to UMass at 5:00 PM.
Program fee of $40 covers boat tour and transit to and from Thompson Island, all workshops, keynote presentation and lunch.
For more information or to register visit the MME website
Sponsors: Massachusetts Marine Educators, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area,
UMass Boston/Marine Operations, Ocean River Institute, and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
