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This story appeared on Page A3 of The
Standard-Times on April 13, 2005
Local students study water ecology
By BETH DAVID, Standard-Times correspondent
DARTMOUTH -- Fifth-grade students at the James M.
Quinn Elementary School got a hands-on lesson in the
role of wave action in spreading pollution, and how
to measure water purity.
Part of a coastal studies program by the Lloyd
Center for Environmental Studies in Dartmouth and
the Dunn Foundation of Rhode Island, the "Turn the
Tide" program is a combination of field and
classroom work that allows students to interpret
real data and contribute their own findings to study
and report on the environment.
Students have journeyed out to coastal areas,
including local rivers that feed into Buzzards Bay,
and will return at regular intervals to collect new
data for comparison. The information they collect
will be added to a database managed by the Lloyd
Center, the town of Dartmouth and the UMass School
of Marine Science and Technology.
Ellen Roy Herzfelder, secretary of the state
Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, joined
state Rep. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, to get the
students started on the project yesterday.
Unveiling a large map of Dartmouth, Ms. Herzfelder
explained to students that they need to think about
groundwater as well as the water they can see.
"Even though we're growing as a community, you're
considering what's happening to the natural habitat
of your community," Ms. Herzfelder said. "Because it
belongs to you and to me. And to all the natural
creatures out there."
She reminded students that Massachusetts is the Bay
State and told them that they live in the most
important place in Massachusetts because of the
history of the bay.
"So what you do is very important," she said. "What
we do in our own back yard makes a difference in the
life around us."
One group of students studied water flow as a wave
maker pushed water toward various foam cutouts
designed to mimic the coastline, complete with
variously placed jetties. They watched as a drop of
"pollution" was placed at different points in the
water and studied how the shape of the coastline and
the placement of jetties affected where the
pollution spread or got trapped.
"We're teaching how a wave is formed," Rep. Quinn
said. "How many people look to understand waves? It
brings reality into the classroom."
"I learned that different types of land pieces can
make a difference in the wave movements," said
student Brittany Boucher.
"The jetty makes pollution go more to land than out
to sea," said student Lauren Santos.
"We learned how the (shore) at Round Hill is shaped
and how the waves react to it," said student Tyler
Oliveira. "Because you never really thought about
that. It's pretty cool to see where the waves will
go."
"When two waves are each going each in a different
way and hit, it forms an undertow," student Joseph
Hilchey said.
"We learned that you can probably escape from a rip
current if you swim sideways," student Amanda Holt
said.
This story appeared on Page A3 of The
Standard-Times on April 13, 2005 |
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