April 2012 – Vacation = Exploration Bridgeport Students Study Long Island Sound

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This Spring, Bridgeport students got outside over spring break to learn about Long Island Sound and their nearby coastal habitats: They hauled in a trawl net aboard the 80′ Schooner SoundWaters; examined marine animals pulled from a seine net at Seaside Park; and dissected squid at their community centers.

This Spring, Bridgeport students got outside over spring break to learn about Long Island Sound and their nearby coastal habitats: They hauled in a trawl net aboard the 80′ Schooner SoundWaters; examined marine animals pulled from a seine net at Seaside Park; and dissected squid at their community centers.

The unique experience was made possible in part by the Fairfield County Community Foundation. The program partnered SoundWaters with Cardinal Shehan Center, McGivney Community Center and The Lighthouse Program.

The experiential, out of school education program was carefully designed by SoundWaters to develop scientific inquiry, literacy and math skills among underserved Bridgeport students of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. During three days of intensive and innovative teaching, mixed with lots of fun, students from the three partnering organizations rotated through the three program sites, exploring, experiencing and learning by doing the science of Long Island Sound as part of their community program’s out-of-school routine.

For three days, their new routine included wearing full-body waders with knee-high rubber boots, touching horseshoe crabs, flounders and shrimp, and building filters with sand, soil, peat and rocks to determine how each material filters polluted waters.

“A great program that was able to educate our members all about Long Island Sound through a fun, interactive approach,” said Joe DeSabella, Program Director at McGivney Center. “The SoundWaters staff was wonderful!”

This program was created especially for Bridgeport public school students over spring break to connect the students, many of them for the first time, with the hands-on experience of the water, tidal flats and creatures of their local environment. Its purpose was to improve science achievement among students, and inspire them to become future global citizens of this region.

Regards,

Leigh Shemitz, Ph.D.
Executive Director
SoundWaters