"The Seasons of the Seashore"

WINNER: Toyota Motor Car Company/ National Science Teachers Association Toyota TAPESTRY Grant for Teachers - 2000) , a one-year, $10,000 project.
WINNER: GTE GIFT award 1996.

What: Students use real-time research to investigate natural and human impact on the seashore environment, evaluate each to see what may be causing the current decline and disappearance of California wetland habitats, form reasoned judgments, and decide on actions. Students are involved with legislative decisions by communicating with elected officials concerning their findings and voicing their opinions about possible solutions. Beginning with article research, students investigate both naturally occurring problems - changes in seasons, weather, ocean water chemistry, etc. and man-made problems - raw sewerage spills, offshore oil drilling, construction on wetland sites, and public indifference. They use literature, letter writing, interviews, and the Internet to research man-made problems. These are integrated with research findings from the field where 16 student teams study the effects of seasonal abiotic and biotic variations on intertidal communities.

On several seashore visits, groups use professional field measurement and sampling apparatus to generate raw data on chemistry, pollutants, and plant and animal populations and use the findings to evaluate fluctuations in marine animal, alga, and plankton.

Student groups use scientific processes and problem-solving skills as they form judgments based on their data. Students culminate their investigations by writing letters to local officials and members of Congress stating their opinions on upcoming legislation and posting work on the Internet.

Where: Student groups conduct biotic and abiotic measurements on several trips to Abalone Cove intertidal area, a State Reserve, in Palos Verdes Peninsula, near Long Beach, California and Ballona Creek near Santa Monica California. Students travel to Birch Aquarium and Scripps Institute of Oceanography to investigate any similar problems occurring in San Diego. Other research is being conducted at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and at George Porter Middle School/Gifted Magnet, Granada Hills, California.

Why: The coastal wetland habitats in California are quickly disappearing. The fish are depleted, and the invertebrate population is decreasing. Large portions of the California coast are being coveted by commercial building interests. Legislation is currently being proposed that would protect large sections of California's coastline.

Many people are opposed to these types of restrictions. The students in this project are asked to investigate the opposing viewpoints and infuse research of their own.

This project empowers students who have a poor understanding of environmental sciences and who know even less of how citizens can effect governmental decisions (other than voting). It teaches students the procedures needed for precise, meaningful investigations and the importance of gathering a broad database before voicing an opinion. Participants improve their computer and Internet skills, further their competence in math, study skills, writing and organizational skills, and learn interviewing skills as they research problems, conduct field studies and interact with outside experts in the field.

The students develop understanding of man's interdependence with and role in preserving the environment, the relevance of science in their lives, the use of the scientific method in solving problems, the forces that have shaped our world and the physical characteristics of the oceans and seashores, environmental science research techniques and procedures, and the use of scientific apparatus, i.e. measuring devises, microscopes, GPS, computer hardware and software, and telecommunications