Media Advisory – June 17-21, 2013

June 14th, 2013

Believe it or not many students, teachers, administrators and parents from the Ripley, Ohio school district will get their first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean as part of a special week-long program coordinated by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) and research scientists.

Nearly two dozen 7th and 8th grade students will become acquainted with the marine habitats of Sandy Hook and build a cohesive understanding of the science of the ocean, our dependence on coastal habitats, and the role and responsibilities humans have in their life-giving systems. The participants will also students will see for themselves the effect of the forces of nature first hand when they visit areas severely affected by Superstorm Sandy and see ongoing recovery efforts.

Each day will involve outdoor instruction and inquiry-based exploration in Sandy’s Hook’s maritime environments and local off-site destinations followed by “hands-on” learning activities and laboratory-style experiments in NJSGC’s Sandy Hook lab. It’s all about doing and not lectures and listening.

WHO:  Students, Teachers, Parents and Even the Bus Driver

WHAT: A week-long eco-cational summer experience for K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators and Higher Education Faculty

WHERE:  NJSGC Headquarters, Parade Ground Entrance, 22 Magruder Road, Fort Hancock, NJ

WHEN: Monday June 17th through Friday June 21st 2013 starting at 8:30 am at Building #22 in Fort Hancock

Members of the media are welcome to participate in any of the activities and accompany the groups on any or all of the excursions and outings, including the boat trip on Tuesday afternoon, June 18th. Contact NJ Sea Grant Communications to make arrangements or reserve space on the boat.

SUMMER PROGRAM AT SANDY HOOK, NEW JERSEY  –  JUNE 17-21, 2013

Seventh Grade Program

Day 1: Investigation of Sandy Hook’s salt marsh and estuarine environment

Led by educators from the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) students will:

  • Use a seine net to gather marine life.
  • Learn how to identify and safely handle the marine animals that are captured.
  • Learn about native plants and their importance.
  • Gather water samples and learn how to test salinity, dissolved oxygen, and pH.
  • Look at maps and nautical charts to become more familiar with the surrounding area and its characteristics.
  • Graph daily high and low tide times over a given period of time.
  • Use a plankton net to collect a sample of microscopic life in the water.
  • Use microscopes to identify plankton

Day 2: Morning: Tour of Sandy Hook’s James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory

Afternoon: Boat trip on the Captain John, Keyport, NJ. (3:30 sailing)

Day 3: Morning: Explore a Barrier Beach

Led by educators from the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) students:

  • Understand that waves, winds and currents shape the beach and redistribute tons of sand each day.
  • Identify how beaches change over time.
  • Learn how to measure the shape of a beach.
  • Graph the data they collect to illustrate the shape of the beach.
  • Examine sand with microscopes.
  • Compare and contrast sand samples from all over the world.
  • Investigate the differences between summer and winter waves.
  • Meet a scientist who studies beaches.
  • Learn about seashells and make a collection.
  • Learn about an endangered shorebird, the Piping Plover

Afternoon: Visit Sandy Hook’s Historic sites (Lighthouse, Museum, Forts)

Day 4: Morning: How Scientists Study the Ocean

Led by educators from the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) students:

  • Build and test an underwater robot that can be operated remotely (ROV) from kits provided.

Afternoon: Afternoon: Shark and squid dissection

Day 5: Morning: Understanding sea-level rise and other effects of climate change on the ocean.

Led by educators from the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) students will:

  • Discuss changed in sea level have and will affect coastal areas.
  • Discuss how sea level rise and other climate change issues could affect Sandy Hook.
  • Build a clay model to simulate a marsh to discover that the shape and the gradient of a salt marsh determines how the marsh will be affected by rising sea level.

Afternoon: Presentations to seventh grade students by eighth grade students

OHIO SUMMER PROGRAM AT SANDY HOOK, NEW JERSEY – JUNE 17-21, 2013

Eighth Grade Program

Day 1: Morning: Is Sandy Hook Growing?

Led by William Slattery of Wright State University students will:

  • Use maps to determine the distance from the Sandy Hook lighthouse to the tip of Sandy Hook
  • Calculate the speed of the longshore current moving sand northward along Sandy Hook
  • Learn to pace distances and make maps.
  • Use maps of various scales to determine the growth of Sandy Hook over time
  • Look at maps and nautical charts to become more familiar with the surrounding area and its characteristics.

Day 2: Morning: How Scientists Study the Ocean

Led by William Slattery of Wright State University students will:

  • Use maps to determine the distance the present ocean shoreline to the outcrop of Cretaceous sediments inland from the present day ocean shoreline.
  • Collect modern fauna from the modern fauna from beach and estuarine environments to compare with fossils collected from the sediments of the Atlantic Coastal

Afternoon: Modern Ocean  Sampling cruise on Sandy Hook Bay aboard R/V Captain John

Day 3: How Are the Modern and Ancient Oceans the Same and Different?

Field trip to collect fossils at Big Brook and Poricy Park.

Day 4: Morning: Coastal changes on shorter time scales.

Superstorm Sandy – How did this storm change the New Jersey Coast?  Led by Dr. William Slattery of Wright State University, students will visit several sites affected by Superstorm Sandy and witness on-going recovery efforts.

Afternoon: Squid and shark dissection

Day 5: Poster development and Presentations

Students will:

  • Work in groups to develop an Earth system snapshot of the differences between the Cretaceous and present day oceans and what changes in the Earth system could account for the differences.
  • In the afternoon of the fifth day the students will present their group reports to all participants, parents, scientists and facilitators.