Day 6 Part 2: Spat bags, data and intertidal fun!
We woke up this morning to yet another stunning day. Honesty its ridiculous the weather has been wicked awesome. Some of us rose with the sun to work on projects and read next to the ocean, while others barely made it to breakfast. With full stomaches we headed out to the dock to work on spat bags. Now spat bags might sound like they are bags full of spit but that is not the case. Spat bags are used to trap and grow scallop larvae. They float in the water and provide a place for the larvae to settle. With that being said, the bags pick up a lot more than scallops
(mainly little clams and worms). Our job was to go though the bags and separate the scallops from the other organisms. Most of the scallops were under three millimeters long, and with my grandma vision they looked more like sand than a bivalve. As a group we found over 100 little scallops. These babies will go to a aquaculture farm till they are big enough to use.
(mainly little clams and worms). Our job was to go though the bags and separate the scallops from the other organisms. Most of the scallops were under three millimeters long, and with my grandma vision they looked more like sand than a bivalve. As a group we found over 100 little scallops. These babies will go to a aquaculture farm till they are big enough to use.
After squatting in the dirt squinting at sea grime, we grabbed some watercolor and poetry notebooks and headed out for a mindful hike. We walked out into the woods and up a twisty trail in silence. Nathan lead us in literal circles which was a little weird but we were all present non the less. At the top of the trail we all took a seat and produced some serious creative juices. After we were all juiced out we headed down for lunch. With full bellies we embarked on the second hike of the day, this one focused on sustainability. The tour began with a look at the solar panels, the sole source of electricity for the island. Silas explained how the panels collected and stored energy and what mainlines the system needs. Next we learned about how the water is filtered from the pond to the top of the island and then redistributed to the various water-reliant amenities. Finally we got to see how the composting toilets worked. This was my favorite part because we have toilets just like these at school. They always look like a endless black hole that would swallow an unlucky phone, never to be seen again. In actually the toilet is connected to a tube about 6 feet long that leads to a larger bin. The bin contains wood chips and other types of bacteria that eats up the waste. The liquid waste drains to a pipe that leads to the garden to be filtered. The solid waste is used a compost for flowers and other greenery on the island. It was very interesting but I'm sure many students were glad that dinner was not for a few hours so they could forget some of the brown ooze seeping form the compost. After our hikes we returned to the swallows nest to work on our presentations. Talks of P-values and chi test filled the room as we finished analyzing data and finalized graphs. Steve and Marilyn answered question after question and by the end of the block most of us felt ready for the big day tomorrow. Scientist are known for their inability to communicate research, but we are all doing our best to make our experiments accessible. We took a break from our work for a final walk to the intertidal. Mira and I’s work was lab focused so going out in the field was especially exciting, but with the projects behind us, we all were feeling care free. Doing our best not to slip, we gawked at crabs, snails and an ungodly amount of sea weed. We even found this beautiful worm that was covered in a shiny blue sheen. Its body was delicate and gooey and overall uber cool. The ocean was so lovely that I just had to jump in (YOLO). The island got a fresh food delivery today so dinner was especially plentiful. With that being said there can never be too much bread, the final piece had to be split 5 ways. We are currently back in the Swallows Nest finishing projects and playing games. I just had a very unfortunate loss to Steve in backgammon (screw you dice, I would have won). Everyone has mixed feelings with the trip coming to a rapid end and we are making the most of the last few days we have together. We miss our family and friends but know that this experience is once in a high school time.
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.