5th Grade Students Learn About their Water Shed With Boat Camp

5th Grade Students Gain First Hand Knowledge of the Merrimack River Watershed

Last week 5th grade students traveled to Plum Island where they boarded Captain’s Lady II to get a bird’s eye view of their watershed. Instructors from Merrohawke’s Boat Camp provided their expertise and guided students through 6 stations to gain a better understanding of the inter-connectedness of the estuarine system.

Gray seals were seen basking on the rocks during low tide.

Data is collected and analyzed at the 6 different stations. The stations are similar to investigations scientist conduct in order to determine the health of the aquatic ecosystem. The stations include; navigation, water quality (temperature and salinity), Secchi disk (used to determine turbidity), Eckman Dredge (used to collect a bottom sample), plankton tow, and a “touch tank” (examine common organisms found in the watershed).

Students used a plankton net to collect plankton samples from the river and the ocean. On Thurs. June 12 and Mon. June 16th we noticed a significant increase in zooplankton – safe to say that a plankton bloom occurred sometime between Wed. the 11th and Thurs. am!