Mariner Middle students explore Florida ecosystems
For the third year, Mariner Middle School eighth-graders have ended the school year by traveling to Florida to discover aquatic life and habitats.
“It’s much more than a science trip,” said teacher Carly Zych. “They gain life experience and make new friends with other kids they didn’t know or didn’t have classes with.”
Through educational travel company WorldStrides Discoveries Program, students spent four activity-packed days on the Gulf Coast learning about the environment and native species at rivers and beaches in the Tampa area.
On the first full day, students were fitted for wet suits to snorkel and swim with manatees in crystal-clear Rainbow River.
“You see the manatees in a wild and natural environment,” Zych said. “Not like places where you swim with dolphins in a big pool.”
Students swam with native fish, turtles and manatees, and learned about conservation efforts to save the endangered animals. They conducted water-quality tests, searched for pollutants and observed the sandy river bottom’s natural boiling springs.
That afternoon, they traveled to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park to see Florida’s endemic alligators, egrets, herons, river otters and captive-born and rehabilitating manatees scheduled for release into the wild. Students also met Lou, North America’s oldest hippo, born in 1964 and under constant geriatric care.
The next day took students to Fort DeSoto State Park, where they dissected spiny dogfish sharks caught unintentionally.
“We don’t dissect in the classroom anymore,” said teacher Peggy McDaniel. “It’s not part of the curriculum.”
“Kids were either really into it or really grossed out,” Zych said.
Students identified organs, determined the sex, and learned about siblicide and survival of the fittest in the wild. They kayaked through the park’s mangroves, tested water quality and dip-netted in Tampa Bay.
“Half the students had never been in a kayak,” Zych said. “Some had seined at Cape Henlopen State Park, so they got to see different species in Tampa Bay.”
At nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, students dissected a squid and competed in a scavenger hunt before dining and sightseeing on Clearwater’s white sandy beaches.
On their final day, students took a safari tour of Busch Gardens’ Serengeti Plain, where they fed giraffes; observed zebras, gazelles and exotic birds; and even squeezed in a few rides at the amusement park before heading to the airport for the trip home.
Along with Zych and McDaniel, teachers Brandon Biro, Jacob Kee, Corbin Bean and five parent chaperones accompanied the group.
Students register a year in advance to save $100 and start fundraising for the trip, which costs about $1,600 per student.
“We hold fundraisers and parents make monthly payments, so the kids learn about saving money, too,” Zych said.
Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation allocated funds to students, and trip organizers received an anonymous donation for the third straight year. Students raised over $20,000 through quarter auctions with items donated by local businesses, a car wash at Waves Car Wash in Lewes, school concession sales and state test success goody bags.
“The teachers get so excited for the kids, and they even came to send us off when we left,” Zych said. “Kids always say it was the best trip. They’ll always remember it.”
“There’s so much academics in the trip, but the life experience they gain is just amazing to me,” McDaniel added. “We had 21 first-time flyers. Some kids had never left Sussex County, been in a hotel or away from their parents for that long.”
