On Tuesday, Mr. Fisher’s marine ecology classes took a trip to a local nature preserve in Raleigh. Prairie Ridge Pond is a branch of the Natural Science Museum located downtown. This preserve and a few others are located in the area where the museum’s scientists do their research.
Before the trip, I asked junior Cloey Frankel why she was excited about this trip and she said, “I’m excited about the field trip because in high school we don’t get to take a lot of field trips. I also feel like we don’t get to see marine life that often around here so this will be a cool experience for that!”
When the classes first arrived, they were introduced to the first group of workers who would be assisting in their trip, Karin and Mimi. Their station was testing and determining the quality of the pond’s water using what we know about the organisms in it. A common organism found was the Phantom Midge which can survive in poor quality water. A couple of groups were able to find other organisms like beetles and tadpoles which need to have good to excellent water quality to survive. Students were able to determine most of their water samples were fair to good. They also were challenged to think about what sort of human influence might this pond experience.
The second group was divided into two and station one was run by Stephanie. The students were told about the streams all over North Carolina and that Millbrook is right at the very edge of the Neuse River basin. They then went down to the stream to try and find the organisms that live in the water. Many students were lucky enough to catch a crayfish or two and others even found salamanders. Junior Zoe Lake said, “My favorite part of the trip was definitely when my bus buddy and I caught the crayfish with our nets in the water!”
Then the groups switched and they were now working with Julie to understand the importance of nature around streams. Students were able to determine the nature surrounding the streams and rivers helps to protect the streams from harm and keep them healthy. They then walked around the prairie to locate different types of trees and plants and share what they’ve learned about them. Senior Taylor St.Clair said, “My favorite part was when we were in the stream flipping the rocks to look for animals!”
Lastly, the groups met back up again to sit together outside on picnic benches and eat their lunches. Marine ecology teacher Mr. Fisher said, “The purpose of our trip was for students to get a hands-on experience in collecting and identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates that can be used as bioindicators in determining the health of bodies of freshwater.” Many students agreed they had a more fun time on this trip than they expected they would and they were glad they were a part of it.
