Sand and Shells: A Winter Coastal Ecology Workshop for Teachers

"This was one of the best workshops I have ever attended. Thank you for all your hard work and planning!"

-2010 Teacher Workshop Participant

Last weekend, 6 teachers attended a winter coastal ecology workshop here at the MSC. After a morning of instruction, teachers donned their layers and headed to Wallops Island to make shell collections for their classroom. Wallops sparkled in the December sun. The bounty of shells on the beach was almost overwhelming: knobbed and channeled whelks piled above the wrack line, ponderous arks, channeled ducks, oysters, Atlantic surf clams, and Atlantic moon snails scattered around in quantities the teachers had never seen before. We found two moon jellies, and although their bodies were mostly desiccated, they had left beautiful radiating impressions of their internal structure in the sand. Sanderlings skittered about, dodging waves in unison and probing the sand for small invertebrate delicacies.

After loading their shell-collecting boxes (and arms!) with shells, teachers returned to the Consortium for lunch and an afternoon exploring the biology and natural history of the invertebrates that used to inhabit the shells they had collected. We finished the afternoon off with a round-table and brainstorming session about how the Marine Science Consortium can better serve teachers.

We've already started brainstorming on how to implement teachers' suggestions! Coastal Ecology Treasure boxes we can lend to schools, high school internships, teacher internships, and week-long summer workshops.

Thanks to the teachers who attended, and thanks to all the MSC staff who helped out!