For an entire marking period, the 7th grade Science classes at Manchester Township Middle School studied the Barnegat Bay ecosystem.  They became aware of what kinds of organisms live in this habitat and why the Bay is so important. 

In conjunction with their technology classes, all students composed a persuasive letter to a government official to try to express the need to take action to protect this environment.  Many students have received responses from the political official they wrote to. 

To culminate the end of this study, 7th graders went on a field trip to Cattus Island Park, situated on Barnegat Bay.  While there, the students were able to see first hand the ecosystem they had learned about.  They also took part in several activities.  They went on a mile-long nature walk out to the beach site.  The explorers then rotated between 4 activities: seining, a marsh walk, a dichotomous key activity, and a percolation test. 

Some of the creatures that were discovered through seining and the marsh walk were: ospreys, egrets, pipefish, bay anchovies, shrimp, crabs, hogchokers, and flounder.  The dichotomous key activity allowed students to identify many plant species that grow in this area including high bush blueberries, red oaks, pitch pines, American holly, switch grass, and cedar trees.  The percolation test demonstrated the human impact on the environment.  The students discovered that where humans have compacted the soil, for example on a road or well-worn path, the water sinks into the ground very slowly.  It is more likely to run off the land without being filtered through the ground and therefore carrying many pollutants with it.

Even though the weather did not always cooperate and many groups had to trudge through muck and rain, all participants had a great time taking what they learned in the classroom outside.