Links
Our Paper
For our 8th grade class trip, we went to Catalina Island, just off the coast of Los Angeles, California. After a long day of planes and busses, we finally made it to our camp on the Island. The name of the camp was CELP, which stands for Catalina Environmental Leadership Program. We would be staying there for five days, learning as much as possible about nature and the world around us. We did many activities on the island, which helped us on our path to learning. We went on a few hikes, and learned a lot about how the things in nature work with each other. We also went kayaking and snorkeling, which was very fun and interesting. During our snorkels, we learned about the ocean and the way the ecosystem works in the water. Team-building activities were a lot of fun too, and taught us how to work together better.
After much debate, we decided to study the habitat and living environments
of the Garibaldi. For us to find the answers to these questions we had
to use many scientific tools and techniques. We used our time during the
snorkels and kayaks to collect data on the Garibaldi. While we were snorkeling,
we could swim down and take photographs of these incredible fish in their
habitats. Our class used GPS systems to plot points in the areas we saw
Garibaldi, so we could see how many there were. We could look down into
the clear water and see where the Garibaldi were living.
We took a lot of data during the time we spent kayaking. We plotted more
GPS points, and measured the depth. To measure depth, we used a special
tool that we lowered down into the ocean until it was at the depth of
where the Garibaldi were. Our group took the temperature of the ocean
water as well.
After we collected all of our data and observed the Garibaldi, we could
now answer our questions. We then returned to Phoenix after a wonderful
trip, and put our data onto My World. On this amazing program, we could
load the data, and observe it to make conclusions. Using My World, we
discovered many things. We learned that the Garibaldi lived close to the
shore, and that they didn’t stray too far out into the deep depths
of the ocean. They live on the rocky bottoms of the kelp forest. The Garibaldi
are particularly territorial creatures who always try to protect their
nests from other fish. We believe that the loss of the kelp has effected
the Garibaldi population. The water was quite warm this year, killing
the kelp that the Garibaldi depend on. We had an amazing time on this
trip, and we learned a lot about the Garibaldi and nature itself.
.