Introduction:

Using the 4 themes of the Catalina Environmental Leadership program as our guide, we will conduct field research while at Catalina Island’s Emerald Bay and Howland’s Landing kelp forests.

Themes: everything runs on energy, there is no waste in nature, biodiversity is good, everything is connected.

Our framing question is “What is the effect of the El Nino on the Kelp Forest of this region of the Channel Islands? ” In order to detect change in an El Nino year we first must look at a normal year and collect baseline data on that year. We hope to begin a legacy of data collection in this region that students from other classes and other schools can continue to build upon when they come to the island each year. Here's how this will work ...

Quicktime movie of the trip from 2005

Catalina trip logbook in pdf

How will we collect our data and build on our prior knowledge of the kelp forests while at Catalina?
We will use our eyes, ears and scientific tools to collect and build a picture of this region's kelp forest.

Specifically we will:

• Interview the CELP camp staff for their observations – many have been at the camp many years.
• Design and conduct surveys of the plant and animal life modeled after the techniques used by the Channel Island National Park divers.
• Take short movies and photographs.
• Make sketches and record our observations in our logbooks.
• Record observations of the weather and water conditions while at camp.

Students will work in teams of 2-3 people within their CELP clan group. Each clan will collect data for this project while snorkeling, sea-kayaking and from the camp pier. If possible we hope to collect data from the speedboat on our last dive in Emerald Bay.

Data collection techniques and equipment outlined here:

equipment checklist
data goals
1m^2 quadrats
roving diver fish counts
weather and water observations
kelp forest monitoring
emerald bay map to use in monitoring

Just like scientists on any field research expedition teamwork will be essential to our data collection success. All are expected to contribute. When we return to school student teams will contribute their findings to the class data collection pool. We will draw upon this shared pool of data in order to build our final projects and presentations.

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From this data pool, your team’s task is to build a map using MyWorld GIS that will allow you to analyze and to share your findings with the greater scientific community and students worldwide. Maps should include a minimum of 5 data layers and at least one photo or other link. A base map and data from our trip are here - map

Each team of two - three students will complete one map and one web page to share. The projects should help others to visualize the overall picture of the kelp forest region that we have studied and answer one of the research sub-questions listed below or a similar question of your own design. Complete the project proposal before starting your project.

• How does water temperature, salinity, nitrates, plankton, pH, turbidity, or other parameter vary across the region? Choose any two of these parameters to compare and discuss.
• Where do kelp plants grow and why?
• What conditions do the kelp plants or animals prefer?
• What types of creatures do you find on rocky reefs vs sandy bottoms?
• Can you relate depth to any of the other physical or chemical properties that were measured?
• What depth of water did you find kelp forests grew in?

Once your team has created an informative map you will post this map and your research conclusions on a web page using Dreamweaver. The target audience will be both students and scientists, so you will need to keep your page professional and appealing. Your page will be based on a template so that it will be easier to create high quality pages that will be posted on the school webserver. You must use your best writing skills on this page. Written paper assignment. When your project is completed use the final housekeeping checklist to ensure you have completed all of the necessary tasks.

The student web pages from 2005 can all be accessed from this page: GIS / Catalina Projects

Here is a sample webpage: Sophie and Sophie's where are the fish?

 

Your work will be judged for both understanding of the subject area and technical skill in presentation and design. You will also be graded on your teamwork and contributions to the data collection phase of the project both on the trip and after. Students who do not participate in the trip will be asked to contribute data collected from the web and library resources.
Everyone’s contributions are important; this is a large project! We are the pioneers in this field.
Once the projects are posted we will use them in presentations and to answer further questions such as comparing the kelp forest to the rain forest or coral reef ecosystem.

Grading Rubric - general concepts
Grading Sheet
Website Review document

 

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