Outer Island Experience
Posted by Joshua BartosiewiczAs we come to the end of the school year, the 7th grade embarked on their last adventure in science. The 7th graders took a trip out to a magical oasis in the Thimble Islands of Branford, CT known as Outer Island. Outer Island is the furthest island out in the Thimbles (hence the name, “Outer Island”) and has a long history behind it, both anthropogenic (human) and environmental (geologic). To reach the island, our class needed to take a 15 minute boat ride through the Thimbles which was an incredible experience in itself. There’s over 300 islands (if you count every rock sticking out during low tide) in the area and it can resemble places such as Maine!
Upon arrival to the island, our school was greeted by the two Island Keepers who are stationed out on the island with US Fish Wildlife Services (USFWS) and two volunteers from the organization “Friends of Outer Island”. Needless to say, the students were eager to put their things down under the gazebo or into the lab so they could start exploring the wildlife refuge! The first activity was a combination of bird surveying, I-Spy, a tour and history (human and environmental) lesson of the Island. The young scholars were given binoculars and a list of clues and things to be on the lookout for (such as birds known as a Double-Crested Cormorant or an Oystercatcher). As we walked around the island in search of certain items and organisms, the students also received a history lesson of the area.
Outer Island was first home to the Native American tribe known as the Mattabesic Tribe. The island also went by a different name, “Two Tree Island” due to the visibility of 2 towering pine trees. In 1889, a Yale zoologist named Addison Verrill had bought the island which became his family’s summer getaway. In 1964, a woman named Elizabeth Herd and her husband, Basil Rauch (History professor at Columbia University) had bought the island and turned it into their summer retreat. By 1995, Elizabeth Herd made the decision to donate the island to the Connecticut University system and US Fish Wildlife Services to be used for research and environmental education. The Thimble Island area was carved out by the last glacial ice age which was roughly 10,000 to 15,000 years ago and referred to as the Wisconsinan age. Everywhere you look on the islands, you’ll see beautiful pink granite which was actually mined and used for the platform for the Statue of Liberty in NY. After this brief history lesson, tour of the island, and I-Spy students enjoyed lunch on the back of the Island which looks out into Long Island Sound.
Following lunch, students gathered in the lab to start the next few activities. In the lab, students broke up into 3 groups and they were given a few different water quality measuring instruments which included a thermometer (Temp. readings), hydrometer (salinity readings), and pH strips (acidity vs basic). Water samples were retrieved from a couple of different tide pools (pools of water that exist only when the tide is low enough, otherwise they are covered by water) and from off of the dock. After all of the samples were collected they began to test the water from the various locations on the island; this data is collected by the Island Keeper and documented to monitor the health of the aquatic ecosystems.
After water quality testing, students began to learn about invasive species, specifically the Asian Shore Crab. This is a crustacean that came from overseas by hitching a ride on cargo ships. Our young scholars gathered 10 crabs from the rocky shoreline and put them into yellow bins where they added sand, sticks, rocks and other objects to mimic the crabs habitat. While conducting this activity, the students were taught how to ID male crabs (lighthouse shape on their belly) vs female crabs (half moon shape on their belly) and they recorded the number of each gender which was added to a database by the Island Keeper for monitoring the species population.
By the end of the trip, students understood the difference between a Wildlife refuge (focuses on the health of organisms and the ecosystems) and a National Park (targeted towards tourism). The kids also learned the responsibilities of the Island Keeper and what some of the studies are that are being conducted on the island along with their significance. Overall, students spent a blissful day on Outer Island and they were able to establish a stronger connection to the natural world we are coexisting in.
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