Gulf of Maine Research Institute Lab Venture Programme

Hi Sea Fans!

I have som uch of my trip to catch up on in this blog, it's unbelievable how much fun we've been having (and how little time I've had to sit down and write).  Here goes:

My next stop was in Maine at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) LabVenture! program. This program is for Maine's 5^th and 6^th grade students. Students pretend to be a scientist and do their own hands-on research in the interactive lab.

This week, I helped the educators with the LabVenture! program.

I waited with the staff for the students to arrive to hand out name tags so students could get to work as scientists.

Molly, Becca, and I led the students through the half-day hands-on interactive lab experience. Students were working to answer the question: “How are Cod, Lobsters, Herring, and Humans connected in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem?”

With Molly and Becca.

Students worked at interactive stations to collect data, make observations, use the tools of science, and create videos. I got a chance to try the stations as well. It was really fun to control the underwater cameras using the joystick!

I helped students use a caliper to measure the carapace of a lobster. The length of a lobster's carapace can help scientist understand how quickly lobsters are growing.

I even got to observe GMRI's large blue lobster in their large benthic tank and learned about how cod and lobsters interact. The lobster was bigger than me!

I also helped Molly and Becca listen to the videos students created at the stations and picked which work to share with the whole class.

The day went really quickly and the students were busy at the stations the whole time. It was great to see so many students having fun and doing science!  Thanks Meredyth and friends for showing me around!

So those of you living in Maine, go and join in!!

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Chat soon

Cheers
Abby
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