Discovery Cruise Make-Up

I am truly glad that I received an opportunity to make up the discovery cruise class session. This really was a unique experience that I could definitely see incorporating into my own classroom's biology curriculum. Even though we here in Michigan live no more than a few miles away from a source of water, many students, especially of early high school age, may not have been given the real-life experience of being on the lake itself.

The Clinton Boat Tours, Metroparks, and the Michigan SeaGrant did a great job giving us a great new way to get hands-on in learning and education. Starting with a little history of the Metroparks and the lake itself, we ventured down the Black Creek, into Lake St. Clair and out to the Middle channel where the wetland delta was. On the way, we used underwater cameras to look at the bottom of the lake at certain stops, showing everyone the difference between sandy bottoms and those filled with plant life. We also cast out for plankton, taking samples and placing them under magnification and allowing everyone to see the difference between phytoplankton and zooplankton. I was amazed at how many children actually were able to recognize the word plankton from the show Spongebob Squarepants!

Once in the marsh delta, we were treated to variety of wildlife that made appearances. We learned about the differences between many native and alien species in the area (mute vs. trumpet swans, as well as the cattail vs. phragmites) Water snakes, gulls, swans, underwater plants such as wild celery and a variety of other birds. This vast array of wildlife allowed us to see as well as learn from the cornucopia of nature that surrounded us.

I talked with a few members of the discovery cruise staff and found that even though many of the school-year cruises are elementary based, they have adapted many of their cruises to accommodate a high school curriculum. I would love to try to get my students to experience this first hand as well. I still, as much as ever, believe that learning hands-on increases your retention of knowledge far beyond the traditional classroom and this kind of learning is more valuable than any text book.