The sophomore biology class from Columbia Adventist Academy (CAA) set out for a three-day educational adventure on April 21 at Puget Sound's Rosario Beach.
The trip was a chance to experience and study firsthand the organisms these students had been studying in the classroom under the direction of Tom Lee. "It was one of the best field trips we’ve ever had," said Brianna Harris.
The class’ first destination was Tolmie State Park where they dug for clams and roamed the beach trying to identify the organisms they had been studying. Next the class took a ferry to Whidbey Island to visit the Walla Walla College marine station.
During the day the class was busy bird watching (a year-long project for the young biologists), studying tide pools, collecting data for later analysis, and enjoying the outdoors.
At night everyone went to the dock to see nocturnal creatures, the most popular of which had bioluminescence.
“It was probably the coolest thing we did all year,”Jason Interlichia said.
Soon after their biology trip, a group of daring sophomores went to Mike's Beach on Hood Canal for their scuba trip. For one quarter of physical education, they were enrolled in an scuba class to become open-water certified divers. The scuba trip was a chance to test their skills. “It was the best final exam I’ve ever taken," remarked Dane Presnell.
Underwater visibility varied from three to 18 feet. Over the course of two days the students each completed four dives. All 21 students were certified.
“It was really cool to be able to see creatures in their natural habitat and identify them in real life,” Nick Will said.
