Becton Regional High School’s AP Environmental Science and Marine Biology classes took a trip to the Meadowlands, led by teachers Mrs. Dana Muniz and Ms. Angela Calasso, on Oct. 7.
This trip gave students a hands-on experience on how the swampy woods work, “I chose the Meadowlands as my first field trip because it gives students a tangible experience and phenomena to apply their current understanding and reflect on in future units within the class,” Mrs. Calasso explains, cheerfully, “It was the most beautiful day to be outdoors. The sun was shining and students were smiling!”
Student Eric Jihang shared, “The day started with a presentation of the background knowledge on the Meadowlands; the place was originally a landfill for most of New Jersey. There were devastating effects on the land because of the landfill, including toxic waste and pH changes that destroyed the wildlife there. After people realized what was happening, efforts were taken to restore the land and we explored the return of the wildlife there.”
While on the field trip, students participated in various activities. One of them was exploring the estuary ecology in the Meadowlands where they mixed fresh water and salt water! The other activities included water quality testing, where they tested the pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and salinity of their water samples.
“Because these two environments were vastly disparate, living in a combination of the two would require a special adaptation of the changing conditions there when the tides changed twice a day,” attendee Eric Jiang explained, “The fact that there were species living there signified a return of the natural environment that once existed there.”
Then it was catching crabs, glass shrimp, fish, midge larvae and a baby eel to inspect under microscopes while remaining careful to not harm the organisms. The attendees had the opportunity to inspect the contents of these organisms’ bellies to see what was in their diet! Using this information, the students ended the day with the creation of a food web.
“I learned a lot about local estuaries and their food chains,” Senior Amanda Malave raved, reminiscing, “It was all around a great experience and took me back to my childhood, seeing as that was a popular destination for elementary school field trips as well.”
All in all, the day at the Meadowlands was a success and there is more to come for AP Environmental Science and Marine Biology! See below all of the photos taken that day.
