Georgia Coastal Ecosystem (GCE) LTER The Schoolyard program is part of the Georgia Coastal Ecosytem Long Term Ecological Research (GCE-LTER) project funded through the National Science Foundation. The program provides K-12 science and mathematics educators with hands-on experience of ecological field research so that they can bring lessons and real research data into their own classrooms. Teachers participating in the program work as part of a field-research team alongside GCE scientists and graduate students, and spend time in discussions of how best to bring their new experiences and knowledge to their own students. The 2019 Schoolyard Program is scheduled to be held from July 14 to 20, 2019. "And the Tide Comes In" is aimed at children of 8 years and older (Grade 3 and up) and is part of the LTER Network Book Series. The book follows a young girl who is showing her cousin the salt marsh. They visit the marsh every day, have fun getting muddy while they explore and learn about the ecosystem in the marsh, how different plants and animals adapt to their environment, and looking at what happens in the marsh during different stages of the tides. The focus of the story is the transitional nature of salt marshes, lying between the land and the sea, and the organisms that live there. Skidaway Marine Science Day The Skidaway Marine Science Day is a campus-wide open house held yearly during October with activities geared for all ages from young children to adults. These will include programs, tours, displays and hands-on activities, primarily related to marine science. The event will be presented by the campus’s marine research and education organizations, including the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, the University of Georgia (UGA) Marine Education Center and Aquarium, the UGA Shellfish Research Laboratory and Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Stay tuned for this year event. Sapelo Island Microbial and Carbon Observatory (SIMCO) Eleventh grade high school biology students attending Cedar Shoals High School (Athens, GA) participate annually in a weekend trip to Sapelo Island to take part in SIMCO research. Two of these students receive 8-week summer internships with SIMCO researchers. Each year, these Cedar Shoals students visit Sapelo in early April where they initiate a project to isolate novel coastal marine bacteria. Each organized team go on to identify their isolates in follow-up labs using 16S rDNA amplification, sequencing, and analysis. In addition, students have the opportunity to work aboard of the research vessel Spartina during a 2-h cruise in Doboy Sound. Click here to learn more!
