Today we set the first turtle trap! I had many students volunteer to get in the water to help, but unfortunately everyone cannot get in at the same time! I will make sure everyone that wants to get in to help has a turn eventually! We will try and retrieve the trap in the morning, weather permitting. If it is raining, I plan to retrieve it after school. We took baseline data on the air and water temperature. The air was about 64 degrees this afternoon, and the water was about 60 degrees. We hope to find a correlation between air/water temps and number of turtles we catch in the trap after a few visits.
In addition to setting the trap, we also found a deceased turtle while we were there that has apparently been marked by DSC for their turtle study. We brought it back to school (wrapped in waders!) and consulted with our DSC expert on how we could preserve its shell for future study. He suggested we bury it on the school grounds and let the decomposers go to work! Our Fourth grade team worked together to do this after school, as it was already beginning to decay. We hope to dig it up in the fall to retrieve the shell and any bones. I am truly excited by the work and learning we are able to do here at Brookwood! Thank you for allowing your children to go on this journey with me!
In addition to setting the trap, we also found a deceased turtle while we were there that has apparently been marked by DSC for their turtle study. We brought it back to school (wrapped in waders!) and consulted with our DSC expert on how we could preserve its shell for future study. He suggested we bury it on the school grounds and let the decomposers go to work! Our Fourth grade team worked together to do this after school, as it was already beginning to decay. We hope to dig it up in the fall to retrieve the shell and any bones. I am truly excited by the work and learning we are able to do here at Brookwood! Thank you for allowing your children to go on this journey with me!
