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home > education > wachapreague

Coastal Ecosystems Field Course
7-11 July, 2008
VIMS Eastern Shore Lab
Wachapreague, VA

Since 2001, Virginia Sea Grant Extension Program educators have led classroom science teachers in explorations of the diverse habitats of Virginia's Eastern Shore and its barrier islands. The home base for these learning adventures is an active coastal research facility, the VIMS Eastern Shore Lab in Wachapreague, VA. This year, we are again offering science teachers this field-intensive, sun-up to sun-down survey of the coastal ecosystems characteristic of the Mid-Atlantic region.

Learning from scientists, Virginia Sea Grant educators, and fellow teachers, participants will receive: Virginia SOL-relevant content in marine biology, chemistry, physics, earth and ocean sciences; teaching resources for the classroom and field; and a meaningful outdoor educational experience that they will be able to draw instructional content from for years to come. Using high-tech and low-tech methods, teachers will sample the ecosystems with various types of oceanographic equipment, including:

Participants will investigate the various habitats of the Wachapreague area, including:

Click here for a map of the field sites!

Participants are also able to explore the coastal community of Wachapreage, the Little City by the Sea, which includes a successful working waterfront.

Lodging
Lodging is available at the Eastern Shore Lab's dormitory and is included in tuition. It is a large older house that has been renovated for group living. The second story consists of two large bunkrooms, each with its own bathroom. Additional bunkrooms and bathroom facilities (including handicapped accessible facility) are available on the first floor. The dorm also includes a large kitchen and dining area, small den with satellite tv, washer and dryer (used sparingly), and a picnic area with gas grills.

Hotel accomodations are also available, at the participant's cost, approximately 20 minutes from the Lab.

Tuition
Not yet available.

More details will be available soon!

2008 brochure is available here (pdf)

**We are currently collecting names and contact information for our general interest list. For more information on the Coastal Ecosystems Field Course, or to be added to the general interest list, please contact Chris Petrone, Virginia Sea Grant Marine Education Specialist.

Below are just a few of the activities we conduct as a part of the Field Course.

Beach Profiling Activity

As a part of the Summer 06 and 07 workshops, teachers took part in an extensive beach profiling activity that can be inexpensively replicated with their students on any terrain. For the project, teachers profiled Cedar (06 and 07) and Parramore (06 only) Islands, two of Virginia's nearly-uninhabited barrier islands, which lie due east of the town of Wachapreague.

Back in the lab, students graphed the data and added captions to their profiles detailing the changes in flora and fauna observed over the transect.

2006 Cedar Island Profile

Activity Handout (MS Word)

New Views on Sand

Compare and contrast sand from across the nation and globe, virtually! This activity combines demonstration and hands-on lab stations, offering ideas for using both real and virtual sands to illustrate: diverse origins and composition of sand grains; rock cycle processes of erosion and deposition; coastal processes, like the effects of wave action on sand size, movement, and beach development; and the importance of sand and beaches to marine life and people.

Bridge Data Analysis Teaching Activities (DATAs)

Participants will be introduced to the Bridge website and the wealth of resources it contains, including over 60 classroom-ready activities that use real scientific data.

Real-Time Observing of Wachapreague Conditions

Participants will learn how to monitor conditions and water quality of their favorite Wachapreague field sites right from their classrooms using ocean observing systems.