It's Tide Pool Season in California!

 

As we get closer to winter, the low tides become especially low, so this is an excellent time for viewing ocean life in tide pools. It's a time of year I always look forward to! 

Tide pooling season begins in the fall and continues through the winter and into early spring. It is at these times when you can catch a negative tide during the daytime. If you want to plan a trip, it is helpful to first consult a tide chart like this one for San Diego:

Tide Chart for San Diego

A ranger at Cabrillo National Monument said that any tide at or below 0.7 feet is good for viewing sea life, and the lower the tide, the better.

A trip to the tide pools is always a favorite among students. It feels great to get out to the ocean, and there are always so many things to explore and discover.

California Sea Hare

California Sea Hare Eggs

Tide pooling is a nice activity to do with your family, too!

If you plan to explore to explore tide pools with a school group and live in the San Diego area, Cabrillo National Monument offers some great ranger-lead programs for K-12 students. Their programs are free, and many are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). 

With middle school students, I have participated in the Science Sampler and the Climate Kids programs, both for grades 5 - 12. The Science Sampler program engages students in practicing data collection on populations of organisms living in tide pools, modeling the way in which biologists collect this data at Cabrillo National Monument. The Climate Kids program addresses the affects of climate change, specifically ocean acidification, on sea life. 

Another benefit of a ranger-lead experience is having an expert help you spot hard-to-find creatures such as nudibranchs, sea hares, and on rare occasions, an octopus.

Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

If you are interested in learning more about the science programs offered at Cabrillo National Monument, follow this link:

Cabrillo National Monument Science Programs

Whether you explore tide pools independently or with a ranger, here are some things you might like to have with you:

* Closed-toe shoes with good traction (old sneakers)

* Pants that can be rolled up and warm layers on your upper body

* Sun protection (hat, sunscreen)

* Towel(s)

* Change of socks, shoes, and clothing (just in case you slip in the water)

* A Ziplock bag for your cell phone, if you bring one (not advised for students)

When wading in the tide pools, keep your eyes out for big waves, and avoid turning your back to them. Walk between the rocks rather than stepping on them. If you step on rocks to avoid walking in the water, you could easily slip on algae and really get yourself wet!

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Chemistry Project: Engineer a Heating Pad for Sea Turtle Eggs

Give your students the challenge of designing a prototype of a chemical heating pad that could be used to transport rescued sea turtle eggs. This chemistry project can be used to teach the Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) MS-PS1-6: Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes. The project also addresses the middle school engineering design standards.

The heating pad project was created by the American Chemical Society, which has multiple free lessons available online that are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (see link at the end of this post). 

With the modifications I used, the project took about five or six class periods to complete. Before beginning this project, students had completed labs investigating endothermic and exothermic reactions. 

Photo by David Troeger on Unsplash

To launch the project, I created a slideshow introducing students to factors that put sea turtles at risk. One factor is climate change. Whether sea turtle eggs develop into male or female babies is dependent on the temperature at which they are incubated. As temperatures continue to rise, the sea turtle population becomes increasingly more female. Another factor is illegal poaching. Sea turtle eggs are considered a delicacy, which makes them prized by poachers. To mitigate these threats, if sea turtle eggs could be transported safely, the eggs could be moved to a hatchery until baby turtles are ready to be released into the ocean.

Photo by David Reynolds on Unsplash

The last slides of the slideshow introduce students to the challenge of creating a chemical heating pad with these specifications:

The heating pad should...

• Provide padding to the egg

• Stay within the temperature range of 29 ℃  - 31 ℃ 

• Remain within the temperature range for at least 5-10 minutes

Students are limited to making the heating pad out of these materials:

• Calcium chloride and/or baking soda

• Water

• A resealable sandwich bag

I found that calcium chloride can be purchased relatively cheaply as fragrance free DampRid refill bags.

When students begin the project, they combine specified quantities of water, calcium chloride, and/or baking soda in order to observe changes in temperature. After making these initial observations, students are free to experiment with differing amounts of the substances to find a combination that best meets the specifications they are given. I required students to record the quantities of the substances they used and their observations for each trial and created simple tables to help them do this:

Directions and Tables: Chemical Heating Pad Lab

Tables for Independent Tests: Chemical Heating Pad

It's interesting to see how different students approach the design process. Some dive in and start experimenting with very different combinations of substances until they discover one that works well, while others are very methodical. I have observed that both strategies seem to work! I remind students to look at their data and use it to make thoughtful choices about the next iteration of their heating pad design.

Once I am able to gauge students' progress and can estimate when they will finish, I set a deadline for completion. On the final day of the project, students must demonstrate to me that their heating pad works. They measure and combine substances in their sandwich bag and show me how it stays within the desired temperature range for at least five minutes. I have done this demonstration in two different ways, either by having the entire class begin at the same time, or by asking lab partners to let me know when they are ready to begin.

After completing the demonstration of their heating pad, students reflect on why the heating pad might perform in an unexpected way for the demonstration. They also describe changes they would need to make for the heating pad to be commercially viable. For students who have problems demonstrating the performance of their heating pad on the final day of the project, I remind them that their grade is based on their recorded data and their ability to follow the engineering design process. They needed to use their data to make changes in the design of their heating pad as they were developing it.

If you would like to explore the American Chemical Society lesson plan on engineering a chemical heating pad, follow this link:

American Chemical Society Lesson Plan

A previous blogpost explores a fun American Chemical Society lesson on polymers in which students create "gel worms":

Polymer Lab: Gel Worms

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