Saturday, July 31, 2010

This Week's Highlights

A great week overall—I felt like I’d really gotten into the swing of things for the Piers Park/

Courageous -Charlestown rotation, and it was great to be able to build on last week and enjoy the beautiful weather we had for most of the week with bright, enthusiastic campers!

A couple of highlights:

-Three lobsters at courageous!

-The Boston Fire Department’s FIREBOAT made a visit to Piers Park on Wednesday! Harbor Explorers joined the sailing campers to listen to the firefighters explain the workings of the boat, and talk about some of the fires they put out. The kids were excited to see the demo, and even more excited to get to try the salt-water fire hose!

-My first morning at the Children's Museum was a flying success -- as the morning progressed Connor and Timmy helped kids with rods and crab traps, quickly filling our touch tank with fish, crabs, mussels, & sea-squirts -- a huge hit with passing families!

-I got to practice my very rusty and VERY limited high school Spanish with some very patient campers at Piers Park; I remembered that fish is pez (pezcado, once it’s cooked) and learned that crab is cangerojo. These conversations got me thinking even more deliberately about how to communicate science most effectively, and reminded me to supplement my narratives with non-verbal teaching tools to better engage people from all back-grounds—native speakers included!

-We had several successful afternoons on the Green Boat @ Courageous – stay tuned for a post devoted to these adventures!

-A terrifically popular "Science Wednesday" collecting data on crabs and water quality!


I’m sad to leave these sites, but excited to experience the last two: Courageous-Dorchester and Southie!

Enjoy you’re weekend—and try to get out on the harbor!

Emily

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