There’s a first time for everything

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Mangrove Education and Restoration Program Blog

After spending two weeks in the Caribbean, we have successfully implemented the J.A.M.I.N. and B.A.M. programs. This trip, my favorite part has been watching the students light up when they interact with the animals that live in the mangroves. Many of the students told me they have never held a sea star or a sea urchin before. The students were so intrigued by the animals that we had a hard time getting them to rotate to other stations to view other organisms during our mangrove show and tell.

Students enjoying our Mangrove Organism Show and Tell Students enjoying our Mangrove Organism Show and Tell Students enjoying our Mangrove Organism Show and Tell
Students enjoying our Mangrove Organism Show and Tell presentation.

Probably the most interesting and fascinating animal that we bring to the classroom is the sea cucumber. Most students in the Bahamas and Jamaica have never seen, let alone touched one before. I attribute their curiosity to the sea cucumbers’ peculiar shaped body, their role in the mangrove food web, and their interesting behaviors. One of the fun facts I like to tell them is that these animals are considered a delicacy in many Asian countries. They are completely shocked by this and immediately ask how they taste. I laugh and explain that I have never tasted sea cucumber before, but I was told it is very salty.

Students intrigued by the various mangrove organisms we presented. Student amazed by her first experience holding a sea cucumber.
Students intrigued by the various mangrove organisms we presented.

Not only did the classroom visits go well, but I was also happy to see that the mangroves were being well cared for by the students. The propagule seedlings that started off with short stems, measuring only a few millimeters in length, have blossomed into young mangroves that have grown tall stems surrounded by multiple leaves.

The red mangrove seedlings photographed just after the original planting.
The red mangrove seedlings photographed just after the original planting.

Five months after the original planting, the red mangrove seedlings are growing tall.
Five months after the original planting, the red mangrove seedlings are growing tall.

In a couple of months, I will return for the final phase of the J.A.M.I.N. and B.A.M. programs. I can’t wait to see how much the mangroves will grow between now and then. In the meantime, the students will continue monitoring the growth of their mangroves. They will also slowly begin acclimating them to salt water, so that they are not shocked when they transplant them into the mangrove forest.

Journey with us back through our trip as we add more images to these photo albums over the next week…

BAM Photo Album:

Teachers from Abaco Central High School and Forest Heights Academy enjoy identifying marine animals during professional development training at FRIENDS Kenyon Center Lab.
Michelle Bailey, science teacher at Abaco Central High School observes marine snails through a microviewer at FREINDS Kenyon Center Lab.
One of the many creatures that we brought to the professional development training at FRIENDS Kenyon Center Lab and the classes. Photographed is a bristle worm magnified through a microviewer. Notice the toxic bristles on each side.
James Richard, Michelle Bailey, and Lindsey Borsz holding sea stars and sea cucumbers. These educators identified organisms in the mangroves as part of a professional development training at FRIENDS Kenyon Center Lab.
Photographed are some creatures that live in the mangroves including sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and a tulip snail.
Lindsey Borsz, science teacher at Forest Heights Academy, takes a closer look at the upside-down jellyfish, an animal found in the mangrove ecosystem. These jellyfish have symbiotic algae that live in their tentacles. They point their tentacles towards the sun, so the algae can photosynthesize, producing nutrients for the jellyfish.
Here at Abaco Central High School, we are using microviewers to magnify the small animals inside, so that we can take a closer look at the features of the animal.
The red mangrove seedlings that the students planted in September here at Abaco Central High School are growing tall. The question is, "Which ones will grow the fastest? The seedlings planted in mangrove mud, sand, or pebbles?"
Our Director of Education Amy Heemsoth teaching students at Abaco Central High School about food webs.
Amy Heemsoth, our Director of Education, shows the various characteristics of the Phylum Porifera. She is holding a sponge in her hand, which are the animals that are found in this phylum.
Our Director of Education Amy Heemsoth holds up a small decorator crab. She explains that this crab is able to put objects like sponges, rocks, and algae on it's back to camouflage its body.
Student at Abaco Central High School looks through a microviewer to get a better look at a decorator crab.
Amy Heemsoth, our Director of Education, shows students at Abaco Central High School how chitons are able to attach themselves to rocks.
The upside jellyfish intrigues students at Abaco Central High School. Students know not to touch this stinging creature.
Students at Abaco Central High School carefully touch sea urchins for the first time.
FRIENDS Program Assistant AJ McIntosh and Abaco Central Alumni, shows students where the tube feet are located on a sea star.
Students at Abaco Central High School learn about macroalgae, which is better known as seaweed. As the students feel the rigidity of the macroalgae, Amy Heemsoth, our Director of Education, explains that many species of macroalgae obtain calcium carbonate in their structure. When they die, the calcium carbonate is broken down and helps to create more sand.
Forest Heights Academy students are excited to see a pufferfish. The next step is for them to use books to identify the species.
FRIENDS Education Officer Cassandra Abraham helps a student at Forest Heights to identify a sea urchin.
An 11th grader at Forest Heights Academy checks out a decorator crab.
FRIENDS Program Assistant AJ McIntosh allows students to hold sea stars and sea urchins, so that students at Forest Heights Academy can feel the tube feet moving on their hands.
Here is a close-up view of the sea star's tube feet. The sea star is being held upside down.
Students at Forest Heights Academy hold a sea urchin, sea star, and sea cucumber, which they learned are animals that are in the Phylum Echinodermata.
An inquisitive student at Forest Heights Academy observes the behavior of a sea star. She had many questions for us.
Students at Forest Heights Academy form a mangrove food web.
Students at Abaco Central High School participate in a food web activity. Each student is given an animal or plant that can be found in the mangrove food web. A young lady shows that she will be portraying turtle seagrass.

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JAMIN  Photo Album:

Science teacher at William Knibb High School gets a magnified look at a fire worm during a professional development session.
Science teachers at William Knibb and Holland High Schools take a peak at various mangrove animals.
Science teachers lean over the tanks to take a closer peak at a sea anemone.
During professional development training, William Knibb science teachers hold a brittle star for the first time.
Gregory Peart, agriculture teacher at Holland High School holds a brittle star.
Discovery Bay Research Laboratory Outreach Officer, Shanna Thomas, explains the anatomy of a brittle star.
Holland High School students are shocked that some of the organisms, like sea cucumbers, can live near the mangroves.
Discovery Bay Marine Lab Chief Scientist, Camilo Trench, describes the characteristics of sponges to students at Holland High School.
10th grader at Holland High School pretends to be phytoplankton (a plant-like plankton) during a food web activity.
Discovery Bay Marine Lab Chief Scientist, Camilo Trench, provides instructions for the food web activity explaining that each person represents a different organism in the mangrove food web.
JAMIN teacher, Cherrida Williams-Jackson has a great time participating in a mangrove food web activity. This is her first time participating in the JAMIN program.
Amy Heemsoth, our Director of Education, draws the water vascular system of a starfish to help students at William Knibb High School to understand how these animals move.
Students at William Knibb High School hold a sea anemone for the first time and they are intrigued by this animal.
Discovery Bay Research Laboratory Outreach Officer, Shanna Thomas, teaches students at William Knibb High School about sea cucumbers and how they can eject their internal organs to escape predators and then later grow them back.
A young woman at William Knibb High School examines a sea cucumber more closely. She said that she had never seen one before.
10th grade biology students at William Knibb High School.
Discovery Bay Marine Lab Outreach Officer, Shanna Thomas discusses how brittle stars feed to students at William Knibb High School.
Students at William Knibb High School are in awe at how the brittle star moves its arms back and forth like a snake, in order to move.

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