On Thursday, Jan. 30, and Friday, Jan. 31, AICE Environmental Management and Marine Science students went on a field trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park and Blowing Rocks Nature Preserve in Jupiter, Florida.

This trip consisted of four parts. First, students would perform different tests on water, analyzing the quality, clarity, and other details. This water was collected straight from the park.

Students were able to select their own groups, working with three to four of their peers. They had a worksheet to fill out, asking questions related to the topics they learned over the course of the year.

One task was to walk around the state park and analyze the lifeforms around it. They investigated trees, as well as pinecones, grasses, and shrubbery. While doing so, students were expected to fill out a worksheet, using their phone to identify the plant and then drawing it on the paper.

One part of the AICE Environmental Management curriculum involves creating and understanding quadrat sampling, a method used to estimate species variety, population size, frequency, and percentage cover. Students were able to create their own, throwing down a square frame five times and counting the amount or percentage of plants in the field.

Shortly after, the students were brought to the beach to analyze lifeforms on rocks by the ocean. They had to touch, draw, and describe what they saw, finding organisms such as algae and jellyfish.

This field trip happens each year, organized by science teachers Amanda Taylor and Kristin Grassi. Overall, it fostered cooperation between groups and reinforces the information they’ve been learning throughout the year in a hands-on method.