We’re only four days into the teachers’ seven day intensive learning experience aboard the Guardian and they’re already showing that all those hours in the classroom, on deck sampling and in the lab analyzing has more than sunk in. It’s 4 o’clock on Tuesday, about three hours before we dock in Clayton, NY, a quaint Thousand Islands town set right on the St. Lawrence River. The sun is beaming down and the teachers are soaking it in, as well as a wealth of knowledge. We’re circled around in deck chairs as NYSG’s Helen Domske leads a discussion on invasive species in the Great Lakes (see related NYSG fact sheet, pdf). I say “leads,” because the teachers clearly are brining their “A game.” Domske hands out preserved specimens and the teachers are quick to identify them. “That’s a sea lamprey,” said one. “There’s the fishhook water flea,” called out another. Sam Roman, a teacher from Cleveland, Ohio (pictured below, right (1), alongside Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s Marti Martz) holds up a sample filled with the spiny water flea (as illustrated, (6) ), a native of northern Europe that made its way into Lake Huron in 1984 and was present in all the Great Lakes three years later.

Teresa Gable, a teacher from Seneca Fall, NY, (pictured above, right, (2) ) examines the tiny Hemimysis anomala, the bloody-red mysid, a species of mysid shrimp about one-and-a-half inches in length and native to eastern European seas. NYSG’s Domske (pictured above, far right, (3) ) shows a Sea Lamprey to (also pictured, left to right) Steve Franklin, a teacher from Appleton, Wisconsin, and Ken Huff, a teacher from Williamsville, NY.

Sea Lamprey made their way from Lake Ontario into Lake Erie by swimming through the Erie or Welland Canals or attaching to the hulls of boats that traversed those canals. As illustrated (above, (4) ) by Jan Porinchak for NYSG, one of the Sea Lamprey’s favorite prey is Chinook Salmon, one of the prized sport fish attracting anglers in large numbers to the shores of Lake Ontario. Other species addressed included: River Ruffe, purple loostrife, Japanese Knotweed, Eurasian Water Milfoil and (5) the European water chestnut, an exotic plant with large floating leaves and hard, nut-like fruit with sharp spines that have displaced native species and choked open water areas.

Domske is quick to point out an example where a clash of invasives has had as much a negative impact as a displacement of a native species. The Round Goby is known to eat Quagga and Zebra mussels. You might consider that a good thing, considering how omnipresent these mussels have shown themselves to be in certain areas (Just check out yesterday’s blog entry on collecting mud and sediment samples). But, Quagga and Zebra mussels are filter-feeders, so, as they clean the water, they are also holding onto contaminants found in the ecosystem. By consuming these mussels, the goby is bringing toxins further up the food chain.

Following the invasives discussion, teachers prepared for a session using the EPA’s new videoconferencing system with another COSEE Great Lakes (GL) group at Stone Lab on Ohio’s Gibraltar Island, commonly referred to as the “Gem of Lake Erie.” Dr. Rosanne Fortner, Director of COSEE GL, is leader of the group, which is studying “real time aquatic date for science teaching.” Fortner addressed those on the Guardian, saying of the COSEE GL connection, “What a great opportunity to talk from one Lake to another.”

During the 20-minute educational exchange, the Guardian’s teachers talked about, among other things, the water, mud and soil data they have been and will continue to collect over the next few days. And, as several teachers told me after the live feed ended, the learning will continue on in the classroom.

Diane Podgornik, a teacher from Duluth, Minnesota, said instead of having her students do a unit on graphing using standard data, she’ll use what she collected aboard the Guardian. And Ken Huff, a teacher from Williamsville, NY, plans to use Secchi disc readings to facilitate lessons on spreadsheets, decimals and fractions for his sixth graders. “It’s important to make a math-science technology connection for kids at that age, because they’re starting to become career-minded,” he said.

Today proves to be a rather active day for the teachers as well. They will visit with Dr. Michael Twiss and other researchers at the SUNY ESF’s St. Lawrence biological field station and will also hear from representatives from the Save the River organization. Then, mid-morning, the EPA has planned a networking event at the dock in Clayton to link up teachers with members of the local media. And so, the learning continues.