In the beginning of my 7th grade year the Magnet team got the privilege on a trip to Tybee Island, an island near the Georgia Bite. On the island we went to Camp Burton, a 4h center. We learned about a lot of things about the island, the Pacific Ocean, and its inhabitants.
The first class I went to was Marsh Ecology. It talked about fresh water and salt water marshes. We also learned about the different parts and levels of the marsh. Also we talked about the plants in the marsh like the sea pickle. We got a chance to eat one of the plants. There was a massive load of this animal called the fiddler crab walking on the floor of the marsh. It was also the name of the group I was in. The unique and my favorite thing about a fiddler crab is that the male has one long claw and one small one, while the female only has two small claws. We also saw mud crabs and snails.
The next class we went to was Beach Ecology. We learned about sand dunes first before we went to the beach. There were 5 parts of the beach called; Sand Dune, Dune Meadow, Berm, Wrack Line, Tidal Slope. The dunes are very important part of the beach. We learned that the sand dunes are protecting the cities that are on the coast. The dunes are made up of sea oats, and we learned that if you step on the dunes or pull out on of the sea oats you could be fined.
I went to Invertebrates the next day and we had fun there. We learned about many different animals like sea urchins and sea stars. We also learned about how some invertebrates are bottom feeders which mean that they eat plankton and other microscopic organisms. We did a cool lab where we looked at sea squirts and crabs that have shells on the outside of their body to protect them instead of on the inside.
After that I went to Crabs and Critters. That class was one of my favorites. We looked at sea life in this class too. We went to the A-Frame building and saw snakes and alligators. We also went to the recreation center and saw a ray like creature called a skate. My favorite animal was the horseshoe crab, because it looked like an alien. I learned that it uses those alien like features to walk.
The first night there we did a night walk on the beach. It was very cold there but we learned about plankton and bioluminescence. We did a cool trick where you chewed on a spearmint candy facing the ocean and it showed sparks. We also did a trick where we rubbed the sand and saw bioluminescence in plankton. We also learned about turtles and how they are taken care of when they hatch on the Tybee beaches. Also I liked this because it was very peaceful by the beach.
In the Surf Sleuth class we got to go out into the ocean and try to catch fish. We had to learn the parts of a fish first. We did a song to help us remember. When we went out to the ocean we had to use a big net to catch small things. The water was very cold and got everyone who went in wet to their hips. I fell in on accident because I was holding the net by the pole and everyone was going faster than me so they pulled me forward and I fell in.
The last night at Camp Burton we had a campfire. The campfire was really fun. We hung out with all of our friends and talked about what we saw there in class. We also made smores. Although I burned my smores it tasted good. After the campfire we had a talent show. It was a lot of fun. We all were laughing by the end and a lot of people performed. My favorite was Kelsey and Cassidy’s, “I’m in Love with a Swiss Roll” because it was hilarious.
On the last day we woke up for breakfast and everyone was worn out from all the fun we had. I know I had a lot of fun. Plus I know everyone learned something new from the trip.