California Coastal Commission

How many students have been able to take marine education field trips thanks to grants from the WHALE TAIL^® License Plate Fund? The answer is...157,500! If that sounds like a lot, well, we think so too: that many youth take up 3,580 buses, which if lined up end-to-end, would stretch for 27 miles! Read below about one example of some students who were able to learn about the coast first-hand thanks to California drivers who purchased WHALE TAIL^® license plates.

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What estuary organisms can you see if you lie on your stomach and stare into the water at the Coast Guard Pier? What others can you capture with a plankton pull and observe under a microscope? Just how salty is the water in Morro Bay Estuary, and what does that mean for the plants that grow there? How did green algae evolve into oak trees? What can you tell about the things marine mammals eat by looking at their teeth? What geologic processes are evident along the coast at Montaña de Oro? How do we explain the diversification of life over millions of years?

These were some of many questions explored during the first-ever Los Osos Middle School Seventh Grade Science Day, with programs at Montaña de Oro, the Museum of Natural History, and the Pier. In partnership with science teachers at the school, State Park docents and volunteers piloted enrichment programs designed specifically for middle school students. The goal was to provide active outdoor science education that applied the information that students learned in their classes to the unique ecosystems of Morro Bay Estuary and local State Parks.

So what did the students do? At Montaña de Oro, they viewed a demonstration with clay of synclines and anticlines. They hiked along the edge of Spooner's Cove and the Bluff Trail to record information about geological formations or to discuss evolution. At the Coast Guard Pier, they viewed the organisms on the pilings at low tide, did a plankton pull, saw what commercial fisherman Mark Tognazzini brought in with his catch, and bused to the Morro Bay Community Center to observe Estuary microorganisms and cell samples with their own portable microscopes. At the Museum of Natural History, one group found plant specimens in Windy Cove and went indoors to view plants from around the world and track their similarities, differences, and evolution. Another group had a "bone lab" to study vertebrate evolution. A third group learned about the watershed and tides through the Museum exhibits and atop White's Point. Then they took a hike into the salt marsh, to collect water samples at different sites and measure their salinity with hydrometers set up at portable labs in the Marina parking lot. Two students got stuck in the mud while drawing their water samples—a high point of the day for seventh graders.

These programs are the beginning of a new effort that we hope will evolve into regular field trips that bring more middle schools to the Museum. Because they are based specifically on state standards, teachers can defend this time away from school as relevant "real-world" application of classroom instruction. A WHALE TAIL^® Grant from the California Coastal Commission funded portable microscopes, a storage cabinet to recharge them, and transportation money for the pilot program and future field trips.