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The BayMobile visits Maxwell Elementary Middle School to teach about coastal ecosystems.

  • Published
  • By By Airman 1st Class Alexa Culbert
  • 42d Air Base Wing Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  The Dauphin Island Sea Lab traveling classroom, The BayMobile, visits the Maxwell Elementary/Middle School to teach students about our coastal environments Jan. 26 - 28, 2016, at Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama.

The BayMobile is a traveling hands-on exhibit that brings marine life into the classroom to teach awareness of how we are all connected through the watershed.

The exhibit allows students to learn about the marine life that lives in the Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico by encouraging them to have a hands-on experience.  Signs are displayed throughout the exibit encouraging students to interact with the marine life.

"We believe that children learn through hands on interaction and they're always surprised to see a sign that says 'please touch,'" said Hazel Wilson, Dauphin Island Sea Lab marine science educator.

During the presentation, Wilson displayed numerous preserved marine life including a blowfish, jellyfish, blue crab, octopus and other native fish of the Gulf of Mexico.

She also explained how trash can become detrimental to our coastal ecosystem.

Students learned that the diet of an octopus primarily consists of jelly fish.  Wilson held up a jar that appeared to contain a jelly fish, however, to the students surprise it was a plastic bag.  She explained that if humans can mistake it for a jelly fish, so can octopi.

"I think seeing the sea life and seeing how each one lives and then with the example of the octopus that mistakes a plastic bag for a jelly fish, for the kids to see that brings it home for them and makes them realize they are not just fish in the ocean and that it's not just an animal, but it keeps the balance of life going," said Becky Hill, Maxwell Elementary Middle School science, technology, engineering and mathematics coordinator.

A couple of second graders shared what they learned during the presentation.

"It was kind of disgusting, I saw parts of its insides," said Andrew Arnett, Maxwell Elementary/Middle School second grader. "But my favorite part was seeing the shark's only bone, its jaw and sharp teeth."

Arnett was hesitant on handling the preserved specimen, however, his classmate Andrew Conner couldn't wait to touch everything on the table saying that it was cool.

To learn more about Dauphin Island Sea Lab's BayMobile traveling classroom contact them at 251-861-2141 or visit their website at http://www.disl.org/educational-programs/baymobile/