A Coastal Encounter of the Fun Kind

Tuttle Elementary School fifth-graders spent a recent morning at the beach. And though there was no swimming, students had a blast as they learned about the habitat of New Haven Harbor. 

The kids arrived at Long Wharf at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, just in time for low tide. Marine experts from Schooner Inc. played teacher to Tuttle students in the coastal classroom of Long Island Sound.

The habitats the children were about to study included the rocky intertidal, the salt marsh and the beach. The coastal encounter was taught and guided by four staff members from Schooner, Inc., headed up by a man named Simon, who gave them a preliminary talk about safety and ended the environmental hands-on program with a Q and A regarding everything they had seen and experienced. 

The program for students K-12 is correlated to Connecticut curriculum frameworks for science outside of the classroom, using Long Island Sound as a teaching tool to compliment classroom studies.

Along the rocky intertidal, students found Asian shore crabs, sand worms, mussels and clams. In the salt marsh, they learned how the marsh acts as a sponge and filter for the ocean water.

“Here the kids discovered muscle beds and snails as well as how to recover some shoes that some students lost in the muck,” fifth-grade teacher John Clifford quipped.

When combing the beach, the children used a net to catch grass shrimp, silversides, summer flounder and green crabs. They were excited and fortunate to also catch a glimpse of a couple of horseshoe crabs in the process of laying their eggs.

“This is a day I will remember for the rest of my life,” said Tuttle student Rafael Suarez during the Q and A session.

Daniel Petroccio brought home a horseshoe crab shell he had found, and while back in the classroom at school, he discovered a live baby shrimp in it. Teacher Dana Nelson advised him to take it to East Haven Town Beach after school and release it. And so he did.

John Clifford, whom the kids call Big C, said that the kids had a fun-filled day learning about the coastal habitats and the organisms that call the coast their home.