Place-Based Science
Students at GSHS have been learning science the way science is meant to be experienced—asking questions, making observations, building models, testing ideas, collecting evidence, and connecting what they learn to the world around them.
And while place-based learning often takes us outside, it doesn't have to. Place-based learning can happen in the classroom, on the beach, at the pier, in the pool, on a dive boat, or in a butterfly garden. We intentionally use both our in-class and out-of-class opportunities because context is key to reinforcing content and helping students understand why the science matters.
A huge shoutout to the following community partners:
Jerome and Jamie Browne of Down Under Dive Shop and our PADI instructor Jeff Robinson
Gulf State Park-Alabama Naturalist Hillary Bryan
Student Research School Collective Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists
Dennis Hatfield Little Lagoon Preservation Society
Our Students Have:
- Explored oyster gardening, investigating the role of oysters in our intertidal ecosystem, their important ecosystem services, and the food chains and food webs connected to oyster communities.
- Dissected owl pellets, becoming ecological detectives as they investigated feeding relationships, trophic levels, and energy flow through an ecosystem.
- Explored the Gulf State Park Pier, investigating the marine organisms living in the area and the interactions between organisms and their physical environment.
- Built and excavated a mock sea turtle nest, then explored our own intertidal zone and beach dunes while considering the organisms and adaptations found in these unique coastal habitats.
- Hiked to the Gulf State Park butterfly garden, looking for examples of ecological relationships including competition, predation, mutualism, and other forms of symbiosis.
- Joined Gulf State Park Naturalist Hillary Bryan for a gopher tortoise research project, using a real research experience to investigate the concept of a keystone species and how one organism can influence an entire ecosystem.
- Played “Ducks Overboard!” Students applied their understanding of tides, waves, and currents through an investigation inspired by the famous 1990s spill of rubber ducks at sea. Tracking where these toys traveled around the world gave scientists an unexpected—and fascinating—way to better understand ocean currents and global circulation.
- Investigated shoreline remodeling and living shorelines through an interactive engineering challenge. Students built shorelines using riprap, rocks, and vegetation, developed hypotheses, tested their designs, collected evidence, and evaluated which approaches were most effective.
- Dove into the microscopic world of plankton, visualizing phytoplankton and zooplankton from Gulf waters and exploring their importance within marine food webs.
- Built their own plankton for the “Great Plankton Race!” Students modeled adaptations that help plankton survive in the water column before putting their designs to the test.
- Continued exploring marine invertebrates, connecting the incredible diversity of organisms found in our coastal waters to structure, function, classification, adaptations, and marine ecosystems.
- And we wrapped up our ecology exploration with a fun ecology game, giving students an opportunity to apply their knowledge, collaborate, strategize, and have a little friendly competition!
- And we can't forget the diving!
Alongside all of this learning, our students have continued their confined-water PADI training.
Science Doesn't Stop When the Weather Says “Wait!”
While we waited for the weather to clear for our final confined-water dive, we turned an unexpected delay into another investigation. Using Kids Making Sense sensors, students collected and examined real-time data on ambient temperature, relative humidity, and air pollution. Students were able to see environmental conditions change in real time and connect those observations to the environmental systems we have been studying.
Sometimes the best science happens when the plan changes!
Now we take the next step.
OPEN-WATER CHECKOUT DIVES BEGIN THIS WEEK!
Our students are about to take their learning about tides, waves, currents, plankton, marine organisms, adaptations, and marine ecosystems directly into the Gulf of Mexico aboard the Down Under dive boat.
This is what makes Place-Based Science so special.
Sometimes our classroom is a beach.
Sometimes it's a pier.
Sometimes it's a pool.
Sometimes it's a dive boat.
Sometimes it's a butterfly garden.
And sometimes it's simply a classroom table covered in water, models, plankton, or an owl pellet.
These experiences are intentionally connected to the 2023 Alabama Course of Study: Environmental Science and the Gulf Shores City Schools adopted Marine Science standards approved by the state of Alabama.
Environmental Science
ES.1 – Matter and Energy Flow: Students model energy transfer through food chains, food webs, and trophic levels.
ES.3 – Biodiversity: Students investigate how biotic and abiotic factors affect biodiversity and populations and support claims about biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, including the role of keystone species.
ES.3a/b – Biodiversity & Field Investigations: Students investigate Alabama biodiversity through field experiences and examine the ecological importance of native, indicator, and keystone species.
ES.4 – Earth System Interactions: Students use evidence to explain how Earth's systems affect the biosphere and how the biosphere affects Earth's systems, including coastal processes.
ES.5 – Natural Cycles & Ecosystem Change: Students investigate how natural cycles and environmental changes influence ecosystems.
ES.8 – Human Impact: Students construct evidence-based claims about the effects of human activities on Earth's systems, natural resources, and ecosystem services and evaluate engineering solutions designed to protect natural resources.
ES.9 – Natural Resources & Human Activity: Students examine how natural resources, hazards, and environmental change influence human activity and welfare.
Marine Science
Marine Science 1: Investigating salinity and its effects on aquatic life.
Marine Science 2: Developing and using models to describe ocean structure and wave motion.
Marine Science 3: Exploring relationships between the atmosphere and ocean, including phytoplankton, greenhouse gases, currents, gyres, and wind patterns.
Marine Science 4: Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information about how energy flow relates to waves, ocean currents, and tides.
Marine Science 5: Explaining physical properties of seawater such as turbidity, temperature, density, salinity, pH, and dissolved gases.
Marine Science 6: Describing the structure, function, and diversity of marine ecosystems and the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors.
Marine Science 7: Modeling matter cycling and energy flow through marine food chains, food webs, biomass pyramids, and trophic systems.
Marine Science 9a: Modeling the characteristics of ocean-drifting organisms, including phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Marine Science 9b: Modeling and differentiating the structures and characteristics of major marine invertebrate phyla.
Marine Science 10: Modeling adaptations resulting from natural and artificial selection.
Marine Science 12: Using evidence to explain how human activity can affect marine ecosystems both positively and negatively.