On Monday, October 11, the WDS fifth grade kicked off their semester-long study of the Long Island Sound with a visit to WDS’s waterfront to explore the intertidal zone and the creatures who call it home.

The students spent the first hour in the rocky intertidal zone, turning over rocks and squatting next to tide pools to find crabs, snails, hermit crabs, sand worms, shrimp, oysters, clams and mussels. One student found an enormous, 12-inch sand worm!

Then, the students went into the water with Ms. Shapiro to use the seining net to catch fish and shrimp. They caught silversides, striped bass, flounder and shrimp. The students brought a good sample of marine life back to the lab, where they filled the intertidal fish tank.

The students will be studying the individual species that they collected over the course of the next few months. It was a fantastic day of experiential learning!