Class Trip
During the week of April 9 - 12, 2019, students and chaperones attended a four day field trip to Catalina Island with Mountain and Sea Adventures (https://mountainandsea.org/catalina-island-camps/). While in L.A., students had some amazing sea adventures. Students toured and spent the night on the USS Iowa . Built in 1940, the USS IOWA served our country for over 50 years. Designated the “World’s Greatest Naval Ship” due to her big guns, heavy armor, fast speed, longevity and modernization, she kept pace with technology for more than 50 years. During her more than 50 years in service, IOWA has welcomed and escorted our nation’s Commander-in-Chief on many occasions. No other battleship in our nation’s history has been host to more U.S. Presidents than the IOWA (https://www.pacificbattleship.com/). It was quite a night! We all had a firsthand opportunity to experience a piece of American history.
The next day, we went kayaking on the coastline. Most of our students had never kayaked before and within a short time, were resident experts! Throughout the trip, students were engaged in hands-on studies of ocean creatures and the ocean environment. Students went to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (https://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org/) where they explored a touch-tank including sea anemones and leopard sharks. This gave them an experience of interacting with a variety of ocean life. The adventure also included sailing around the Los Angeles Port which included a visit the “oil islands”. Please see the attached website about these very interesting islands off the shore of Long Beach (https://aoghs.org/technology/thums-california-hidden-oil-islands/). Students were allowed to jump off our ship and swam in the ocean and learned how to navigate ocean waters. Our last visit on our Aquaponics adventure was to tour the Marine Institute (http://www.longbeachmarine.org/), where students explored the institute's labs and analyzed their aquaculture system.