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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Fifth graders witness the supermoon’s impact on tides at Masonboro Island

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Wrightsboro Elementary’s fifth grade class experienced not only the untouched beauty of Masonboro Island, but also the direct connection between the moon and the tides during their Island Explorer Program field trip.

The students visited the protected island on Nov. 13, coincidentally the same morning that the moon made its closest approach to earth since 1948, according to NASA.

The pull of the supermoon was clearly evident to the students on Monday morning as they looked for seashells, discussed probable flow of the tides and trapped blue crab and mud snails.

“The super monster moon is pulling the water around it,” said Jane Radack, an instructor at Carolina Ocean Studies, as she explained to the students why the tidal pools were changing so rapidly and impacting their crabbing.

The field trip, part of the Island Explorer Program, was organized by Masonboro.org, a local nonprofit that preserves the traditions of Masonboro Island and protects its public access by promoting responsible use. The program is intended help students understand the value of the protected reserve and encourage them to have an environmental stewardship mindset.

Thanks in part to a $35,000 donation from Duke Energy, granted Monday morning before the field trip, the Island Explorer Program will reach every fifth grade class in New Hanover County next year. The grant ensures that the students not only have the opportunity to visit the island, but do not have to pay to participate in the trips.

“This program is right up our alley in connecting kids to the outdoors,” said Amy Strecker, Duke Energy’s principal community affairs manager. “These kids are going to take care of the environment in the future.”

By working in conjunction with New Hanover County Schools and Carolina Ocean Studies, Masonboro.org was able to tailor the instruction on the field trips to meet the fifth grade science curriculum. Much of the vocabulary and concepts discussed on the trip will appear on the students’ end of grade exams.

The Carolina Ocean Studies instructors emphasized tactile and interactive learning with the students as they lead call and response rhymes about vocabulary words and encouraged students to collect, touch and examine the objects they found on the island. The educational group joined the Island Explorer Program in 2013.

Before they were part of the team, education was led by the NC Coastal Reserve. Because they are a small organization with only a handful of instructors, the scale of the program was kept small.

When Masonboro.org started this educational program in 2012, its members worked directly with Wrightsville Beach Elementary. They were able to take approximately 25 students that year.

Joining with Carolina Ocean Studies has allowed Masonboro.org to expand in scale to reach 1,600 students by the end of the school year, and all fifth graders in the county next year.

“What’s the chance of having this coastal education group in New Hanover County that does 10,000 trips a year?” said Richard Johnson, one of the Masonboro.org founders.

It is a direct result of the cooperation of the staff and volunteers at New Hanover County Schools, Masonboro.org, NC Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve and Carolina Ocean Studies that these field trips are able to exist. The opportunity will be open for every student because of donations from Duke Energy and local organizations.

“I feel really good about this program,” Strecker said. “Some of these kids have never seen the ocean even though they live in New Hanover County.”

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