Caribbean SEA received Funding from La Mer

Soufriere, January 24, 2014: Caribbean SEA received funding from La Mer, an Estee Lauder company to launch its Kids 4 Coral program in 2013. The goal is to teach one hundred children in Saint Lucia how to snorkel. Approximately 60 children from Vieux-Fort, Soufriere and Marigot learned how to snorkel in 2013. Kids 4 Coral will soon be conducted in Dennery and Castries. Participation is free and equipment is provided for use during the program.

The island of Saint Lucia, our home, is surrounded by many beautiful coral reefs, yet many Saint Lucians have never witnessed these majestic sights that many tourists travel hundreds of miles to see every year. Furthermore, many of the actions that we partake in on land have a huge negative impact on this delicate ecosystem, which not only puts at risk the diverse marine life that lives there, but also directly damages the livelihoods of those involved in the tourist and fishing industries.

In order to sensitize the youth of Saint Lucia to the beauty and importance of these reef ecosystems, we are started our “Kids 4 Coral” program. Through this program, we teach students ages 8 – 12 years how to snorkel, identify many of the local marine plants and animals, and how to make simple changes in their everyday lives to protect the underwater world. We also encourage parents to attend both the classroom and the snorkel sessions and have had great support particularly in Vieux-Fort. We work with lifeguards as well as dive and snorkel operators and other volunteers from the community who assist in running the program.

The program, which we have successfully run in Curaçao in the past, is a four week program which includes lessons on Coral Reefs, Mangroves, Seagrass, reef fish and associated species. A special lesson on the lionfish is also included and participants get to eat lionfish. The children get to enjoy snorkeling at four different beaches and reefs on the island, all whilst learning a new life skill. Each snorkeling experience is different and the children and a few parents get to see all the common reef species like parrotfishes, yellowtail snappers, trumpetfish, grunts and sergeant majors. We have had a few rare sightings of lobsters, mating octopi, a small sting ray, porcupine fish and a reticulated eel (pictured above, credit Saphira Hunt).

Caribbean SEA is grateful to our sponsor La Mer for making it possible to bring an appreciation of the sea and marine life to the youth of Saint Lucia. We would like to thank Shala Monroque and the Saint Lucia Tourist Board for their valued assistance. The program was featured in the May 2013 issue of Vogue magazine. Special thanks to our volunteers including Stella Clingman (PCV), Johnson Charles, Kimberly Charles, Tessa Hinds, lifeguards Germain and Coach Andy and operators Mystic Man Tours, Dive Fair Helen, Tides Dive Shop, Island Divers and Scuba St. Lucia.

We welcome volunteers who would like to assist. For more information contact the Program Director for Saint Lucia, Nadia Cazaubon via email at ncazaubon@caribbean-sea.org

Thanks for a wonderful evening at Save Water, Drink Wine! See you next year!

Bob Paulson, wine pourer extraordinaire!

Bob Paulson, wine pourer extraordinaire!

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Kids, Storm Water, and a Playground

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We all want to teach kids about clean water…..So what if you put them in charge of actually cleaning it. After investigating the ditches and runoff coming onto their playground, students from Thrasher Elementary School began trying to figure out what they could do to slow that water down and clean it up.  they worked with Stantec engineer, Paul Thomas, teacher Heidi Mies, and Mary Beth to devise ideas, from crazy to amazing….to take care of that stormwater and actually create an interesting habitat on their playground.  the students drew out ideas that included a rock filter, a pond complete with a pressure sensitive gate to keep water in when needed, a meditation rock, a meandering stream with a waterfall and then lots of space for pretty plants and salamanders and frogs and turtles.  After presenting their ideas to their principal, Regina Brock, the students proceeded to vote on the ideas they would most like to be included in their stormwater system.  Now the engineer and PTA have their work cut out for them!  They have to devise a plan, using the student ideas, that the students will approve!  

Out with the old, In with the NEW!

Happy New Year from the GEAR CLOSET and Caribbean SEA!  As you clean out your old stuff, remember that we take all outdoor gear, from the technical to the sublime…including clothing, running gear, and just fun stuff!  Thanks for making The Gear Closet a successful fundraiser for CLEAN WATER!  IMG_1745IMG_1891IMG_1904feb 09 165

Even Head of The Hooch regatta wants clean water!

I have to brag on the Chattanooga Junior Rowers crew…..Katie and Lizze nearly fell in a very cold Tennessee River trying to get the litter out that had blown in from the regatta site.  Just think if our river was covered in trash….would the Head of the Hooch want to hold its regatta in Chattanooga?  Would the long distance swimmers Swim the Suck and keep swimming for 10 miles down the river?  We have issues with our river…from sewage to medications, but it still keeps flowing. Chattanooga has such spectacular outdoor resources….let’s make sure the water is respected, too.

SEA Creatures Activity 3: Marine Fish

In case you haven’t noticed, the SEA Creatures clubs are starting with marine life and making our way onto the land as we go along(from reef to ridges!).  

There are millions of species of marine fishes, and they all just happen to be great examples of how body shape and coloration make it possible for each type of fish to survive in its own habitat.

Download this powerpoint to see some of the different fish shapes and coloration patterns that we talked about. 

 

After talking to kids about different fish shapes and coloration, we let them play with a homemade playdough. (I was aiming to make clay but I can’t find cream of tartar anywhere here!) The original idea was that they could go back after a week and paint their creations but they never dried with the humidity… but the kids were happy to play with the playdough so it wasn’t the end of the world.

 

SEA Creatures Activit(ies) 2: Coral Reefs

I will admit, I haven’t been so good about posting the SEA Creatures lesson plans as I’d wanted, so I’ll try and catch up over the next couple of days. But the good news is that the program is going very well so far! Pictures are updated on our Facebook page, and I am working on having a gallery on the main SEA Creatures page. 

Coral reefs near Marigot Bay in Saint Lucia

Coral Reefs

About Corals
Since Saint Lucia is surrounded by coral reefs, and these very reefs are endangered due to climate change, water pollution and coral diseases (amongst other things), I wanted to teach the kids about them. Many of the kids don’t know how to swim, and so they haven’t seen a reef before. Even those that had seen them didn’t know exactly what a coral was?

Corals may look like a rock or plant, but they are actually animals! And each structure you see isn’t just one coral, but is a colony.  They can’t move around (They are sessile organisms) but because of a special relationship with a type of algae plant called zooxanthellae, they can still eat! The zooxanthellae live inside the coral reef, and like all plants, they get their energy from the sun.  The zooxanthellae give some of the energy to the coral, and the coral, in turn, provide a safe place for the algae to live.  Because the two organisms are helping each other, we call this a mutualistic relationship.

The algae alone isn’t enough to keep it alive.  At night, the corals open up their rocky faces to reveal tentacles that can sting like a jellyfish.  The coral can use these tentacles to stun and bring their food to their mouths (which is also their butt, hehehe). They can also use their tentacles to fight, as you can see in this video.
Coral Reef [Hunting & Fighting]

 

 

Activities: 

We did several activities across the different schools.  One was to watch the “Magic School Bus: Takes a Dive” episode, which the kids loved.  The episode takes them underwater and teaches them about mutualistic relationships, which was the theme of our lesson.
After the movie, we went outside to do 3-legged races, which represent how 2 organisms have to work together to survive!

Mutualistic Racing

 

At schools without access to a television, we focused on how a coral feeds and how the algae provides color and energy to the coral polyps.

Materials needed:
White Latex Gloves (one for each kid)
Sharpies
Treat of some sort (we used cheeto snacks)

1) Allow each kid to have one glove and a sharpie. (We used Sharpies because I had them              and they don’t run as much as a washable marker on a glove – paint might work too?)

2) Explain to the children that their hands are coral polyps and when it is white, it means that there is no algae inside. Without the algae (zooxanthellae) they will starve, so they have to color their gloves.

Kids coloring their gloves

3) Once everyone colors their gloves, instruct all the children to put their heads down on the desk and close their eyes… corals are blind you know!

4) Now, call out to the children that it is the daytime and the sun is out, so a coral will keep it’s tentacles in (so they should make a fist with their hands).  Wait a bit, then say that it is getting dark, darker… until it’s nighttime! At night the corals open and wiggle their tentacles around to find food that is floating by.  So, in our game, walk around and put little treats in the kids’ hands as they wiggle their fingers. Switch between day and night time, making sure the kids do the appropriate action with their hands.  Keep going until everyone gets a nice little snack, or you run out of food.

Corals catch whatever floats by in the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belize Clean Water Camp

It was Coral Reef Day at Clean Water Camp for San Mateo kids in Belize! We did a lot of studying how the coral reef was alive and the diversity of life found there. Everyone here likes to and needs to fish so losing fish populations would be a huge problem for them! Then the boys found a large stingray that was injured. We took her to cooler water using a piece of cloth as a stretcher. The kids were treated by Ecologic Divers to a snorkel trip to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. They were amazed!! The squeals of turtle turtle turtle!!! could be heard across the reef!!

SEA Creatures Activity 1: Upcycled Paper Necklaces

For the first week of the SEA Creatures club, we will be making nautical-themed necklaces with the kids’ names on them, almost completely out of upcycled materials!

(The parrot and iguana are examples from other projects – we will be using other animals.)

This project can be high in prep time, but is easy enough for kids as young as 5 to participate in.  It’s a great startoff project though because it helps to learn the kids’ names, separate them into smaller groups (each character type is a group), lets them be crafty and allows them to take something home to show their parents (which is important when trying to recruit kids for an after school activity!).  Hopefully they’ll learn some about the animals they are coloring and recycling while we are at it!

Big thank you to Nami, Afua, and Grace who helped design this craft!!

 

How to make an Upcycled Necklace:

For ages 5+ years

Preparations:

Character Pendant

Materials Necessary:
– white paper (best if reused!)
– thin cardboard (from cereal-type boxes) or cardstock
– glue
– scissors
– big needle
– colorful string (yarn is not recommended)
– this file is using my characters – Necklace Characters – Sea theme

How to:
1) Print the characters onto the white side of your reused paper. Cut them all out.
2) Glue the characters to the cardboard, fitting as many as possible onto each piece. Cut   them out.

3) Use a big needle to poke a hole at the top of each character.  Thread a piece of string (ours were about a meter long) through each hole.Alternative options:
-If you don’t have a printer, draw or trace characters onto the paper.
– In classrooms with enough scissors, allow older kids to cut their own characters out.
Paper Beads

Materials Necessary:
– colorful magazine (Thank you St. Lucia Tourist Board for donating ours!)
– scissors

How to:
1) Take pages of the magazine and cut into long triangle shapes.  They don’t need to be the same size.

 

Bottlecap Bead
Materials Necessary:
–  bottlecaps
–  nail
–  hammer
–  needle and thread
–  spare fabric
–  5cm (2-inch) diameter circle to trace

How to:
1) Use a nail and hammer to tap holes through the middle of your bottlecaps.
2) Cut fabric into circles with a 5cm or 2 inch diameter.

3) Sew the fabric onto the bottlecap.

 

 

 

Alternative option: You may let kids paint their bottlecaps instead (or spray paint them all beforehand).

 

Now we are ready to find some kids! I borrowed my neighbor to be my model.

Kids part:

Materials necessary:
– Character Pendants w/ string
– crayons/markers
– scrap colored paper if adding names
– paper strips for beads
– glue (sticks if possible)

1) The kids should try to make the beads first. Sometimes they get glue everywhere and the beads have to dry before they can thread them.  They need at least 5 beads (any odd number works though).

To make the beads:
Tell the kids to pick which side they like the most.  Put that side on the bottom and start rolling from the fat end. As you roll about halfway up, put glue on the skinny part of the triangle.
Younger kids will need help and they may be loosely wrapped once they finish, but it’s their craft so I leave it unless they ask for help.  Just grab the ends and pull the “tail” if they want it tighter though.Some kids will go very quickly – they can make more beads or move on to coloring!

2) Allow the kids to color the pendants. 

I don’t have the string on this parrot yet, but if you are working with a lot of kids, it’s better to have as much stringed up beforehand as possible.
Glue a piece of scrap paper with the children’s names on their characters.

3) Add beads.  We put both strings through one bead and the bottle cap (using a needle for the bottlecap), and then put the remaining beads on either side of the necklace.

Tie it all together and…

TA-DA!

 

Bill Gates: Changing the way we poop

Even though waste disposal is something that we take for granted in America, 4 out of 10 people worldwide don’t have an environmentally friendly way to poop. Or health-friendly either – poop in the water can spread many viral and bacterial diseases, and can distribute some fun parasites too.  But of course we can’t stop pooping, and it’s not realistic or even possible to put in sewer or septic tank systems in every home (and without proper maintenance and care, those sewers and septic tanks may be worthless anyway), so what do we do? 
Last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation set out to answer that question – through a call for submissions for a completely reinvented toilet that minimizes water use and works efficiently and cheaply enough to put into homes worldwide.  Now they are going through submissions and announcing the winners.  Check out the new toilets and more about the Gates Foundation’s work at http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Topics/Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge-Photo-Gallery

Would you put any of them in your home?