By Julia Oudiz
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa Advanced Placement Environmental Science classes went to the Hyperion Treatment Plant on April 14 and the Marine Biology classes went to The Aquarium to the Pacific on April 20.
Costa APES teacher Karl Kurz and Science Lab Assistant Karen Cunningham organized the trip to The Hyperion Treatment Plant. The plant filters sewage waste in several stages and students took the onsite tram to observe these stages. Students also spent time in the new environmental learning center which is an activity area where people can engage in interactive lessons about the environment.
“It’s one of the largest modern wonders of the world and one of the main topics of environmental science,” Kurz said.
The trip to the Hyperion Treatment Plant was restricted to 50 students because there is a limit to the number of people allowed in the plant at the same time. The trip was optional for students from Kurz’s fourth and sixth and took place from 12pm to 4pm. According to Cunningham, only about ten students attended because they did not want to miss class.
“[I liked] the tour itself,” Cunningham said. “The docent was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information.”
The Aquarium of the Pacific trip was organized and chaperoned by Costa Marine Biology teacher Olie Smith and Cunningham. According to Smith, the purpose of the trip is for students to be able to observe the marine animals that they have been learning about in class and to see how they live.
“It’s really hard to learn about organisms when you just see pictures of them,” Smith said. “They might not be in their natural habitat, but they are in a stimulation of their natural habitat.”
This is the second year Smith has organized this trip for the Marine Biology classes. Students needed permission slips signed by their teachers in order to go on the trip. Students departed from school at 7:30 am and arrived back at Costa at 4:30 pm.
“Students got to walk around and find animals from different phyla and interact with them,” Smith said. “Some students were able to feed sharks. It was smooth, easy, and there were no problems.”
Students received an assignment where they had to locate one organism from each of the fifteen categories, find a photo of the organism, describe the behavior and the kingdom of the organism and write about something that they learned.
“Students actually [saw] the marine life that they have been [learning] about the whole school year,” Cunningham said. “There [was] a lot to learn and it [was] a very valuable experience.”
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