BAM Fall 2016

Join along with Living Oceans Foundation Education Director, Amy Heemsoth, as she recounts in these photos her trip back to the Bahamas to kick-off the 2016-2017 Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (B.A.M.) program with some fantastic new additions: a NOAA Knauss Fellow, and a BAM Year 2 pilot program!

Forest Heights Academy's Marine Biology Class ready to jump into action to create mangrove plots for future monitoring.
Our Director of Education, Amy Heemsoth teaching 10th grade Biology students about the basics of mangroves at Forest Heights Academy.
B.A.M. 2016-2017 Biology grade 10 participants from Forest Heights Academy.
10th grade Biology student traces the red mangrove leaf and labels it with the distinguishing structures.
Forest Heights Academy Biology student identifies a red mangrove tree by its leaf.
BAM participant from Forest Heights Academy draws a red mangrove leaf in her student journal.
Students from Forest Heights Academy taste a black mangrove leaf. Even though it has been raining a lot, the students find out that the leaves are still very salty!
Observation is a fact that is learned through one of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and hearing. Students observe though taste that the black mangrove tree leaves are salty, while having a bit of fun at the same time.
Forest Heights Academy student draws a black mangrove leaf and labels the salt and fine hairs on the leaf.
10th grade Biology student draws leaves of the black, red, and white mangrove tree to help him later remember how to identify each.
Students at Forest Heights Academy finish drawing each of the mangroves leaves.
A trip to the mangroves wouldn't be complete without a walk in the mud.
Forest Heights Academy students collect red mangrove propagules at Camp Abaco.
10th grade student at Forest Heights Academy collects three red mangrove seedlings that she will grow and care for during the next eight months in her Biology class.
Safety in Numbers - You never know when you might get stuck in the mud, so it's best to bring a friend to help you out.
Biology students look for healthy red mangrove propagule.
It looks like these students from Forest Heights Academy have found more than enough mangrove seedlings to plant when they return to the classroom.
After getting a little muddy in the mangroves, students rinse off in the ocean.
FRIENDS of the Environment's Education Officer, Cassandra Abraham, shows students the seeds from different mangrove species and asks them to identify each one.
Our Director of Education, Amy Heemsoth shows students how they are going to plant their mangrove seedings in these plant flats.
Forest Heights Academy student holds up his three mangrove seedlings that he is going to plant during today's class.
BAM students will plant mangrove seedlings in three different types of media: sand, mangrove mud, and pebbles. Then they will hypothesis which type of media the seedlings grow best in.
Dirty Jobs - Forest Heights Academy student starts loading the stinky mangrove mud in the plant flat.
Biology student at Forest Heights Academy fills one of the plant flats with pebbles. Students will grow one of their three propagules in this media type.
The third type of media, sand, is being placed in a plant flat by a Forest Heights Biology student.
It looks like this Forest Heights Academy student is finished adding sand to this plant flat. We are now ready to plant the seedings.
Forest Heights Academy B.A.M. participant writes down observations about his seedlings.
Forest Heights student takes an initial growth measurement of her mangrove seedling. She and her classmates will continue to measure the growth of each seedling over the next 8 months.
Before placing their seedlings in a plant flat, they measure their seedlings, so they can track their growth over time.
Students at Forest Heights Academy plant their mangrove propagules in the plat flat filled with pebbles.
B.A.M. participant determines which grid he put his mangrove propagule in so he can correctly identify it the next time he needs to measure it.
Students at Forest Heights Academy place their mangrove propagules in the sand flat.
This student takes the first measurement of his mangrove seedling. He will record this data in his mangrove journal.
Biology student at Forest Heights Academy has measured his propagule and he is now going to plant it in the flat filled with sand.
I wonder which type of media the students' mangrove seedlings will grow best in: mangrove mud, sand, or pebbles?
Students plant their mangrove seedlings in mud.
Ready to Grow - Mangrove seedlings in sand
Ready to Grow - Mangrove seedlings in mangrove mud
Experiment - Students will grow these mangrove seedlings over the next month to determine which type of media do the mangrove seedlings grow best in.
Ready to Grow - Mangrove seedlings in pebbles

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