BAM Spring 2017

Forest Heights student collected a sample of water to measure the salinty or the amount of salt in the water in her mangrove quadrat.
Director of Education, Amy Heemsoth helps students at Forest Heights Academy collect mangrove data.
B.A.M. year 2 student from Forest Heights Academy is ready to identify and measure the mangrove trees in his group's quadrat.
Amy Heemsoth, Director of Education is excited to be monitoring mangroves at Camp Abaco.
Is this a new mangrove scientist fashion statement? Sometimes students find cleaver ways to carry their equipment like this student from Forest Heights Academy.
Mangrove scientist, Ryann Rossi, posing with the specimens that she studies - mangroves.
When we visit the mangroves, it's difficult to predict what types of animals we are going to encounter. On this day we were fortunate enough to see what looks like a species of white heron.
While collecting a soil sample, students at Forest Heights Academy take time to observe nature. It looks like they might have found some sort of organism in the water.
Forest Heights Academy principal and Marine Biology teacher gives the B.A.M. program a thumbs up.
Hmm…I wonder if how fast these red mangrove dwarf trees grow compared to non-dwarf trees?
Forest Heights Academy student gets up close and personal with the mangroves so he can record data about the size of the mangrove trees in his quadrat.
During the second phase of the B.A.M. year 1 program, students learn about the mangrove food web. What better way to learn about it then to form an actual food web.
Grade 10 Biology students at Forest Heights Academy form a circle around the sun, which is where the food web begins. Each student represents a different animal in the mangrove food web.
Forest Heights Academy student pretends to be a sponge.
Students at Forest Heights Academy begin forming a food web. Each student decides who they pass energy to (thinking about what-eats-what) and then they through a ball of yarn to that student.
Energy in the mangrove food chain begins with the sun, represented by the student in the middle. The sun provides energy to mangrove trees via photosynthesis – mangrove trees provide energy to mangrove food crabs who consume the leaves – mangrove tree crabs provide energy to great blue heron. This is an example of one of the food chains that the students at Forest Heights created.
Holding on by a string - that is how delicate the mangrove food web can be. If one species is reduced in the food web or another's population greatly increases, it can effect all of the other organisms in the food web.
Ryann Rossi, PhD Candidate at North Carolina State University explains the basics of plant disease with B.A.M. year 2 students at Forest Heights Academy.
As part of the B.A.M. year 2 program, the students are learning about mangrove disease in the Bahamas and participating in ongoing science being conducted by Ryann Rossi, PhD candidate at North Carolina State University.
Before the students begin the disease activity, Ryann Rossi provides a short presentation about the mangrove disease, the types of disease, and how they plants can contract disease. During the presentation, students take notes in their Mangrove Journals.
Ryann Rossi, explains the symptoms of disease that is often seen in plants and even the mangrove trees. The most common symptom in mangrove trees in the Bahamas is necrotic or dead tissue.
Ryann Rossi, PhD Candidate at North Carolina State University explains to Forest Heights Academy students how they will isolate the potentially diseased lesions on their leaves.
Forest Heights Academy students get a chance to touch the agar in a test plate to see what it feels like. Most students have never touched or seen agar before. Students will not be able to touch the agar in their own plates or else they will contaminate their samples.
Before students begin "plating" their potentially disease leaves in agar, they first must draw their leave and label the areas where there are lesions present.
Partner from North Carolina State University, Ryann Rossi helps students to set up and sterilize their station.
FRIENDS of the Environment Outreach Officer, Cassandra Abraham helps Forest Heights Academy student to cut a small section of his potentially diseased mangrove leaf that includes diseased and non-diseased sections of the leaf.
Students at Forest Heights Academy label their agar plates so that they can later check their plates after 3 days, 1 week, and 2 weeks to see if there is any type of fungus growing.
Here is an example of a diseased mangrove leaf drawing from a student at Forest Heights Academy.
Students at Forest Heights Academy sterilize their tools before isolating the diseased portion of their mangrove leaves. Students will grow these isolations in agar plates to see if there is fungal growth present, which could indicate that the mangroves are diseased.
Students at Forest Heights Academy sterilize tweezers and scissors over an open flame before they use them to cut or pick up the diseased mangrove leaves. This prevents contamination.
Student at Forest Heights decontaminate a pair of tweezers by burning it over an open flame.
B.A.M. year 2 student from Forest Heights Academy proudly shows off his plated mangrove leaf. Now all he has to do is wait to see if fungus will begin to grow.
Forest Heights Academy Marine Biology student carefully uses a scalpel to cut or isolate a small piece of his diseased mangrove leaf. The student will place the leaf in agar and wait to see if fungus grows.
Ryann Rossi, PhD Candidate at North Carolina State University helps a student at Forest Heights Academy to isolate a piece of his diseased mangrove leaf.
Forest Heights Academy student isolates two pieces of his diseased mangrove leaf. These leaf pieces will now be placed in an agar plate.
A potentially diseased leaf that has been dissected by a Forest Heights Academy student for the B.A.M. year 2 disease experiment.
Forest Heights Academy student sterilizes a pair of tweezers before she picks up her mangrove leaf isolations and places them in an agar plate.
Students at Forest Heights Academy further sterilize the mangrove leaf isolations by placing them in a bleach solution for several seconds before transferring them to their agar plate.
Science is fun especially when you get to use interesting scientific tools and different methods!
To prevent bacterial contamination, Ryann Rossi, PhD candidate at North Carolina State University shows students how to seal their agar plates with Parafilm.

[Show slideshow]
1 2 3