the center for environment & society Chesapeake summer program

Transcription

1 the center for environment & society Chesapeake summer program

2 Side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profilers Chemistry Engineering Crabbing recipe Map Making Mud, gunk and goo Super Summer Sc Magnetometers Classrooms without walls Nets, trawls and scrapes Archaeology & sunken treasure Instructions Stack all ingredients with high school students and Washington College scientists and professors. Toast gently in the sunshine on our beautiful campus and Maryland s storied Chester River and Chesapeake Bay. Season with sun, fun, camaraderie, and unique hands-on learning. Open Chow

3 for a ience Sandwich Computers Research boats Seafloor mapping Clay, silt, sand & gravel Gigabytes of data 18th-century shipwrecks Satellite navigation Underwater robotics Overnights in a lighthouse Wide. Down. Serving Suggestion It s the Chesapeake Summer Program at Washington College, an opportunity for high school students to participate in college-level studies of the Chesapeake Bay s marine environment, as well as geospatial technology, with scientists and teachers at the Center for Environment & Society (CES). Students can sign up for one or two weeks with an optional bridge weekend between.

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5 June Week One Discoveries Underwater At Washington College, we re lucky to have the historic Chester River flowing past our doorstep, as well as the boats and cutting-edge technology to study this unparalleled cultural and natural resource. During Discoveries Underwater, students will use the equipment that enables scientists to study the marine environment, from under the seafloor up to the surface. You ll examine the principles behind side-scan sonar, acoustic seabed classification systems, sub-bottom profilers, and marine magnetometers. Then you ll go out on the College s research vessels, the Callinectes and Lookdown, and carry out underwater surveys, examine the seafloor, and, perhaps, locate a shipwreck from the days when merchant schooners sailed from Chestertown to ports all over the world. Students will compete to build and launch a buoy that carries the greatest payload, then build and deploy a BOB Basic Observation Buoy with instruments that measure water quality. You ll design and build an Aquabotz ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle a shallow-water, underwater robot with an integrated camera that can reveal what lies beneath the river s surface. You ll test your designs in the College s pool using principles of physics, chemistry, and engineering along the way. This is the same gear and science that Washington College s professors use with students to map the rivers and the Bay, locate submerged cultural resources like shipwrecks, and understand and monitor natural resources like oyster bars and beds of bay grasses. This hands-on learning will show you many of the career possibilities connected to the marine world.

6 June Week Two Geospatial Technologies and GIS You know how that annoying voice in your parents car or the apps on your cell phone can pinpoint exactly where you are? Ever considered how this basic system can be used to map everything from waterways and towns to the historic movement of people like the Vikings? That s called GIS Geographic Information Systems and Washington College s GIS Lab is an energetic, dynamic hub for this technology and the software that makes it possible. Geospatial technology is among the hottest new fields for college graduates; the U.S. Labor Department has identified it as one of the top ten high growth careers. During this week, students will learn about GIS and how to use it to map the community and environment around them and have a lot of fun doing it. You ll start the week with a GPS and orienteering treasure hunt on Washington College s lovely campus you might already be familiar with this kind of game and know it as geocaching. Then you ll head to the lab to get hands-on with various software programs, like ArcView, and web-enabled GIS applications. Lab work will be combined with time outside in Chestertown, where you ll practice gathering data and mapping different aspects of the community. You ll bring these new skills together when you choose a final project, focus your fieldwork on gathering the necessary data, then bring your project to life using GIS software in the lab. The week will end with you presenting your work to Washington College faculty and staff, as well as your peers and parents. Along with lab time and fieldwork, you can expect to enjoy a midweek summer afternoon of swimming and a barbecue picnic at nearby Betterton Beach, on the beautiful Sassafras River, as well as other extracurricular activities throughout the week like kayaking and tennis.

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8 June The Bridge Weekend Steamed crabs and screwpile lighthouses: What do they have in common? They re both quintessential symbols of the Chesapeake Bay, and the Bridge Weekend is when you ll get to find out why. It s a chance to change things up, take a road trip or two, and learn more about the Bay s cultural and natural history. On Friday afternoon, students will head to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, about an hour-and-a-half south of Chestertown. In a program jointly run by WC and museum staff, you ll explore the maritime museum s many exhibits to learn about the Bay s fascinating history and culture, as well as the environmental issues it s facing today. You ll do a little crabbing and fishing, and then spend the night in the iconic, 135-yearold Hooper Strait Lighthouse, where you ll learn some history about the Bay s lighthouses and their keepers. Saturday morning, it s out on the Miles River aboard another Chesapeake icon, the skipjack H.M. Krentz, followed by fun and instruction in the museum s boatbuilding shop. On Saturday afternoon, you ll travel to Worton, Md., to Echo Hill Outdoor School, where you ll enjoy a night of tent camping and campfires. Sunday morning you ll test your nerve and balance among the trees on the school s high ropes course. Then it s back to Washington College on Sunday afternoon.

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11 Logistics Housing Students will live in Washington College s residence halls in en suite apartments that have four single bedrooms and two bathrooms. Each apartment also includes a sitting room, as well as a refrigerator and microwave for handling those late-night munchies. Housekeeping staff cleans the common areas every other day, and laundry facilities are available for a nominal fee. Dining Hodson Hall, our beautiful new dining facility, is where you ll enjoy most of your meals. Perennial student favorites are the brick oven pizzas, the generous salad bar featuring local produce, stations to design your own sandwiches, as well as the more traditional buffet hot lunch options. A top dessert draw is the DIY soft-serve ice cream with all the fixings. We do vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, and omnivorian. There s something for every palate here. Extras While studying at the College, you re welcome to use all of our facilities in your down time. That includes our brand new fitness center, indoor swim center, tennis courts, and waterfront facility with kayaks and small boats. Or, you might want to just hang out on the College green or beneath some of our beautiful old trees. Bookstore If you forgot something or are looking for a WC souvenir, the College Bookstore will be open. Security and Supervision Program participants will be chaperoned throughout their stay by teachers as well as College students working in the program. Chestertown is the kind of place you can feel safe and comfortable, and campus security will provide extra patrols to ensure additional security in and around the residence halls. Cost One week $2,195; bridge weekend $395; two weeks plus the bridge weekend $4,495 (a $290 savings on the bridge weekend if signed up for both weeks). Scholarships are available; for information, contact Karson Langenfelder at conferences@washcoll.edu

12 washcoll.edu/chesapeakesummer 300 Washington Ave Chestertown, MD