A Visit From a Marine Biologist!

Christine O'Connell, Ella Jenson's (1-233) aunt and a marine biologist, came to talk with the class last week.  She asked us why science is important ("It helps you learn things nobody knows.", "You can discover a new Earth." and "You can make potions and help people.")? And what type of scientists did we know?  The class was so excited to have a "real" scientist in our classroom!  They had so many questions for Christine! 

What questions do you wonder about?

Christine said that asking questions is very important! Scientists ask questions and then look for the answer to their question.   Scientist also need evidence to back up their findings.  One boy declared that that is the scientific method!

Christine had a challenge for us....ask her questions to discover how she broke her arm!  That was tricky!  But we finally found out (by asking me as a secondary source!) that she broke her arm while snowboarding!

Lastly, Christine told us about her research trip to Cat Island, Bahamas in 2015 where she was tagging whitetip sharks.  The sharks are tagged so scientists can track where the sharks go throughout the year, where they have their babies and to help keep them safe.

Taking a blood sample to look at the shark's DNA.

You can read more about Christine's shark research at https://sharkchronicles.wordpress.com/.  All shark research photos were taken by Andy Mann.

In addition to Christine's research, she teaches college classes in science communication, oceans and environment.  She is also an assistant professor in journalism and marine science. 

Thank you so much Christine for coming to our science classroom and sharing your experiences!