Students install coral reef system
High school partners with Rosemont College, Mars Fishcare for three-year research project
With the installation of a live captive coral reef system — it’s safe to say the Environmental Science Program is growing at Boone.
Through partnerships with Rosemont College and Mars Fishcare, Daniel Boone High School now has a team of students taking part in a Coral Reef Research/Marine Stewardship Project.
The school’s award winning “Green Team” has formed a Coral Division and they’ve been preparing for weeks to receive captive coral rock. On Thursday, Sept. 22, the received and placed the “live” coral into its new aquatic environment at Daniel Boone.
“The reason why they call it live is because there are bacteria in the dead coral rock which is essential for the growth of future coral,” said Shannon Helzer, Assistant Director of the Daniel Boone team. “The bacteria are in the rock, so you put in the aquatic environment to set up the cycle that will allow it start growing coral down the road.” He noted how coral are essential, and they are also exceedingly sensitive.
The purpose of project is to help instill a greater awareness of environmental and marine stewardship.
“These things can live a very long time,” said Gary Jones of Mars Fishcare, on hand to help with the installation. As students began removing the rocks from the buckets, he instructed them on how to properly handle them — carefully. “You have to think of this piece of coral as an animal because it is an animal.”
The students spread out the rocks onto towels to begin the construction of their reef, taking into careful consideration the size and shape of each rock.
“It’s two-fold, we’re actually able to teach high school kids how to do real research, and through research we’re able to educate the community in land-locked Birdsboro, Pennsylvania about the need for marine stewardship,” said Helzer.
This will be a three year research project; students involved now will have the chance to remain involved next year.
“The second year of the project will be to build a biological filtration system instead of the mechanical filtration system. Before we do all that – we have to get the aquatics system up and running.”
Helzer and science instructor Sid Hardwood
“These things can live a very long time. You have to think of this piece of coral as an animal because it is an animal.” — Gary Jones of Mars Fishcare
have been working together on this project for almost a year in an effort to strengthen the high school’s environmental science program.
“The environmental science program is a labbased course, but we don’t have funding for a lab. Through the Green Team’s efforts and Mr. Harwood’s efforts, we are establishing a program that’s able to give us a lab.” Helzer said the goal is turn the lab into a full-time lab facility.
By installing and studying the system — students will be learning about the different types of coral and how they interact with each other and their environment.
“It’s nice that we’re at the point now where students are getting involved,” said Harwood. “It’s exciting now that you get to see stuff happening.”
A majority of the equipment has been donated by Rosemont College, one of the research partners.
“We’re building our own lab, and it’s a functioning lab,” said Harwood, explaining how it’s better than a store-bought lab kit. “They’re going to have to do problem solving on a regular basis because things are going to go wrong. Water temp is going to go out of whack; they’ll have to figure out what caused it and how to fix it.”
John Ullrich of Rosemont College came out to Daniel Boone High school with the college’s Reef Team leader and Daniel Boone 2015 graduate Alexa Rhoads to help the students install in the system.
Rhoads explained how the students will be studying closed system. As a part of the Reef Team at Rosemont for the past year, she says she has learned a lot and is excited to be involved with Daniel Boone’s project. “There’s so much to learn about it — keeping everything alive, the chemistry of it. There’s just so much work that goes into it. If one thing goes awry, the whole system will fall. It’s really fragile.”
Harwood spoke about the second stage — the biological filtration system — and how a mini Everglades will be formed. This would be a nearly self-sustaining ecosystem requiring less maintenance.
The end goal, he says, “is to make this make place look like a rainforest.”
The Green Team was selected for this project grant based on their track record of success.