Marine Science at Harbor

At Harbor Country Day School, we are fortunate to be situated on an 11-acre campus, a mere two miles from Long Island Sound, a classroom in itself.

To take advantage of that opportunity, this year Harbor kicked off a new marine science program in partnership with the Long Island Science Center, the Friends of Flax Pond and Stony Brook University. The partnership was established to foster hands-on learning, to inspire an appreciation for the environment, and to connect and give back to the community. Through this unique program, students are able to apply what they learn across the curriculum to studies in marine science.

For example, the Sixth Grade recently finished a unit in expository writing focusing on salt marshes. In addition to the written report, students conducted water quality tests from Flax Pond and included a written science lab in their report drawing on math and science skills. Art was also brought into this project as students sketched pictures of various plants and animals in Flax Pond and tried their skills in nature photography.

Looking ahead, students now have access to incredible learning opportunities such as attending the Flax Pond Summer Institute, led by professors from Stony Brook University and Cornell, where students participate in an intensive week-long study tagging horseshoe crabs, counting Ribbed and Blue mussels or conducting vegetation studies.

The students also venture out on field trips to the Long Island Science Center, the Brookhaven National Lab and Stony Brook University’s Earthstock event. Students and families are also invited to attend the Flax Pond lecture series to gain invaluable knowledge about Flax Pond, the environment and other science-based topics.

As the program continues to blossom and expand, it is becoming another way we nurture the need for students to be engaged in purposeful hands-on experiences where they can recognize and express their own passions for learning and inquiry. We hope that over time our scientific relationship with the Sound will become a key feature of every Harbor student’s experience.

Kimberly Gair