Get Dirty! Ambassador Expedition from Quileute Tribal School
Get Dirty! Ambassadors from Quileute Tribal School in La Push, WA
Five middle school students, Gabe, Addy, Xavier, Ruby, Kevin, and their science teacher Alice Ryan were selected by NEEF as the first cohort of Nickelodeon Get Dirty! Ambassadors. The team proposed a learning expedition to study ocean acidification in partnership with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. They increased their understanding of ocean acidification and the impacts to their culture and natural resources while building awareness of the issue both locally and regionally.
Through the Get Dirty! Challenge, Nickelodeon and NEEF hope to inspire kids across the country to become ambassadors of the environment in their own communities and promote environmental stewardship among their peers.
Humans and the ocean are inextricably interconnected, with all humans relying on ocean ecosystem outputs such as oxygen, water, and food. Ocean ecosystems are threatened by several stressors, one of which is ocean acidification. Changing ocean conditions often lead to a disproportionate impact on coastal communities. Get Dirty! Ambassadors—Gabe, Addy, Xavier, Ruby, and Kevin—conducted a Nickelodeon funded Get Dirty! Expedition to monitor plankton populations and collect ocean chemistry data. The team made observations and took measurements such as pH level and water temperature, and used plankton tows to identify microorganisms in the water. They also taught fellow students the data collection techniques. The team uploaded their data to the GLOBE program and shared their findings at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council spring meeting.
(clockwork from left) Xavier and Addy record their observations by matching water color to those on the chart. In the science lab, the team identifies microorganisms found in the plankton tow sample. The ambassadors taught their fellow classmates how to use the plankton net to collect a sample. Xavier and Kevin with the plankton net and sample bottle.
The Get Dirty! Challenge brought to you by
