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Paddling into knowledge
By Debi Boucher Stetson/ dstetson@cnc.com
Friday, June 17, 2005
The students in Agie Knowles's seventh-grade science class at Nauset Regional Middle School know all about sea level rise. They know all about the glacier that formed Cape Cod, about prevailing winds, tidal cycles and groundwater. And they can get into a kayak pretty easily.
That's all thanks to their sixth-grade experience with Dick Hilmer, whose Osprey Sea Kayak Adventures combines ecology lessons with fun on the water through the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies' Coastal Awareness program. And to hear Hilmer tell it, that first-year lesson is going to pay off today.
"Last year it was all about the science," Hilmer tells the group of 18 students on a sweltering morning earlier this week. "Today, we're gonna have fun."
But first, some warming up: Hilmer has the students stand on the pavement beside the Orleans Yacht Club, just yards from their launching site, and practice paddling. Gripping the two-sided kayak paddles, the kids follow Hilmer's motion as he instructs them to "butter the surface" of the water. "You don't want to dig it in, you want to be scraping the surface of the water ... one, two, three, one, two three; this is what you're going for."
And though there's no big science lesson today, there is a quick brush-up on one very important factor - wind.
"Winds are going to be our nemesis; we need to understand wind," he says. After pounding out the importance of prevailing winds, Hilmer finally leads the group to the waiting kayaks.
Donning yellow, red and blue lifejackets, the students climb into the tandem kayaks eagerly. Then, with help from Osprey staffers Wendy O'Keefe and Tony Warncke - like Hilmer, certified kayak instructors - they struggle through the arduous process of adjusting their foot pedals and fastening the "spray skirt" designed to keep water out of the inside of the kayak.
Once most of the students get the pesky skirts fastened, Hilmer confounds them by having them purposely kick their knees up to undo the skirts, to make sure they're not too tight. Then they have to fasten them all over again.
Then, finally, it's launch time, with Warncke heading out first - "The guide always goes out first," Hilmer tells his charges - and the long, slim boats head out into Town Cove, a little unsteadily at first, but with enthusiasm. When they return in several hours, the fleet of kayaks will have a very different look, as the kayakers form straight lines and paddle with ease and certainty.
For Hilmer, coastal awareness coordinator for the Center for Coastal Studies, it's one of a number of educational kayaking sessions in the week; this is just one half of the Orion Team, and this afternoon he'll take the other half out. The next day it's another seventh-grade team, the following day a group of students from Pennsylvania. Next week he'll bring the Nauset Regional Middle School sixth-graders out.
That's when he does the most intensive environmental teaching, covering a curriculum that is actually tailored to the state standardized MCAS test benchmarks. He starts with glacial formation, hydrology, groundwater and the Cape's sole-source aquifer. Then he takes the students out on a kettle pond such as Meetinghouse Pond in Orleans, where they can see the glacial formation. "We're really able to give them a coastal dynamic look at what we're going to be paddling," Hilmer notes.
At that point, he's no stranger to the sixth-graders, as he has already come into their classrooms to teach them about aquatic invasive species, a course he designed for an MIT sea grant. The session also includes a preview of some of the things they'll be doing when they go out in the kayaks, like looking at aquatic plant species and observing shoreline wildlife.
And, of course, they can look forward to their seventh-grade trip, when they'll gain confidence kayaking, with lessons in balance that involve standing on the boats, tug of war and other games. This week the seventh-graders come back exhilarated by the experience, chatting about how fast kayaks can go, who paddled best, which team won at tug of war.
For the students, it's one heck of a field trip. "It's a great opportunity for them," says Knowles, who appreciates both the science and the fun her students get on the expeditions.
Two twenty-something lifeguards at the launch area look on in envy. "We never did that when I was in school," says one.
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Emily Brazil of Truro and kayak partner Brianna Griffin of Wellfleet lead the group of Nauset Regional Middle School seventh-graders back to the landing during Monday's coastal awareness trip at Town Cove. (Staff photo by Merrily Lunsford) |
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