Middle School Meets Marine Biology

What does it look like when students spend the day doing real science? Just like this!. 🌊

This week, our middle schoolers visited the CCEMarineProgram at Cornell Cooperative Extension Suffolk County — and the day was full of genuine science and discovery.

At the scallop, clam, and oyster hatcheries, students explored algae cultures, learned about spawning and feeding processes, and witnessed live oyster reproduction up close. Then they turned their attention to the shoreline itself — counting and assessing Spartina alterniflora, the native salt marsh grass essential to our coastal ecosystems, and learning about seed stratification: the process of overwintering seeds so they're ready to germinate when the season calls.

And they're bringing the work home with them. With 170 marsh grass seeds in petri dishes, students will determine the germination rate that informs how many seeds CCE Marine plants across their entire restoration effort this season — and they'll grow milkweed seedlings to support monarch butterfly habitat too.

There's something irreplaceable about learning in the field, in the places where the science is actually happening, alongside the experts who dedicate their lives to it. We're grateful to the team at CCE Marine for sharing their knowledge and passion with our students so generously.

This is middle school at Peconic Community School — curious, purposeful, and rooted in the world right outside our door.