I Saved the Bay–What Did You Do?

Today, my class and I went to the Palo Alto baylands with Save the Bay. There we collected quantitative data about many things, such as pH values of the soil, soil moisture, biodiversity of the plants in each plot of land, soil conductivity and the longitude and latitude of the land. All together, these values would tell us what plants would be able to grow in each area.

The field trip connected to class because we learned about how plants have to adapt to their surroundings. For example, pickle weed has adapted to living in the marshes both during high tide and low tide. That is why in our biodiversity data collection, we found that pickle weed was the only plant growing closest to the water. Another connection I made was how conductivity and water are interconnected. My group calculated that the closer we got to the water, the soils conductivity drastically increased. This reminded me of chemistry class and learning about how water and moisture directly affect the conductivity of substances.

This outdoor lab demonstrated citizen science. Citizen science is when amateurs or nonprofessional scientists conduct experiments. This type of science is important because it enables people to connect with science and answer questions on their own instead of reading it in a newspaper or in an article. There is a different feeling when learning something more hands on. I felt that I learned more because I was in direct contact with the soil and could collect data on my own. I also felt like I was really making a difference by going out to the bay lands today. I am really glad that I experienced citizen science.

One thing that I will definitely remember is eating the pickle weed and the weather that we experienced. The pickle weed was like eating little pockets of salt. There is no other way to describe it! I found out that red pickle weed is saltier because it contains more salt.

Also, the weather was freezing!!! The only positive part of the weather was the rainbow we saw towards the end. The rainbow was so bright and well defined.

One thing I would change about the experience is I want to learn more about the bay and what we can do to preserve it than only collecting data about the soil. I would also want to learn if the temperature outside affects the soil and the data we collected. Overall, this field trip was a lot of fun and I learned a great deal about soil, the bay, the tides, and the adaptation that plants have to survive their environments.

*All pictures taken by me*
*Pickle weed picture taken by Rebecca Girard*