Endangered Species Nurtured by ES Students
December 31, 2006by Daniel Saulnier
The biggest project the Sophomore Environmental Science class takes part in is the raising and releasing of their Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) and Plymouth Red-bellied Turtles (Pseudernys rubriventris bangsi). Both of these species are on the State and Federal Endangered Species list. Several of the students have
commented that they enjoy raising these fascinating animals.
Six Plymouth Red-bellied turtles were received from the “Head Start” program, run by the Mass Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program, near the beginning of the school year.
For the past 
six months the Woodlands and Wetlands ecology class has been working hard, taking care of these turtles by cleaning their tank once a week and feeding them regularly. In addition to this, the class has been measuring the weight and shell length of each turtle each week. Each student record
s this data into their own personal log book where they later calculate the weight change as well as the change in size. At the end of every month, this data is sent to Mass Wildlife. This data from the first twenty-three weeks will be found here. Mr. Saulnier’s Sophomore class is proud to say that none of their turtles have died or been injured and that our turtles are well above average weight and size when compared to the rest of the state’s data.
As of February, the sophomore ES class has been raising five-hundred Atlantic Salmon eggs. The class received these eggs from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Nashua Fish Hatchery when they were on a field trip.
When the salmon are released into the stream they will be in the fry stage of their life cycle. This stage can be compared to the tadpole stage of the frog life cycle. It is unlikely that all five-hundred eggs will hatch or even survive by the time they are ready to be released, just as not all salmon would survive if they were bred in the wild. But the Sophomores are hoping to beat the current Junior’s record of 475 salmon survivors. As of March 21, only four eggs have not hatched. Every week,
measures are taken to ensure the salmon’s survival by ridding the tank of bacteria and chlorine. Once a week the water is checked for ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) levels and the pH. It is obvious that this class is doing all it can to help preserve and protect both of these endangered species.
The salmon were released back into the wild by the Sophomore ES classinto the Souhegan River in Milford, New Hampshire.
Each year the Massachusetts Vocational Association (MVA) awards one deserving title of Vocational Student of the Year. This years award recipient is Essex Aggie’s own David Noseworthy.
Many people like to read about other people’s lives even if it’s a sad story. If you are one of those people who enjoy books like, A Child Called “It”, Why Daddy Why by Emelia Dion Hardy would be a great book for you to read. This book is similar to, A Child Called “It”. It is about a father who abuses a young girl and her siblings. This book talks about losing a mother and having to live with pain every day. I recommend this book to many people to show how bad it is to be abused and if you know anyone who is getting abused to tell someone to help them get out of that situation. This is a true life book that states events from Emelia’s life and the troubles her father put her whole family through. Reading books like this will give you a whole new perspective on how people live and find it is wrong to abuse other people.
Eragon is a fantasy novel of a 15 year old boy hunter, who is ironically called Eragon. He discovers what he thinks is a rock as he wanders the nearby mountains, only to find the rock is actually an egg. When he had the thought to actually pick it up, all he was thinking about was going into the market to sell it. The egg hatches and turns out to be a dragon’s egg. Eragon bonds with this beautiful, blue dragon who he names Saphira. When his uncle is killed by agents of the Empire he sets out on an adventure to avenge his uncle’s death. He realizes that he has to take sides with either the Empire or the rebel group trying to overthrow the Empire. The book follows Eragon’s struggles and obstacles that get in his way. Eragon is the first book of the Inheritance Trilogy. The next book in the series is called Eldest. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of fantasy novels such as the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Possibly the greatest IMAX film to date, Deep Sea 3D is a spectacular adventure for people of all ages. When I think of nature documentaries I generally think of low budget, drawn out, films that never keep me awake for more than five minutes no matter how much I like the subject. Deep Sea 3D is a major exception to this. I have never been so captivated by a nature documentary than I have to this film. This is due to the ingenious cinematography that makes you feel like you are really swimming in the ocean, the outstanding score composed by Danny Elfman (composer of several Tim Burton films), and the lack of commentary from narrators Kate Winslit and Johnny Depp. This film is not overloaded with trivial information that you will never remember. Instead, Deep Sea 3D is a more visually pleasing film. It is hard to give a specific recommendation for this film as I’m sure it will appeal to most all people, even those who have little or no interest in the environment. For those who do have an interest in marine biology, you will be blown away by this incredible IMAX experience.