Feiro Marine Life Center Newsletter
Peabody Creek
Clean-Up
Earth Day 2013
Because creeks need love too!
April 20, 2013
Join Feiro Marine Life Center as we celebrate Earth Day by cleaning our Peabody Creek
“Helping others see beneath the surface and become stewards of our shared environment”
Exploring Alternative Energy
Every
Monday,
Tuesday
and
Thursday for the past six weeks,
Margaret
Velez,
our
Feiro
AmeriCorps volunteer has been going
to different schools and teaching 5th
grade students about energy.
“What are the different forms of
energy? What is the difference
between
renewable
and
nonrenewable energy? How does energy
transfer occur? How do we use energy in everyday life?” and “What are
clean, alternative forms of energy?”
were just a few questions the students were asked to answer.
Tara Rose Crist
George Kheriaty, 5th grade teacher at
Hamilton Elementary, uses solar energy
(in this case, a light bulb) to power the
solar car students have built.
Exploring Alternative Energy is a
once a week spring program, where
students spend an hour learning
about energy in a fun, hands-on
lecture and lab lesson, while
preparing for their 5th grade MSP
exams.
In this few weeks, students learned:
•That their bodies use food to convert it
to energy, which powers everything
they do in their everyday lives.
• How they can use passive solar
energy to make solar art, and melt
nacho cheese in a solar oven!
• How they use active solar energy to
power solar cars, which they built out of
gears and rubber bands.
• How an electrical circuit, generators,
and motors work, and how they can
make batteries out of pennies and fruit!
• How they can use wind (motion
energy) and convert it to electrical
energy. Students actually got to design,
build, and test wind turbines one week,
and re-design, re-build, and re-test
them the following week!
This year, we only had enough
funding to support seven 5th grade
classrooms from three Port Angeles
elementary schools, but we are
hoping
that
our
Exploring
Alternative Energy program will
include all local schools in the future.
April 2013
at
w
Ne ?
s
’
at Feiro
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t
 Exploring Alternative Energy:
5th Grade Program (1)
 Earth Day: Peabody Creek
Clean-Up (2)
 North Olympic Watershed
(N.O.W.) Science 5th Grade:
Peabody Creek Field Investigation (2)
 April Guest Speaker: Steve
Fradkin on “Earth Day, Marine
Debris, and Us” (2)
Did You Know?
-Hermes the Giant Hermit Crab
-Opal the Octopus (3)
 Summer Day Camps: Jr.
Oceanographers & ROV Explor…ers (3)
Earth Day is Saturday, April 20th!
Interested in helping the environment by picking up trash this
Earth Day? Join Feiro Marine Life Center as we clean up Peabody
Creek! We will be meeting in Feiro (315 N. Lincoln St.) at 8:00AM
on Saturday, April 20th. We have everything you will need for the
creek clean up (gloves, garbage bags, etc). We just need your
smiling.faces!
If you're interested in joining us, please register by calling Feiro Marine
Life Center at 360.417.6254, visiting us, or emailing Margaret Velez at
[email protected].
Peabody Creek
Clean-Up
5th Grade N.O.W. Science: Peabody Creek Study
Spring has sprung in Port Angeles, which
means that Feiro Marine Life Center will
start its North Olympic Watershed
(N.O.W.) Science Spring program!
We are happy to announce that all the 5th
grade classrooms from Sequim, Port
Angeles, and Crescent School Districts are
scheduled to come to our spring program!
Last week, while students were enjoying
their Spring Break, staff and volunteers
from Feiro Marine Life Center (FMLC),
and its N.O.W. Science program partners,
the Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary (OCNMS) and the Olympic
National Park (ONP), worked hard to
prepare for the program.
Randall Walz
Bob Campbell stands guard
as Deborah Moriaty tests
out the new bridge they built
on Peabody Creek.
This included walking 2 ½ miles from the
Olympic National Park to Feiro Marine Life
Center while testing the health of the
creek, re-building a small bridge, doing a
practice beach seine at Hollywood Beach,
learning about marine debris, and dissecting an albatross bolus at the OCNMS.
Our 5th grade N.O.W. Science is a
program which tries to answer the question
“Is Peabody Creek healthy?” This question
is answered by collecting and reviewing
data related to water chemistry, habitat,
and biological health.
First, Feiro educators visit classrooms to
engage students in posing questions about
their watershed, and use a hands-on watershed model to follow the movement of
water, nutrients, and pollution through the
watershed.
Then, on a later date, students have a full
day field investigation where they meet at
ONP Visitor Center and discuss the
boundaries of the Peabody Creek watershed and ONP. They are asked to
consider where water found in the creek
comes from and what it carries as it enters
and travels down the watershed. They also
observe and learn about the physical
properties of the watershed and how they
impact the water and organisms in the
water. After their 2 ½ miles walk down
Peabody Creek, they do a beach seine on
Hollywood Beach and dissect albatross
bolus with OCNMS.
Let us know if you would like to join us!
Steve Fradkin: Earth Day, Marine Debris & Us
On Friday, April 19, Olympic National Park Coastal Ecologist, Dr. Steven Fradkin will talk
about the Japanese dock that washed ashore in December on the outer coast. Dr. Fradkin
worked with a team to identify dozens of species known to occur in Japan as well as a number
of pelagic species. Join staff and volunteers in welcoming Steve and learning about the removal
process, other coastal debris, where it is coming from, what is being done and ways that you
can help. The Lecture Series is sponsored by Feiro Marine Life Center and Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary.
This event will occur Friday, April 19, 6:30-8:30 pm at the Landing Mall, Conference Room
205—115 Railroad Avenue, Port Angeles, WA. A $5.00 donation is suggested to help cover
costs; The program is free to Feiro members.
National Park Services
Did you Know?
Last week, we welcomed a new visitor: Hermes, the
large hermit crab! It is estimated to be 1.7 inches inside its
shell, and has orange bandings on its legs and claws. It took
us a few hours to figure the exact species, but we think it is
Pagurus armatus, known as the “Black-eyed hermit crab”
because of its black oval eyes. They are one of the largest
and most commonly observed hermits on the Pacific coast,
and are found on sandy bottoms up to 479ft deep!
Opal the Octopus is growing up fast! She is become
less
shy and coming out of her ceramic pot. Come on down
Margaret Velez
and see how active she is!

Margaret Velez
Summer Day Camps: Jr. Oceanographers
Jr. Oceanographer: Join us at Feiro Marine
and experience what it might be like
oceanographer for a 4 days! Feiro Marine Life
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
provide this opportunity for youngsters to
scientists and learn about life in the ocean.
Life Center
to be an
Center and
pair up to
work with
Jr. Oceanographer ROV Explorers: Are you interested
in the ocean, engineering, and do you like to build things?
Join us this summer for Jr. Oceanographer ROV
Explorers! During this exciting summer camp you’ll learn
about the science behind ocean exploration and build an
ROV (remote operated vehicle) which will be tested in the
water!
water!
Dates, Summer Programs & Ages:
June 24-27: Jr. Oceanographers (Ages 5-8)
July 8-11: Jr. Oceanographers (Ages 9-12)
June 30- July 3: Jr. Oceanographers ROV
Explorers (Ages 13-15)
August 5-8: Jr. Oceanographers (Ages 5-8)
Summer Program Cost:
$120 per Participant
$100 w/ 2013 Family Membership
$90 w/ New Family Membership
first time membership buyers only
Upcoming Events & Announcements:
Friday, April 19th: Olympic National Park Coastal Ecologist, Dr. Steven Fradkin will talk about the Japanese dock
that washed ashore in December on the outer coast. Co-sponsored by Feiro Marine Life Center and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. 6:30-8:30 pm at the Landing Mall, Conference Room 205 (115 Railroad Avenue).
Saturday, April 20th: Earth Day Peabody Creek Clean-Up from 8am-12pm. Meet at Feiro (315 N. Lincoln St.) at
8am, so that we can split up sections and clean up Peabody Creek. Call us at 360.417.6254, or email Margaret Velez at
[email protected] for more information. Forgot to register? Still come to Feiro at 8am!
Sunday, May 5th: Dr. Rowland Tabor will present "Rocks and Rain in the Olympic Backcountry" at 4 pm at the Peninsula College room M125 (1502 E. Lauridsen). This event is co-sponsored by the Coastal Watershed Institute and
Peninsula
College.
For
more
information,
contact
Anne
Shaffer,
Coastal
Watershed
Institute,
[email protected]
Winter Hours:
Visitor hours are: Monday to Sunday, from 12pm-4pm.
Office hours are: Monday to Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm.
Feiro Marine Life Center
P.O. Box 625/
315 N. Lincoln Street
Port Angeles WA, 98362
360.417.6254
www.feiromarinelifecenter.org
Deborah Moriarty
Director
Bob Campbell
Facilities Coordinator
Randall Walz
Education & Volunteer Director
Margaret Velez
AmeriCorps Volunteer/
Environmental Educator