LONG-DISTANCE RESEARCH FOR IB STUDENTS
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March 28, 2024
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IB biology students traveled to and from Suttons Bay this week for a day of chilly, wet and snowy research into wetlands in northern Michigan.
Since 1989, the Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) has offered a variety of options for schools to introduce students to hands-on learning on and around the Great Lakes. ISEA focuses on how to protect the Great Lakes by understanding watersheds, exposing youth to Great Lakes careers, providing inspiration and gaining experience with technology and skills used in the field.
Count juniors taking Notre Dame Prep's International Baccalaureate (IB) biology 1 class as truly inspired after a whirlwind trip Tuesday and Wednesday this week to and from Suttons Bay on the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan.
According to upper school teacher Laura Elwood NDP'10, they left at 1 p.m. Tuesday and arrived back on campus late Wednesday.
"This trip, which is part of ISEA's Watershed Exploration Program, focused on the ecology of wetlands from the food web found in them to dissecting cattails and mussels," Elwood said. She noted that a food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and the graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community.
"The kids also looked at how wetlands protect Lake Michigan," Elwood said. "They ended by analyzing Leo Creek, an outdoor learning laboratory, nature preserve and botanical garden in Suttons Bay, doing a stream analysis and looking at canopy cover and ground-water absorption potential."
IB Biology is two-year, college-level, lab-based course in biology with topics covered including cells, plant structure and function, chemistry of life, genetics, ecology biotechnology, evolution and human physiology.
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Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School
Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.