Learning in the Sunshine

Day 6: February 28th, 2010
Post by: Gavin Nelson

Today we woke up to some cold winds coming from the Northwest. Most of my dorm slept right up until the breakfast bell at 7:50 AM. After rolling out of bed, we all met outside the dining hall along with about 40 5th graders (from Miami and very loud!). At breakfast, Joe told us that we would be meeting behind the boys' dorm (the warmest place on the campus) and that we would not need to wear a bathing suit, wetsuit, wading shoes or a towel. This was kind of strange, because everything previous to this we needed these items! When we arrived behind the dorms we found out that we were getting some much needed journaling time. During that time, we sunbathed, journaled, read about coral reefs (a chapter entitled Faceless, from Steve Harrigan's book Water and Light - we read this aloud in the round - very nice!), and learned about freshwater influences on the Florida Keys. When Joe showed us a model about how much water was on the earth compared to how much drinking water there was, I was amazed. All the water of the earth was shown in a five gallon water jug and the drinkable water was shown being two cups. This experience will hopefully make us think twice before wasting water.