The COVID-19 pandemic has deprived students of school trips of any sort for the past two years. However, AP Environmental Science students became the first group of students to attend a short school trip on Sept. 27-28. Each class went separately during their block, and Eugene Lee, Wendy Grant, and James Tyvand helped supervise the trip. 

Two months into the school year, AP Environmental Science students delved into the unit of ecology and earth systems. To give students a more hands-on experience, Allyson Lee took her AP Environmental Science students to the Tancheon, a tributary of the Han river, near Bokjeong. After a short, 15-minute walk from school, students arrived at the Tancheon stream. Translating textbook concepts to reality, students measured the water quality of the stream by conducting a chemical analysis and examined the presence of micro vertebrates.

“The best part of the mini-trip was getting outside campus, especially because the water was nice,” Ms. Lee, AP Envisci teacher, said. “Some students changed shoes or took them off, and it was nice to see no one fall in the water. I hope to go off campus for another soil testing assessment, seeing as this one went successfully. However, it is hard to predict future plans with the uncertainty of COVID-19.”

In order to execute the assessment, students brought milk jugs and kick nets. The students performed assessments on site, and the jugs were filled with stream water so that additional water quality tests could be completed back at school.

Ms. Lee facilitated the small group experiments, alternating tasks that each group had to do. At the Tancheon, the students placed kick nets in the stream to collect rocks on the mesh and looked to see if freshwater invertebrates were present. 

“All students concluded the assessments successfully and recorded every step of the process without much difficulty,” Katie Lee (11), AP Envisci student, said. “Even if it was to a location close by and the trip itself was quite short, being able to walk to the site together with classmates while talking, listening to music, and taking photos together, was really fun. I also felt like I was little once again as I changed into my shorts and sandals to go into the stream.”