Field Notes Blog
16th Annual Leadership Weekend
We are pleased to announce the Cape Cod Sea Camps 16th Annual Leadership Weekend; a weekend of experiential education activities designed specifically for teachers and educators. The dates will be Friday APRIL 27th – Sunday APRIL 29th. The weekend event will include a full program put on by the Cape Cod Sea Camps and host our guests with our accommodations and meals for the FREE OF CHARGE. Leadership Weekend gives you and your colleagues a chance to visit Cape Cod, take part in local interactive science studies, network with other educators and help organize your trip to Cape Cod. Cheryl Kimberley will be your host for this exciting weekend and she has been working hard to put together a fantastic program filled with great local activities, guest speakers and field trips. Attached you will find an Invitation Letter that includes a listing of all the speakers and activities we have organized as well as a registration form to fill out and return to us. SPACE IS LIMITED, so if you are interested please let us know at your earliest convenience. For more information, please click: Leadership Weekend Registration & Schedule 2012 Tentative Schedule of Events: APRIL 27th – April 29th, 2012 Friday, April [...]
Paddling with the Seals of Nauset Marsh
Paddling with the Seals A December kayak trip filled with reflection & new discoveries The days have shortened and the sun looms lower in the sky. No one is on the water on this December 5th day, except a few flocks of buffleheads close to the shore, winter fowl bobbing in the surf off in the distance, and lucky commercial clammers, including my dear friends Paul and Dave, still able to work the flats during this unseasonably warm weather. Pushing off from the landing at Hemenway Road, Eastham, the first paddle stroke is always the finest of the day, a stroke of balance and release, nature purging the pressures of work. Rounding the bend into Cable Creek the incoming tide pushes progress backwards. One thing about Nauset Marsh, the landings are on the west side and the deep water is east. After fifteen minutes of “treadmill” like paddling, the inlet to the ocean is in sight, the hard part of the paddle will cease to exhaust arms and limps, as the bow catches the incoming tide for the remainder of the paddle. I am out here to count the seals. A couple of weeks ago I was the [...]
Nature Deficit Disorder
Nature Deficit Disorder iPhones, iPads, Kindles and Nooks, flat screen TV’s, gaming systems; the technology that surrounds us is both exciting and overwhelming. Kids and adults alike are bombarded on all fronts with the multi billion dollar technology industry that stretches worldwide and is a now a way of life. For adults it is laptops, WIFI, email, iPhones, Blackberrys; a lot of times we ask ourselves “How did we ever survive before ______ (you fill in the blank…)?” Children growing up with this new technology stimulus see this as a way of life, where we just see it as an alternative to how we used to get the job done or a new means of entertaining ourselves. Here’s the problem though; and we all know it, kids are throwing aside time with family, playing outdoors, playing sports, and just plain being kids so that they can be entertained by the 50 inch plasma with Guitar Hero. “Nature Deficit Disorder” is what we call it. How do we solve the problem? Well, we probably can’t entirely, after all – it’s a huge billion dollar industry and money drives the pendulum. But, I’d like to think that one solution is Camp. The [...]
Healthy Kids Outdoors Act Introduced in Congress!
The Healthy Kids Outdoors Act of 2011 will: Provide state-level incentives to develop five-year state strategies that connect children, youth, and families with the natural world. Require that each state’s strategies include partnering with non-governmental organizations (such as camps), especially those that serve children, youth, and families. Require that each state provide opportunities for the public to be involved in the development and implementation of the strategies. These may include opportunities for camps and other youth-serving organizations to participate in the development of these strategies — and in the provision of outdoor opportunities for kids. Support research documenting the health, conservation, and other benefits of active time spent outdoors in the natural world. Direct the President of the United States to develop a similar strategy at the Federal level by bringing together federal agencies and national partners to create a national action plan. Read more here
7th Graders study Ocean Acidification with WHOI
Spreading the word about Ocean Acidification: A journey to the Cape Cod Sea Camps by Heather Benway With a carload of cups, straws, seawater, red cabbage juice, bleach, lemon juice, seashells, yeast packets, and other miscellaneous items, I drove to the Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster, MA on a rainy day in mid-October to teach 36 7th graders from the Saint David’s School in NYC about ocean acidification. The inquisitive students proved to be quick studies and great sports, as they performed various experiments that demonstrated the concepts of pH and ocean acidification. Click here to read the full article
NYC School Group teams up with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Cape Cod, By Jove! A Full Week Features a New Dimension – An Afternoon of Science, Courtesy of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution What weather! I do not remember a continuous stretch of mid-October warmth in Brewster such as we had this past week. We had our share of wetness, mind you– Wednesday afternoon into Thursday brought an unending series of waves of heavy rain. But even on the two clear overnight periods on Monday and Thursday, the temperature was stable and surprisingly mild. Another surprise was our miraculous luck with the rain; it only came down heavily when we had scheduled indoor events, notably the WHOI activities on Wednesday afternoon. All our hiking, boating, and biking either squeaked between raindrops or were in completely fair weather. Even our educator/guides from Massachusetts Audubon, Jennette Kerr, Emily Wolf, and Amy Ferreira, were able to keep relatively dry on our outings with them. Monday’s ride up from New York City was a pleasant one, though several teachers remarked at coastal New England’s unusual absence of brilliant fall colors. We arrived safely, without incident, at the Cape Cod Sea Camps to stake out our quarters in the cabins. There was ample afternoon daylight [...]
CT School Group Video Log of a Cape Cod Field Trip
Watch a short video clip about a Connecticut school group and their trip to the Cape Cod Sea Camps.