Todays class was a little different then others. We started out by going over a map charting exercise that helped us learn about nautical miles and to use longitude and latitude. Did you know that a nautical mile is longer than a statute (land) mile? After, we talked about last night’s reading, which was about viruses in the ocean. Viruses in the ocean can multiply rapidly because of climate conditions. We asked, if there are so many viruses in the ocean, how come humans don’t get sick when they go in the ocean? I was intrigued by this question. Our teachers explained that not all viruses are harmful to humans, but they can be harmful to marine life. This led to a discussion about plankton and zooplankton, which made me think about the evil character from Spongebob. There are different types of zooplankton – holoplankton, which joins with others to create a larger organism (Portuguese man-of-war), and meroplankton, which stays in a larva or juvenile stage (shrimp). Next, we talked about different levels or strata in the ocean, and that there are different environments and life forms at each level. I look forward to learning about the different marine life that we’re researching this weekend.
