Science in action

Shelter Island’s Earth Science class recently spent a full day at Mashomack Preserve applying in the real world what they have been learning in the classroom.

Special guest instructor Sharon Gibbs led the morning session and used charts to review isolines and identify the waters in and around the Island. Students then participated in an off trail orienteering hike in search of a “pregnant” tree and a glacial erratic, a rock that were transported by a glacier and left behind once it melted. While walking to Rocky Point, they viewed soil horizons, rock types and reenacted the formation of Long Island’s two moraines. On the return hike, each student met the challenge of finding at least one piece of trash on the beach — which sadly added up to quite a bit.