You are not logged in. (Login)
 

 

Welcome


The Acadia Learning project supports and publishes research by high school and middle school students. Students work directly with research scientists engaged in work at Acadia National Park and its surrounding ecosystem.

The student research grows out of research at Acadia and other park and forest agencies. The work by the students adds to related research at Acadia.

The students do their field work in the areas surrounding their own schools. The work is integrated with science and math programs in the schools, and is managed by classroom teachers. For more about this project, click here.

The Acadia Learning project is managed by Acadia Partners for Science and Learning and is funded in part by the Maine Department of Education through a Math and Science Partnership grant.

News and Announcements

Bill Zoellick
Waldo County Tech Center Launches Fish Stocking Study
by Bill Zoellick - Tuesday, December 4, 2007, 03:59 PM
 

The pond at the Waldo County Tech Center does not contain fish--at least not any that we know of. Could it be stocked with fish? What kind of fish could the pond support? What is living in the pond now? How would fish change the pond?

Patrice Janssen's natural resource management class at WCTC is launching a study of these questions with the help of Dr Sarah Nelson of the Senator George J Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, a scientist who has worked at Acadia National Park for many years.

Read the rest of this topic (206 words)...

Bill Zoellick
Nokomis Class Begins Nokomis Pond Study
by Bill Zoellick - Tuesday, December 4, 2007, 03:57 PM
  Lisa Kelley's statistics class at Nokomis Regional High School is inaugurating a study of the interaction of water quality and water temperature in Nokomis Pond. The question of water quality in the pond is important because the pond serves as the public water supply for the town of Newport. Dr Jessica Muhlin, a research scientist and educator who has worked at Acadia National Park and who now teachers at the Maine Maritime Academy, is working with Ms Kelley and the students to help design and execute the research.

Read the rest of this topic (161 words)...

Bill Zoellick
Searsport High School Starts Sears Island Study
by Bill Zoellick - Friday, November 9, 2007, 11:05 AM
 

Maura DiPrete's environmental studies class at Searsport High School has begun studying the intertidal zone ecology around the causeway leading to Sears Island. (Click here for a satellite photo.) Dr. Jessica Muhlin, of the Acadia Learning project, is working with the class, helping them with setting up their research question and designing their research projects.

The students are doing research to get a better understanding of potential differences between the ecosystems on either side of the causeway. The effects of the causeway are of particular interest to Searsport and surrounding communities because Sears Island has traditionally been an important shellfish harvesting site.

This past Monday Dr. Muhlin accompanied Ms. DiPrete and the class out to Sears Island to conduct a preliminary survey of the research sites.


Available Courses

This course allows guest users to enter  
Mercury accumulates in fish over time. The amount of mercury depends on many things, including what the fish eat and how much they eat. In this project we explore the variables that determine the mercury content of fish that we catch in local lakes and ponds.
This course allows guest users to enter  
Forests and watersheds are affected by acid rain, salt and other chemical inputs. Snow is an important source of these inputs, as well as a ground cover that affects wildlife and the forest itself. Different kinds of forests collect snow in different ways. How do factors such as forest type and forest density affect the chemistry, biology, and ecology of the forest?
The pond at the Waldo County Tech Center does not contain fish--at least not any that we know of. Could it be stocked with fish? What kind of fish could the pond support? What is living in the pond now? How would the fish change the pond? These are not only good research questions, but also good examples of resource management problems. They form the basis for this student inquiry at Waldo County Tech Center.
In this course we focus look at factors that are potentially related to water quality in Nokomis Pond. Because the pond is relatively shallow and therefore likely to undergo temperature change in the event that there are patterns of broader climate change in the region, we pay particular attention to factors potentially associated with water temperature changes.
This course allows guest users to enter  
In this course we focus on the ecology, chemistry, biology, and physical characteristics of intertidal areas around Sears Island. We pay particular attention to areas on either side of the causeway connecting the island to the mainland.
A follow up on research started in early 2007 by MSSM students looking at a watershed on Schoodic. Results in 2007 were contrary to hypotheses in ways that suggested that other factors should be investigated. In this subsequent study students propose and conduct research that might provide insight into the 2007 results.