All Entries Tagged With: "Save The Bay"
Providence School Teachers & Students Showcase Marine Science and Environmental Education Partnership With Save The Bay
PROVIDENCE, RI – On Monday, February 1, from 5-7 p.m., Save The Bay will host the final Teachers in Action Showcase in its three-year partnership with Providence Public Schools. The showcase is a science-fair style exhibition, put together by 20 teachers and their students, demonstrating how their classrooms have applied marine science and environmental education they received with Save The Bay’s Project Narragansett Program throughout the year. Featured teacher-speaker Teresa Sangermano, of Smithfield and a fourth-grade teacher at F.D. Spaziano Elementary School, will kick off the event, to be held at Save The Bay’s Bay Center, 100 Save The Bay Drive in Providence.
Funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Bay Watershed Education Training program, Project Narragansett Providence Schools Edition has been a three-year partnership with Providence Public Schools. Each year, teachers from Providence Public Schools participate with Save The Bay educators in four days of Bay-based professional development that ties directly into the Next Generation Science Standards and expectations for classroom teaching. Then during the academic year, the teachers bring their students to Save The Bay for marine science programming, including boat-based experiences aboard one of Save The Bay’s education vessels and two land-based units focused on such topics as climate interpretation, watershed education, live animal encounters, water quality and habitat.
The Teachers In Action Showcase is the opportunity for teachers and students to show parents and other community members what they have learned and how they have applied it in the classroom. Participating schools are Lillian Feinstein, Fogarty, Veazie, Pleasant View, William D’Abate, George J. West, Carl Lauro, Vartan Gregorian, Spaziano, and Young-Woods elementary schools, as well as Nathaniel Green Middle School and Mt. Pleasant High School.
Last year, exhibits made and presented by schoolchildren included a working watershed model that shows how runoff collects pollutants along the way to our waterways, a presentation comparing the trash created from individual versus bulk food packaging, and a display of artwork and storytelling centered around marine science and environmental education.
Save The Bay has been running Project Narragansett since 2002, in partnership with school districts throughout R.I. and Mass. It has been so successful and well-received by Providence Public Schools that the district has applied for funding to continue the program with Save The Bay beyond the current three-year partnership. Save The Bay has begun a similar program with Warwick Public Schools.
January Exploration Center and Aquarium Theme Explores the Atypical and Unique Fish of Narragansett Bay
NEWPORT, RI – “Cool and Crazy Fish” is the theme this month at Save The Bay’s Exploration and Aquarium on Easton’s Beach in Newport. Open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 18, a full schedule of activities will explore some of the unique fish species that call Narragansett Bay home.
Some of those cool and crazy fish are sea robins, sea ravens, oyster toadfish, skates, dogfish sharks, and the Northern Stargazer, an electrogenic fish that hides in the sandy bottom with only its eyes and mouth above the sand and pointing toward the stars. When a smaller fish swims by, the Northern Stargazer stuns its prey with an electrical current and then uses its mouth to make a lightning fast negative vacuum in the water to swallow its meal whole. “When living in the depths of Rhode Island Sound, meals can sometimes be few and far between, so many fish come up with ingenious adaptations to find a meal, just as the Northern Stargazer has,” said Save The Bay Aquarium Manager Adam Kovarsky.
Every Saturday in January, aquarium guests are invited to take part in a Northern Stargazer feeding around noon. Kovarsky has also planned a full schedule of cool and crazy fish activities for all open days in January, including “Flossie the Flounder” story time at 11 a.m., cool fish feeding frenzy noon, a scavenger hunt at 1:00 p.m., paper plate fish making at 2 p.m., and, weather permitting, a beach walk at 3 p.m.
“This is a great time of the year to visit the aquarium, because the beach is far less crowded than in the summer,” says Kovarsky. The Exploration Center and Aquarium is located in the Easton’s Beach Rotunda at 175 Memorial Blvd. in Newport, R.I. For more information about the Exploration Center and Aquarium, visit www.savebay.org/aquarium or call 401-324-6020.
Nearly 20,000 Pounds of Trash Collected from Rhode Island Shores During International Coastal Cleanup in September
PROVIDENCE, RI – On September 19, 2015, Save The Bay coordinated the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup in Rhode Island. Nearly 2,200 volunteers statewide participated in the 30th year of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), collecting 19,469 pounds of trash over 65 miles of shoreline. The International Coastal Cleanup is the largest global volunteer effort on behalf of the ocean. Today, Save The Bay releases its 2015 International Coastal Cleanup Rhode Island Report.
The 47,397 cigarette butts collected made up 39 percent of all trash collected on Rhode Island’s coast. Along with cigarette butts, other top 10 trash items collected (in order) were 10,448 food wrappers, 7,960 plastic bottle caps, 6,023 plastic beverage bottles, 5,037 straws and stirrers, 3,689 drink cans, 3,678 metal bottle caps, 3,655 plastic bags, 3,557 glass bottles and 2,726 plastic/foam packaging. Volunteers also encountered such unusual findings as a boat floorboard, voodoo doll, traffic cone, kiddie swimming pool, craft supplies, frying pan, sunglasses and more.
Tiny trash, representing pieces of glass and plastic less than 2.5 cm in diameter, also were a significant component of trash collected, at 38,911 bits. Tiny trash occurs because most litter does not biodegrade, but rather breaks down into smaller pieces. Data from Rhode Island’s cleanup will become part of Ocean Conservancy’s global report in spring 2016.
This year, in the Rhode Island International Coastal Cleanup:
- 2,199 volunteers participated in an ICC cleanup
- 19,469 pounds of trash were collected, an increase of 3,101 pounds over last year
- 65 miles of shoreline were covered, and for the first time, a cleanup was held in every coastal town in Rhode Island
- 160,205 total items were collected and documented
“These data help us understand where the trash is coming from,” said Save The Bay Volunteer and Internship Manager July Lewis. “The biggest source is from people eating, drinking and smoking on the beach and then leaving their trash behind. It is important that beachgoers bring an empty garbage bag with them and dispose of their trash; anything to prevent leaving trash on the beach,” Other sources of trash include inland litter that washes down storm drains, illegal dumping, and fishing and boating debris.
Lewis is quick to credit the thousands of volunteers who make the International Coastal Cleanup possible. “Our volunteers make this event happen. We are especially grateful for our ‘Beach Captains’ who organize and lead cleanups in their communities. With their help, we are able to keep our beaches clean and spread the word that it is not okay to trash the Bay,” she said. In addition to the International Coastal Cleanup, Save The Bay organizes other shoreline cleanups throughout Rhode Islsand from March through November. For volunteers interested in learning about leading a shoreline cleanup, Save The Bay will offer its next Shoreline Cleanup Leader Training on Saturday, March 19, from 10 a.m. until noon, at the Save The Bay Center in Providence.
Save The Bay thanks the sponsors of 2015 Rhode Island International Coastal Cleanup National Grid, Citizens Bank, Dominion, Bank Of America, REI, Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar, WalMart, Zipcar, New England Med Waste Services, LLC, Environmental Packaging 2.0 , Professional Security Services, and Davitt Design Build, Inc.
Always held on the third Saturday in September, the 2015 International Coastal Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, September 17, 2016, with alternate cleanups throughout September and October. For more information on participating as a volunteer or sponsor, contact Save The Bay at savebay@savebay.org.
Save The Bay Announces Avalon Trust as the Lead Sponsor for Artists For The Bay Show and Sale
PROVIDENCE, RI – Save The Bay is happy to announce Avalon Trust as the Lead Sponsor in support of the Annual Artists For the Bay Show & Sale, which benefits Save The Bay’s environmental efforts to protect and improve Narragansett Bay and its watershed.
The show and sale is held at the Save The Bay Center at 100 Save The Bay Drive in Providence from December 3, 2015 through January 30, 2016. Between these dates, people can come to the Bay Center to look at and purchase artwork during normal business hours or by appointment.
“Avalon Trust is pleased and proud to support Save The Bay’s Artists for the Bay event,” says Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wallerstein. “We’re inspired by the local artists who contribute their talent and works to Save The Bay, which continues to play its vital role as the voice for Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island’s greatest natural treasure.”
The show features more than 95 local artists and jewelers showcasing an array of mediums and styles. Fifty percent of all sales benefit Save The Bay.
The Opening Reception will be held on Thursday, December 3 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm featuring food and beverages from Fireworks Catering, Red Ginger Restaurant, Seven Stars Bakery, Gooseneck Vineyards, Bottles Fine Wines, Granny Squibbs and Foolproof Brewery. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at savebay.org/art.
The Closing Reception will be on Saturday, January 30, 2016 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Other sponsors of the event include Coleman Realtors, Starkweather and Shepley Insurance Brokerage, Fay Law Associates, McBurney Electric, Professional Security Systems and AEQRX Technology.
Richard Harrington, a past contributing artist, said there are several reasons why he participates in the Artists For The Bay Show and Sale. “Getting the work out to the public and having it be seen by a variety of people is important to an artist. Positive and negative feedback from the general public and other artists is often the stimulus for further work,” he said.
For more information, contact Leanne Danielsen at ldanielsen@savebay.org or 401-272-3540 ext.140 or visit savebay.org/art.
Other well-known contributing artists include Elina Nanikova, Amy Bartlett-Wright, Tom Martino, Nick Mayer, Onne van der Wal, Richard Benjamin, Craig Masten and many more local artists.
