What lives in the Great Salt Lake? Why did the lake shrink 30,000 years ago? How does shrimp poo turn into sand? These are all questions we explored with the Salt Lake Center for Science Education Bryant students at the Great Salt Lake this week. Despite being the city’s namesake, some students had never been before and what better place to learn science? Students explored three stations, learning about the ecology of the GSL, the geology of the area, and the unique weather patterns created by the lake. They will be able to draw on this experience in the classroom throughout the semester making concepts more realistic than reading a text or listening to lecture. At the geology station we compared the ooid sand, formed as minerals deposit around particles like brine shrimp poo, to more common quartz sands. Watching students draw connections between the sand they scooped up from beneath their feet and the ecology station where they watched brine shrimp swim made the value of these experiences very apparent.

So far this year, we have also seen how the Williamson Fellowship has progressed and left impressions on previous fellows. Kiri, and I were joined by Tori Pavlovics, who was a Williamson Fellow two years ago happy to be back out with students as well as Zach Knettles, a Williamson Assistant from two years ago who came to add observation hours to his current teaching license journey. As the first field trip as a Williamson Fellow, I am left inspired to get more students out in field this year and develop more experiences like this one.

Ashley Morris - October 2, 2024