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Bayside High School--Signals of Spring. . . and Fall

Whether Spring or Fall, Ms. Gappelberg's classes at Bayside High School are tracking animal migrations. At Bayside, Signals of Spring is offered as a stand-alone, half-year elective science class, usually for students in 11th or 12th grade. Ms. Gappelberg's students have studied migrations of osprey, sandhill cranes, and loggerhead turtles, and have even been featured in a local newspaper.

After studying the loggerhead turtles last fall, Bayside Signals of Spring students proposed policies intended to protect them. Some examples of their proposals are found below:

• Fishermen should not be allowed to fish until they all have the proper equipment to free trapped turtles.
• There should be no drilling of oil where any turtles are living, feeding, and nesting.
• It is also illegal to import, sell, or transport turtles or their products, do not handle the eggs or put any foreign objects into the nest, Do not handle or ride the sea turtle for it is illegal.
• A bill that penalizes any person that dump, pollute, or place any danger to the marine life in the sea.
• Keep clean beaches; a person should be fined if he/she is caught littering on the beaches and not using the waste baskets that are provide for human usage.
• It should also be made sure that all nesting areas are to be free of lights in which distract turtles.
• Post signs along the turtle migration path so some speedboats can slow down to prevent causing fatal damage to the turtle.