Winged Ambassadors - Reviews

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Student art, essays, and teacher comments

Art & Essay - click to enlarge and read

Comments from Benicia 6th Grade Students

I have finally realized why littering is such a bad thing to do. I loved the mating dance that the albatross do!

I'm ready to get more active and save these interesting and amazing creatures.

I thank you for coming in to teach our class. I thought it was a great experience, especially dissecting the bolus. One of the many things I learned was that the amount of plastic in the ocean is terrible and we need to be careful about littering.

I learned a lot how littering can effect the Albatross. I had a lot of fun while you and your crew were here. My favorite part was when you showed us the movie of how the Albatross dances. I also liked dissecting the bolus!

When I grow up I'm going to invent a robot to clean up all the plastic in the Eastern Garbage Patch!

Comments from Benicia 7th Grade Students

I plan to be a part of the plastic solution, not the pollution, by recycling and using plastic in moderation. I will pick up trash wherever I see it and put in in the nearest recycle box. I will also tell my friends not to litter and to pick up plastic wherever they see any.

This last week we studied the Black‐footed albatross and learned a lot of the food they eat is plastic. In every bolus, 100% of them had plastic. I will work hard to keep this planet the cleanest and healthiest it can be.

I plan to be part of the solution by inventing a series of vessels that pick up trash in the ocean. These vessels could lower the probability of marine life going extinct. These vessels would be Solar‐powered so the air wouldn't get polluted. They would also be cheap and reliable so they could be used by every country.

Comments from Teachers

Tereasa Vachon, Duncan High School, Duncan, Oklahoma.

Thank you for providing our class with albatross boluses for dissection. We did this activity in October, 2007 and the students loved the experience. They were thrilled to do real research but also appalled at the data. They have begun more rigorous plastic recycling in their homes and at Vanderbilt. We hope you may be able to share more opportunities like this with us in the future.

Benicia California

It made SUCH a difference that the students actually got to see the plastic from the birds's stomachs! Using the EXCEL spreadsheet (developed by Keiper from Oikonos for the Benicia Water Education Program) was an amazing tool to introduce them to. I liked how the albatross – plastics story brought everything together and allowed my students to see and hear someone (Keiper) actually researching. The activities made a HUGE connection to science, research, ocean literacy, and stewardship and students became passionate about this issue.

Andrea Jenest, Benicia High School Oceanography, Benicia, CA

Thank you to everyone that made it possible to bring the Oikonos Albatross bolus dissection activity to my Biology II classes. We enjoyed exploring each bolus and the Students were amazed at the amount of plastics and fishing line. The most unusual items were a plastic container for an inhaler and a large tire from a kid's toy. Please remember us next year if you have extra boluses.