Trip teaches water issues

School is quite literally a day at the beach for Costa Mesa High School teacher Cristen Rasmussen’s marine science class.

Students spent time Wednesday at Little Corona Beach barefoot with their pants rolled up, wading through the chilly waters of Buck Gully, a small stream that empties into the Pacific. The class measured levels of dangerous chemicals in the water and learned how human actions affect the fragile beach ecosystem.

There are squeals as one teen finds a gym sock in the creek, but the real shock comes when students find above-normal levels of phosphate in the water through chemical testing. Found in many fertilizers, the chemical can cause algae growth in the water.

“I learned that the water we use is groundwater, and we don’t have much of it left,” said Costa Mesa senior Justin Pope. “And that’s not good because we need drinking water.”

Buck gully has had problems with high levels of pollution in the past. The stream drains from a residential neighborhood overlooking the beach. Recent rains also may flush out more chemicals from the soil into the water.

Sponsored by Orange County Coastkeeper, the beach field trip is one of about 15 from Costa Mesa High school this year designed to raise awareness about water pollution. The program is funded in part by the City of Costa Mesa, which gets federal funds for education on water pollution. The city pays for bus transportation for the trips, which can cost about $5,000 for a year’s worth of class trips.

“This is the next generation of city council members and business people and urban planners,” said Briana Madden, education coordinator for Orange County Coastkeeper. “It’s hard to tell how much of an impact we have, but we hope that we’re teaching kids to be ecological-minded people and that we’re stewards of the environment.”

The Costa Mesa marine science class will take three Coastkeeper trips this year to learn about everything from groundwater to coastal wetlands.

“It’s a direct way for kids to see how our actions affect the ocean,” Madden said. “It’s a complex issue. When I was younger, I thought, ‘Why don’t we just stop cutting down trees and take care of the environment?’

“But these kids see that there are all these different stakeholders in the issue. There are the boaters and people who want to build houses. They gain understanding on all these different planes.”

Although they might live only a few miles from the beach, many kids from low-income areas Madden instructs during the field trips have never even seen the ocean before.

She enjoys working with the same group of kids for the whole school year, because she sees their understanding of the ocean environment grow with each Coastkeeper trip to the beach.

“You get to know them and see that you’re making some kind of impact with them as they get more interested in the environment,” Madden said.

Costa Mesa senior Edith Orozco enrolled in the marine science class because she needed more science credits, but said she found herself enjoying the hands-on learning aspect of the class.

“You actually get to get into it here and do the tests and see the results,” Orozco said. “It’s actually interesting.”

Teacher Rasmussen said her students return from the beach trips with a greater understanding of the ocean environment, critical thinking skills and some good memories.

“These are the same kinds of tests a lower laboratory would do.” Rasmussen said. “They see how the urban environment affects the ecosystem and how what we do in the city up there affects the tide pools down here. Most of them say they had fun.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].