This week we begin our shark dissections. This is a time of year that seniors are not interested in doing much, but still have much to do. In our case, we have a spiny dogfish to examine, poke, prod, manipulate, and memorize. You will learn how an aquatic organism compares to our own bodies in structure and function. You will also learn about why their organs have evolved and adapted to allow these animals to survive in the water.
All of these things you will learn about the shark are interesting (at least to me), but the main lesson I really hope you come away with is the experience of overcoming your fears, your self doubt, or whatever it is that holds you back from trying something new. Sure its smelly, and slimy, and kinda gross at the beginning, but you are about to venture off to college on your own and you will be able to tell people you meet that you dissected a shark! Believe me, not everybody can say that. I've had students come back to me and tell me how dissecting a shark made them seem more interesting to potential dates! I can't think of a more appropriate use of this knowledge I am providing you then using it to gain attention from the opposite sex!
The shark is temporary. The unit will end in about two weeks. As you progress in life, there will be challenges, assignments, etc that you will have to deal with for a longer period of time than one hour a day for two weeks. Start building up your tolerance for such things now and embrace the shark. I have never said you have to enjoy it, but it is an assignment you must complete. As a professional, take it from me, there is always an assignment that you don't enjoy but still must complete. I wish I could tell you that if you pick the right profession that you will enjoy everything about it and never experience the dread of performing certain tasks, but I can't. There are professional athletes who are receiving millions of dollars a year playing a game for their profession that don't like some part of their job. It seems crazy, but that is part of going to work.
Your uneasiness about the shark will dissipate. Its just a small shark that is the next job on the list. It is not something that can hurt you. It cannot make you feel inferior. Believe me, it will not be coming back to life anytime soon to exact revenge on you either. You are bigger than this job and can do this because all it is is the next job on the list.
So lets cross this off our list and build up our toolbox to conquer the next big job that you don't want to do.
Showing posts with label sharks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharks. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
SHARK WEEK!!!
Its Shark Week in Aquatics! This is truly one of my favorites times of the year as we learn about sharks and how important they are to the ocean environment. My goal is for each of you to come out of this with a greater appreciation for sharks, and less fear of these amazing animals.
In order to understand them, we must first be able to identify them. Right now we know of 450 different types of shark that swim in our oceans around the world! That is an amazing number for an animal whose gene pool has been around for millions of years and survived 4 extinction events that wiped out dinosaurs and other organisms. In our local waters of the Gulf of Mexico there at least 49 different types of shark that call the gulf home. If we know what type of shark lives in a certain area it helps us understand what they need for survival and what we need to do to protect that environment. For example, the whale shark is a beautiful creature that migrates through the gulf every year. In the past there have been 80-100 sightings a year of these giant fish swimming in our waters. After the BP oil spill, that number reduced to 35. I wish we had policy in place that required the guarantee of the safety of the natural habitat and the animals within before we just drill without any care of remorse.
We will spend time this week also learning about shark behaviors and what is being done to protect them. Fortunately we are learning about sharks during a time when they have fascinated enough people and scientists to bring much needed positive attention their way. Thanks to organizations like OCEARCH, led by my favorite shark scientist Chris Fischer (no relation), and also to the social media educator David Shiffman , people are learning more about the positive impact sharks have on the ocean ecosystem, and what needs to be done to protect them.
I hope you enjoy this week as much as I do. This will also lead us into one of the best times of year, where we really get to "dive in" to the shark and dissect a spiny dogfish. So get ready and hopefully what we learn impacts you and leads to helping protect these beautiful fish!
In order to understand them, we must first be able to identify them. Right now we know of 450 different types of shark that swim in our oceans around the world! That is an amazing number for an animal whose gene pool has been around for millions of years and survived 4 extinction events that wiped out dinosaurs and other organisms. In our local waters of the Gulf of Mexico there at least 49 different types of shark that call the gulf home. If we know what type of shark lives in a certain area it helps us understand what they need for survival and what we need to do to protect that environment. For example, the whale shark is a beautiful creature that migrates through the gulf every year. In the past there have been 80-100 sightings a year of these giant fish swimming in our waters. After the BP oil spill, that number reduced to 35. I wish we had policy in place that required the guarantee of the safety of the natural habitat and the animals within before we just drill without any care of remorse.
We will spend time this week also learning about shark behaviors and what is being done to protect them. Fortunately we are learning about sharks during a time when they have fascinated enough people and scientists to bring much needed positive attention their way. Thanks to organizations like OCEARCH, led by my favorite shark scientist Chris Fischer (no relation), and also to the social media educator David Shiffman , people are learning more about the positive impact sharks have on the ocean ecosystem, and what needs to be done to protect them.
I hope you enjoy this week as much as I do. This will also lead us into one of the best times of year, where we really get to "dive in" to the shark and dissect a spiny dogfish. So get ready and hopefully what we learn impacts you and leads to helping protect these beautiful fish!
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