Oceanography
A Deeper Look Into Our Planet's Oceans
May 2, 2019
The declining health of our oceans due to factors such as climate change, pollution, and plastics is not a new thing. In this very moment, there is an estimated 14 billion pounds of trash in the ocean. At the same time, global warming is causing the water to warm up at an unprecedented rate. Matters such as these are even more relevant and important to us, for we are a community based on the coast. And some people’s livelihood are dependent on the ocean. This is where Oceanography comes to play. Oceanography is a class that teaches students everything about the ocean, from the producer plankton to the apex shark.
“Oceanography is the study of the ocean and all that is inside of it, also things outside the ocean, such as things on the beach.” Said senior Joseph Stanley. His thoughts of the class were very high, and would recommend it for everyone, “Definitely, it’s not because its easy, it’s because you have so much fun and learn so much.”
The class is taught by Mrs. Darguzas, who considers the ocean to be her passion, and because of that she puts extra effort into making sure that students are learning in a fun way. The students learn in many different ways from sit down notes, to labs, and to watching videos on the topic. But everyone’s favorite (and maybe not so favorite) way is through dissections.
Dissection by definition is the action of dissecting a body or plant to study its internal parts. And by dissecting they mean cutting into the animal or plant to get a close look at its internal anatomy.
Former Oceanography students all had their own opinion on this, with majority of these opinions ranging around from it was a lot of fun, albeit a little gross.
“Dissections were a really good experience because I got to see the inside of my species the fellow squid.” Said senior Barry Jarvis.
The class as a whole is very different from regular high school classes, and former students of Mrs. Darguzas all reflect this. The ocean is in many ways very mysterious and beautiful. Taking oceanography is a great way to learn a lot of the oceans secrets, as well as find out about what you can do to help protect and conserve the most diverse and important ecosystem on our planet.
To prospective students Mrs. Darguzas had to say, “come with an open mind to learn, and to not be afraid to try new things.”
