Turtley Awesome: Immaculate Conception School students learn from Aquarium partnership

TOWSON – Last academic year, Sophia Yan sat next to an unusually energetic classmate in Emily Cullen’s science class at Immaculate Conception School in Towson.

The four-legged little friend had a shell for a uniform and looked for attention from classmates as she swam in her tank at the front glass.

“Bubbles Cheeseball” was a baby diamondback terrapin raised by Cullen’s students as part of the National Aquarium in Baltimore’s Terrapins in the Classroom project, a three-year program through which students observe and collect data on the reptile’s weight and growth during the school year. The data is then reported back to aquarium specialists.

Bubbles Cheeseball arrived at ICS in October 2023 weighing approximately 20 grams and was released into the Chesapeake Bay May 8 tipping the scale at more than 120 grams. Cullen and other teachers and aquarium staff traveled by boat to Poplar Island, a 3-mile-long plot in the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, for the farewell.

Mandates from the Maryland Department of the Environment require all terrapins be returned to the island at the end of the school year. The turtles are tagged by aquarium staff prior to entering their new habitat. 

Sophia, who was a fourth-grader when she helped care for the terrapin, enjoyed watching the creature swim and grow.

“I’ll miss her because I won’t get to wave to her or see her anymore,” Sophia said, “but we shouldn’t keep them in captivity for their life.”

The terrapin’s name was derived from a class vote split down the middle between Bubbles and Cheeseball, so the class agreed to combine both. The mini celebrity was often the center of attention as students lined up at her habitat to say hello before lessons began.

“I might be doing a lesson that’s not related to ecology,” Cullen said, “but Bubbles is always there.”

Before applying to the program, Cullen admitted she didn’t know much about terrapins. Now entering her third year with the Terrapins in the Classroom program with her third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, Cullen said all are learning a lot. The newest terrapin will arrive in October.

Aquarium staff members trained teachers on equipment and habitat needs, along with proper care and feeding for the vulnerable species. About 40 schools in Maryland participate, she said.

Teachers must apply for the three-year program, according to Aqua.org, website of the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Approved teachers take a gap year before reapplying.

While growth and observation data is vital for student learning and the program’s success, Cullen said she also wanted to make sure her students understood what it meant to be “stewards of all God’s creatures.”

Learning about the food chain, predators, life expectancy, survivable habitats and human impact are among the environment themes incorporated with Bubbles Cheeseball in mind.

Even turtles as pets are discussed, as Cullen has first-hand experience.

“I stress to them (students) deeply that this is a lifelong commitment if you have a turtle,” said Cullen, who adopted her niece’s red-eared slider. “I joke with my son, who is 13, that when he goes to college and gets married, the turtle goes with him.”

While the diamondback terrapin is protected by the State of Maryland, red-eared sliders are an invasive species which can be destructive to the bay and its tributaries.

Cullen likes the idea that science in the classroom is not just about pencil and paper.

“Kids get a hands-on learning opportunity and a connection with real-life situations,” Cullen said. “What they do in here is going to impact living things outside the classroom and they’ll have a closer connection to the environment they are living in and … what impact humans have.”

Cullen, who’s been teaching at ICS for some eight years and 15 overall, said this generation of students is very environmentally aware.

“They come with such curiosity wanting to know more about how the world works,” she explained.

She said she has a “huge responsibility” to “help them understand that their actions matter and affect the environment and living things.”

ICS student Ryan Bollinger said everyone agreed this was the best class they’ve ever had. He added that he hopes Bubbles Cheeseball will thrive in the bay, find a mate and help the terrapin population grow.

Fast Facts

National Aquarium Terrapins in the Classroom

• The Terrapins in the Classroom is a three-year partnership between the National Aquarium in Baltimore and private and public schools.

• Teachers must apply for the program.

• Maryland students have released more than 400 terrapins since 2008.

Email Kevin Parks at kparks@CatholicReview.org

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