New science class aims to keep seniors at BHS

Since science is only required for two years and some seniors just opt not to take additional classes, Bigfork High School was looking for an additional offering that would entice senior students to stay in school full time.

That's where Hans Bodenhamer's new marine biology class came in.

"One of the reasons (for the class' was to rope more kids into taking science senior year," Bodenhamer said. "You might not think of something like this, because it seems so weird to have it not close to an ocean."

But the advantage of the Flathead Valley is its access to fresh water, where the same methods can be used and experiments pursued as in the ocean, he said.

Bodenhamer said he had talked about several possibilities for a new science course. His expertise is not in marine biology, but he and his wife did live in Mexico for a year, spent every weekend of it on the ocean and taught some marine biology down there.

"It's kind of fun in a way," Bodenhamer said. "I'm learning a lot along with the students."

The class, mostly comprised of seniors, is largely student-directed and Bodenhamer is hoping it will serve as preparation for college.

The students in the class help create their own tests through group discussions, which they admit are exceptionally hard. Most of the 20 students are college-bound, so Bodenhamer uses this group development of tests to teach them what professors will see as important.

"We're the ones that make them and then complain about it," student Colten Hart said.

The students said most of the class is in the room at lunch studying on test days together.

"The kids are really excited about learning as much as they can," Bodenhamer said.

Bodenhamer, who teaches sophomores and juniors in biology courses, knew many of the students in his class now from that and from his active Cave Club.

Bodenhamer said he's been fortunate to be able to give the students hands-on experience.

"The kids are having a lot of input in what we do in the class," Bodenhamer said. "We are actually making our own textbook."

Classmate Tia Bakker, who spent part of her summer as a research assistant at PISCO Intertidal Field Station at the University of California at Santa Barbara, brought back several ideas for the class. During her time at UCSB, she observed the use of tuffies, which are objects researchers put out in the ocean to soak it in for a few months and then bring back to the lab to study organisms and ecology changes.

The class is taking that method to fresh water, by putting tuffies in the Lake for three months. They'll collect them this spring.

Through a grant, the class got five aquariums, which in groups they have used for experiments, particularly with freshwater crayfish. One group's fish, dubbed "Arnold the Destroyer," eats anything the students put in with it.

Several of the tanks are in kindergarten classrooms at Bigfork Elementary School so the kids can watch the fish. The class created coloring pages for the kindergartners to help them learn to identify the different types of fish in the tanks.

The class is also visiting the Upper Bigfork Bay Bridge every month to measure depth and velocity so they can track the changes through the year.

The students are also learning technical skills like Geographical Information System, or GIS, mapping and photo processing.

"It's seriously the most active class ever," Hart said. "It's fun and educational."

The class took a trip to Loon and Horseshoe lakes this fall and compared the two in terms of their temperatures at different depths and aquatic life. The idea for the trip was also a student's idea. The students gathered aquatic insects and plants. They also collected plankton and determined that Loon Lake had higher densities of it than Horseshoe. The students turned a trailer into a moving chemistry set to complete their comparisons.

But since it's a yearlong class, this freshwater lake work helped prepare students for their ocean trip this spring. The students will go to Anacortes, Wash., during their spring break to conduct ecological field studies and visit a variety of habitats.

Bodenhamer had a friend in Anacortes who helped set up the trip. He was able to also get grants to help fund the trip, knowing that many of his students may not be able to afford it otherwise. The trip is partially funded by donations from the Angora Ridge Foundation and other sources.

The students will visit tidepools and saltwater marshes for their studies and take a ferry out to a whale museum. They will also meet up with a high school class there to learn how to row a long boat.

"A lot of times they just meet kids to compete," Bodenhamer said. "This time we're going to share."

A few of the students want to go into marine biology in the future. Bodenhamer hopes these experiences will give them a leg up.

"I think it's like professional basketball – you need a jump start to get into it," Bodenhamer said of marine biology.

Bakker, who plans on studying marine biology in college, said this class has helped lay a foundation in the area for her.

"It's showing me a lot of the basics," Bakker said. "It's really breaking it down. It's helped me out a lot."

Bodenhamer said a lot of other classes are suffering from senioritis, but for whatever reason this group hasn't gotten it yet.

"In this class I haven't," Hart said in response.