unSocialized Educated at Home; Engaging the World

While vacationing this month at Edisto Beach, SC, we got a chance to tag along with the Sea Turtle Patrol, a group of volunteers who work with SC’s Department of Natural Resources to monitor and report turtle activity on Edisto Beach. The group helps to track and protect loggerhead turtles with the goal of increasing nesting success along the beaches.  

We set out with the group after 7 p.m. on a Friday evening to check a couple of nests on the beach off of Edisto Beach State Park. (We were staying at a campground there). The Turtle Patrol’s task was to count the hatched and unhatched eggs, and to count and release any hatchlings they uncovered into the sea. The data they obtain is shared with the Sea Turtles Restoration Project which you can learn more about at seaturtles.org  At the site, you’ll also find sea turtle educational videos and lesson plans. 

The loggerhead is one of seven kinds of sea turtles in the world, and is the state reptile for South Carolina.  In the United States, the southeastern region from North Carolina to Florida hosts the majority of the nesting. The turtle has been listed as "threatened" on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species List since July of 1978. Loss of nesting habitat, due to such factors as coastal development, has been the greatest threat to the turtles. Conservation efforts aim to reclaim areas for turtle nesting to increase their odds of survival.

Loggerhead Turtle Nesting (from Edisto Beach State Park Environmental Learning Center)

Every summer, sea turtles nest on our coasts. Individual turtles nest every two to three years, and lay an average of four nests per season. To nest, many females seek out the same area where they were hatched. This is the only time they will leave the protection of the ocean.

Come Out, Come Out

Typically, after the eggs hatch the babies wait 24 hours to emerge so they can soak up all the food in the egg yolks and be strong enough for the trek to and subsequent life in the ocean. 

​At the first nest we came to, they uncovered eight hatchlings. The second nest had six or seven. 

The hatchlings face many threats. It’s estimated that only 1 out of every 5,000 eggs develops into an adult animal. If the eggs don’t get eaten by raccoons or the hatchlings make it to the water without being scooped up by a shore bird, they still have to escape from fish, sharks and shrimp trawlers. 

Even light threatens the hatchlings. When they emerge at night, they rely on light reflected off the water from the sky to guide them out to sea. Sometimes car headlights, street lights, or lights on buildings near the beach cause some hatchlings to travel in the wrong direction.

​Out to Sea

After they collect the babies in buckets, they bring them out near the ocean’s edge where everyone gathers around to watch them creep out to the water. Everyone clapped and cheered as the waves rushed in and pulled the hatchlings out to sea and their new life. It was a nice ending to our trip.

We're dead center in a summer full of freak hail storms and heat waves, massive insects and sunburn, high humidity and frizzy hair. I don't know about you, but all I feel like doing is laying out (whether it be on a beach getting a tan or on the couch feeling the air conditioning), watching stupid TV shows and chick flicks, reading completely meaningless books about romance and "real-life struggles", and eating lots and lots of ice cream.

Although that is what summer is for (kind-of), we risk losing a large chunk of brain power and knowledge that may not be able to be recovered by the start of the school year. One of the worst things ever is coming back to school refreshed from the relaxation of the past few months, not realizing your brain is is now a blank slate and you have to now work overtime to recover all the information you already learned last year.

To prevent this from happening to you, here are five ways to beat the awful mind numbing powers of summertime.

1. If you can, keep some of your old textbooks, papers, and binders laying around.

I don't know how many times I've been o-so-bored on a one thousand degree day in July, and then happened upon one of last year's math worksheets. Instead of crumpling it up and tossing it, I would sit down and work through the math problems until my brain hurt and THEN I would toss it. There's just something about knowing that you don't HAVE to do something that kind of makes you want to do it. Sometimes I just want to challenge myself. Sometimes I'm just SO DARN BORED that I'm driven to try and figure out some math stuff. I'm pretty sure everyone feels that way at one point or another. Or maybe I'm just weird...

2. Read historical fiction.

I absolutely hate history textbooks.Which is why when the school year ends, I often try to put all of those endless text-filled pages and their uninterestingly written contents out of my mind immediately. (Not the brightest thing to do, I'll admit.) But I discovered that there is another way to learn historical facts, dates, time periods, etc. Historical fiction books. <3 There are so many of them written about pretty much every time period and they are a perfect and fun way to refresh your memory over the summer. The best part is, as long as you like to read a good story, it doesn't even feel like learning. At all! I've learned more about British/American history from reading The Bloody Jack Series then I ever have from reading any dumb old textbook.

3. Watch documentaries. 

Science, like math, is another one of those subjects I don't exactly excel at. Once I take the final comprehensive exam, all the cool stuff I've learned just kinda...slips away. I mean, I think science is interesting! But it's so hard to remember all those terms and facts and names. I've realized though, that science documentaries aren't always so bad. In fact, when they have to do with things like DNA and outer space and things that live in the ocean, they can be ALMOST as interesting as watching my favorite episode of Drake and Josh for the billionth time. Plus, there's really nothing I have to do. I can just kick back with some popcorn and a blanket and watch...meanwhile all those things I learned are being reinforced in my memory. Documentaries work for history too! (The ones about the FBI and gangsters happen to be my favorite.)

4. Write, write, write!

The ability to write an essay is one of the most important skills necessary for getting into college. So since practice makes perfect, there is no way anyone should just stop writing for the entire summer! Write all the time about anything, but practice writing it in 5 paragraph essay format. This way you can practice making a thesis, developing your point in the body, and coming to a clear conclusion. The topic isn't really important! You can write about TV shows, celebrities, your crush, whatever! Practicing that format is what really matters.

5. Look forward to the coming school year.

Think about what classes you're taking and how they're going to relate to your future. Think about what you didn't do so well at last year and how you can change that this time around. Think about study and review methods that might be helpful in acing those SATs! As long as you're (somewhat) academically minded no matter what time of year it is, you shouldn't have to start all the way back at zero when you go back into the classroom.