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Catalina Field StudyCatalina Field Study

Max MartinezMax Martinez

Flora and FaunaFlora and Fauna

St. Mary’s SchoolSt. Mary’s School

7 Pursuit, Aliso Viejo, CA 7 Pursuit, Aliso Viejo, CA 9265692656

Background Photo courtesy Google Images

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Outline

• Living Organisms• Flora• Natural Phenomena• Science Attitudes• Summary• Works cited

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Living Organisms

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Navanax

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The Navanax is a sea slug and a part of the Mollusk phylum. It has small, dash-like spots all over it and two orange lines going from one side, to the middle, to the other side. They are at least 22 cm long. The Navanax feeds on other sea slugs.

Living Organisms

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Catalina Island Fox

• The Catalina Island Fox has been on the Island for 4,000 years. It is the largest endemic animal on the Island. The adult fox weighs 4-6 pounds.

5Background photo courtesy of Google Images

Living Organisms

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Great Blue Heron

• Great Blue Herons have long legs for wading and a long beck for fishing. It has a wingspan of 167-201 cm and is 115-138 cm tall. It is found in open water and wetlands in North and Central America

Living Organisms

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Flora

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Catalina Cherry Tree• The Catalina Cherry Tree

has black edible cherries, but they are all seed and skin (95% pit). They thrive in sun and need plenty of water. It also is native to Catalina which means it was not brought over by the early settlers from the main land.

Flora

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Giant Kelp

• The Giant Kelp can grow two to three feet per day. It has air sacs which contain a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide to stay afloat so it can gain access to the sun for photosynthesis. It grips onto a rock with its holdfast which is one of the strongest glue-like substance in the natural world. It is actually part of the algae kingdom. 9

Flora

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Toyon Tree• The Toyon tree, also

known as the Christmas berry, can grow 25 ft tall and is a part of the rose family. The berries are edible but poisonous if consumed in large quantities. They usually get confused with the Holly tree because of its holly-like berries that stay red through the winter.

Flora

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Natural Phenomena

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Erosion• Erosion is the process of

breaking down rocks with water. It will take around ten thousand years for a fist-sized rock to turn into sand. So a way to tell how long a rock has been on the shore is to look at its size. You can tell if the rock has been subject to erosion for a very short time (large, jagged rocks), has been occurring for a time (medium, somewhat smoother rocks) or has been occurring for a very long time (sand-size, very smooth pebbles).

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Natural Phenomena

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Low tide

• Low tide is caused by the gravitational pull from the moon to the Earth. It happens twice daily. When this happens, the water levels drop in one area but rise in another area far away (when looking down on the Earth it will be 90 degrees both left and right). Also during low tide, you will be able to see more kelp because the kelp will lay along the surface of the ocean due to the lower water level not being able to hold the kelp straight up .

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Natural Phenomena

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Catalina Island• Catalina Island is

considered an island of California, but it wasn’t a part of California that just split off. It was formed by an underwater volcano.

• Even though it is surrounded by water, Catalina Island is considered a desert island.

Natural Phenomena

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Science Attitudes

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Safety

• The student are following the rules by not standing on the benches. They are wearing lifejackets so if they fall out of the boat they will be able to float. They are also listening to the instructions. They aren’t playing around or talking with each other.

Science Attitudes

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Bat Ray and Lunchbox• Both instructors set good

examples by wearing hats to protect their faces from the sun. Lunchbox is wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from the sun. They also have their backpacks to hold anything they may need.

Science Attitudes

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Correctly Prepared• Colin has a thick wetsuit

to protect himself from the cold water. He has googles and a snorkel that fit him well. He also has water shoes to protect his feet from cuts due to sharp rocks on the beach.

Science Attitudes

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Summary

• In Catalina we learned about fish, birds, plankton, whales and, most importantly, ourselves. Within our sixth grade class, we formed new friendships, strengthened old ones, faced some fears, and best of all, we conquered those fears. This trip was fun and meaningful.

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Works Cited• “Catalina Cherry.” laspilitas. n.p. n.d. web. 1 April 12

• <www.laspilitas.com>.

• “Great Blue Heron” All about birds. N.p. N.d. web. 1 April 12

• <www.allaboutbirds.org>.

• “Navanax” Sea slug forum. N.p. N.d. 1 April 12 <www.seaslugforum.net>.

• “Recovery of the Catalina Island Fox” Catalina Island Conservancy. 2009.

• web. 1 April 12 <www.catalinaislandconcervency.org>.

• “Toyon Tree” Catalina Gardens. N.p. N.d. web. 1 April 12

• <www.cataliagardens.com>.

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