This is me (Vanessa) on the left asking a question to Dr. Michael Moore of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Erica, Amber and Sharmaine listen in. That’s a porpoise skeleton on the table.

Lately we’ve been seeing plenty of cool sites, like the Franklin Zoo, and the Drinking Water and Wastewater plants~! My favorite event was the Over the Top fundraiser because I got to meet a bunch of wealthy and interesting individuals!

By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to Utah to start college at the LDS Business School in Salt Lake City. This has been a very educational and interesting year.

Peightyn Riley, Mark Ste. Rose and me (John) at the Earth Eve Parade during April AHA! Night.

Hello, this is my last week as an Apprentice at the Whaling Museum. This program is one of the best things that happened to me since I got in America. The knowledge I gained, the experience I learned, and the fun I had made me love this place. I am glad that I will still be around here, although not as an Apprentice, but as a Facilities man. Am happy the last day will with the Free Fun Friday coming up. We will have activities in the plaza played by us, the Apprentices, that will make the day more interesting. Stay well.

Me (Erica) with John Antunes, at Right Whale Day. He and Vanessa were my project partners for Science Tuesday.

Our Science Tuesday was on July 31. John, Vanessa and I did our topic on soil. The activities we had was planting seeds in soil, doing soil art on construction paper and putting soil layers in order. We had soil samples, a display and posters to give away.

It was a very slow day. It would have been busier if it was gray or rainy outside. There were about 10 people that came. Some were wondering what our activity had to do with whales. We explained that the connections included runoff from contaminated soil having bad effects on the food chain in the ocean and that whale skeletons are sometimes buried to clean them up for display.

This is me (Melanie) doing some prep work for the ‘Mutations’ Science Tuesday program on July 24, 2012.

This year is coming to an end, by next week. This year has been fun and busy. I enjoyed going on the field trips to different museums and seeing new people.  It was nice and interesting. I enjoyed the zoo the most out of all the trips we have gone on. Everyone that I have worked with were nice and respectful. The museum is a good place to work at, they teach you a lot. I highly recommend this job for anyone that is looking for a job during the school year. Good luck to next year’s apprentices and to everyone else that works at the museum.

(Editor’s Note: Melanie wrote this on Aug. 8.  Its delayed posting is our fault, not hers.)

Alfredo Parrilla and me (Gustin) at our Propeller Strike station at Right Whale Day, April 16, 2012)

As teen apprentices we do various tasks around the museum and have learned a variety of useful skills. We can do things such as leading a tour, setting up for events, and basic museum care taking have become common tasks for us to accomplish.

But what do other teen apprentices at other places do?  As Whaling Museum teen apprentices we learn what other teen apprentices from other places do.  These places include the Woods Hole Aquarium, the Franklin Park Zoo, and the Boston Science Museum.  As a part of a mutual exchange, their teen apprentices come here for a day and we give them a tour and show them around the museum.  In return they show us around and give us a tour of their work place.  Its a great way to get to meet other teen apprentices and learn about their work.  I can’t wait to meet the teen apprentices from Woods Hole, they should be arriving any minute!

The soil beneath our feet helps to shape where we live and what we eat. Learn about the layers in the soil and plant a seed to bring home.

Our apprentice team of Erica, John and Vanessa would like to invite you to our Science Tuesday Activity on July 31, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm, in the Museum’s Jacobs Family Gallery. It’s going to be a very fun and interesting activity. Our topic is soil. It’s very important to know how different soil types influence what can grow in a certain region, how fast plants develop and how likely that area is to flood.

We will have several different types of soil for you to see and handle. You can investigate the layers within a soil sample. We’ll challenge you to match a seed to the proper type of soil. After all the activity the kids can take the seeds they planted home to watch them grow. Expect to get your hands dirty. Please take a break from the hot sun and join us for some fun.
Activities are free with Museum admission.

DNA may be small, but unexpected changes can lead to interesting, although sometimes harmful results. Learn the basics of these concepts next Tuesday with our apprentices. Illustration from rootspath.com

Science Tuesdays begin July 24th here at your very own Whaling Museum,  from 1:00pm – 3:00pm and will carry on for three weeks after!  The first week kicks off strong, starting with the topic of mutations and reaches into the depths of the human genome and the nucleotides that make up your DNA.  Week 1 will include a brief presentation and several activities designed to teach kids about mutations and the basic structure of DNA.  Remember Science Tuesdays are aimed to be fun and exciting and teach kids around the ages of 6-12, but that doesn’t mean everybody that attends can’t have fun!  This Tuesday will be the first week of four so come on by and take full advantage of this free program structured to be a fun learning process!

This program will be taught by Carlos, Gustin and Peightyn. All activities are free with Museum admission.

Not too much has happend since I started working  at the  museum again, besides  couple events. They were fun very busy and and entertaining. We had alot of kids that were interested in the new crafts that we got this year, glitter tattoos. Its pretty simple all you have to do is peel off the stencil, apply the glue (given with the kit) over the stencil and the skin, and then apply glitter over the spots where there’s glue, and finally brush off the excess glitter and it’s finished. We had  so many kids that wanted them we practically ran out. I wouldn’t mind doing them again for the next event. It was nice. But anyhow, this summer’s goin’ by pretty fast. We’re going on three field trips this week. One is to the Fort Taber waste water plant, one is to the (drinking) Water Treatment Plant, and the other one is to Cuttyhunk Island. I think  this is one of my favorite trips other than the whale watch. My summer is going pretty good so far. I don’t want it to end, but talk to you sooon.

See and learn about fossils during the August 7 Science Tuesday. Photo from stephenbluecreations.com.

Fossil fun for all ages! While you’re in the museum on Tuesday, August 7th, come on down to the Jacobs Gallery for the third installation of Science Tuesday.  Have fun making fossils with your very own hands! Kids will enjoy learning about how fossils are made, identifying fossils and creating their own replica.  Participants will also get to keep their replica fossil as a souvenir.

The team of Amber, Sharmaine and Alfredo will lead this activity in the Jacobs Family Gallery from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. Activities are free with Museum admission.

Make a sand heart and learn about sand during the August 14 Science Tuesday. Photo from Amazon.com

Ever been to the beach and wonder what the purpose of sand is? Been curious about where it comes from? Well come down to the Whaling Museum on August 14, from 1:00pm – 3:00 pm and be a part of the Science Tuesday Event. Create your own sand art necklace to take home. Look into our microscopes and view different grains of sand from different beaches, including lava sand from Hawaii!! The team of Mark, Melanie and Raven will lead this activity in the Jacobs Family Gallery.  Activities are free with Museum admission.