On October 26, 2018 the Lincoln Marine Bio classes, instructed by Michelle Bennett, took a trip to Santa Cruz to measure the size of sand crabs. Lincoln students got the chance to learn more about sandcrabs and were able to identify their gender and size.  While a few groups were researching sandcrabs, the other groups were picking up trash on the beach. The students used 5 different tools during their sandcrab research. They used a 50 meter tape to record how far to search, a plastic sand sampler, bags numbered 1-10, a measuring tool to measure the size of the crabs and a bucket filled with water to drain out the sand from the bags. After the research was done students wrote all of their observations down on a piece of paper provided by the instructor. These observations will be put on a LIMPETS. 

We talked to a student named Paloma Garcia and asked her how she felt about the trip. She said “I enjoyed the trip and I wish that Lincoln High School would provide more trips like this. I also liked how I got to learn about this I didn’t know before. I enjoyed how it was a hands on activity.” We then asked Ariel Andrade the co-writer of this story, what was something new she learned throughout her experience in Santa Cruz. She stated “Something new that I learned was that if I flip the sand crab over, I am able to identify its gender. In addition, I learned that if the female eggs are bright orange they are barely produced but if they are dark brown they are about to hatch.” Overall the Marine Bio classes enjoyed this trip and would like to thank Mrs. Bennett for taking her Marine Bio students on this amazing trip.