Vision

The grade 6 to 9 students at Valmont Academy aimed to understand why we have noticed a decline in marine species populations around Newfoundland. Our community of King’s Point is well known for its tourism and we want to continue to see whales and dolphins in the area.

Action

Students explore water-related data to understand the marine ecosystem and understand the optimal conditions for marine life we are used to seeing in King’s Point. Students collected water samples, measuring the pH and measured the temperature of the water as it warmed from winter to spring season. We collected water from where the ocean and freshwater stream meet. The pH was on average 5. However, the optimal pH of ocean water is 8.1 and fresh water is 7. Therefore, students quickly realized that our ocean is becoming more acidic. Students wanted to take action to combat ocean acidification as soon as possible. Students presented many ideas on how to do this, and we ultimately decided that we would ask the school to participate in an outdoor clean up. The students in grades 6-9 participated in an outdoor clean up of the stream and ocean locations in King’s Point. The grade 8-9 students are working on a school composting project to also help in this initiative by reducing waste in landfills. The students are excited to continue this project to improve their community’s ocean quality as it is important for food supply through the cod fishery for the Newfoundland population and to support tourism to our community of King’s Point.

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