Once upon a time there were some restless science teachers, Nick , Valerie, Wick and Mary who are Earth Science Teachers and Mary who teaches third grade, who had nothing to do all summer to occupy their time.So they all decided to study THE COAST AND OCEANOGRAPHY. This all took place in a small seaside town  in Delaware, by the name of Lewes.  Lewes is a historical town several blocks of  Victorian houses and shoppes. Once they were there, they decided to look at the shore and ocean. They happened to run into a bunch of goofy college professors, who talked their ears off about how the ocean works, plate tectonics, beach erosion, computer technology. and how this can help their students in the new millenium.  The happy teachers became quite upset, when they saw wires and scanners and electronic digital cameras and the dreaded computers were thrown at them by the wiley college professors.  They were told they had to communicate with the rest of the world, via something they called the World Wide Web.  Mary thought it had something to do with spiders, she found out later how wrong she was when she had to create her own web page with several other outsmarted teachers.
 
     Jim O'Conner a world famous Geologist, explained many different Earth Science concepts such as: early history of the earth, continents and ocean crust, origin of the atmosphere and oceans, evidence for continental movement, and eventually ended up with how oceanographers map our wonderful oceans.

Below is a diagram which indicates the worlds crustal plates:


 

Ron Smith, pilot extrodinaire, took us on a memorable plane ride over several primary features of the coast. It is a ride Valerie is not likely to forget very soon. "My Heavens, no parachute......Well I guess for the sake of science..."


View of The Cape of Henlopen.
 
 Wick Said " Well I think I'll add to that spit down there - splat !"

copyright Wick Bode:::::
Below is a map of the Delmarva Pennisula, which indicates some of the major features, that we studied.


 
 Nick said he wanted to go surfing, so Bill took us to THE CAPE. It is known around the world for its wild and farout surfing.
Boy was I surprised when Bill said we had to climb some dumb tower (whew!) and measure a profile of the sand dunes on the beach. We were not even allowed to go into that measly, little splash they have the nerve to call a wave. It was then that I realized that we were on the Delaware Bay side of the Point, which of course, now we know means there is no wave.

 
 
      Here is a map, which shows how the Cape developed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DAN THE FISHERMAN
Bill the Fisherman
fish1.mpg
 
 
Fantastic Voyaging - A Teacher's Summer Odyssey - Mary Matthes - Summer 1998
 
Can you imagine spending your summer on a sailing ship travelling on our oceans - searching the horizon for dolphins or seabirds - cruising past volcanic islands or frigid icebergs,or maybe just being blown along by the Trade Winds or the ocean currents?  That's how I started my summer, imagining all these things and more, as I participated in Operation Pathfinder
at the College of Marine Studies at the University of Delaware.