Science teachers spend a summer learning at sea - and hope to bring new ideas back to their classes.
And Wendy Edelbrock, a grade-school science teacher from Washington State, stands her watch at the helm, steering the ship and scanning the horizon, searching for signs of movement across the bow. This is no ordinary teacher's summer vacation. In a season teachers usually reserve for relaxation and catching up on reading after nine months of nonstop action, Mrs. Edelbrock has headed back to school. For 10 days, the teachers sailed a giant figure eight, one loop heading south out of Woods Hole and a second loop north into Massachusetts Bay. The remaining time was spent on shore, developing research questions and later analyzing collected data.