Hendrick Hudson Fifth Graders Will Adopt a Sea Turtle

The fifth grade students in Mrs. Halsall’s art class at the Frank G. Lindsey School have been studying sea turtles. They learned that the Kemps Ridley and Loggerhead sea turtles are endangered and need help. They studied the history of the turtles, their migration, habitat and feeding patterns. They looked at graphs and charts and learned new vocabulary. They learned how the females come all the way back the very beach that they were hatched to lay their own eggs despite all sorts of adverse conditions.

The students also learned about sea turtle rescue. Donna Tompkins, a volunteer from the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary/Mass Audubon Society, on Cape Cod, came to the school to give a presentation to the fifth graders on sea turtle rescue. She brought all sorts of visual images, turtle shells and artifacts. The students learned how pollution in the ocean negatively affects the turtles and what they can do to help.

Each fifth grader created a sea turtle painting that is on display at the school. They also each created a greeting card with a sea turtle image, which will be part of a fundraiser to adopt a rescued sea turtle. When a rescued turtle is adopted, the funds go toward rehabilitating the injured turtle and hopefully releasing the turtle back into the wild. Once the turtle is released, it carries a transmitter on its shell and the students can tract the turtle’s migration patterns on a website.

Mrs. Halsall said, “This has been an amazing lesson for my students as well as for me. We have all learned together the plight of these beautiful ancient creatures and we have done it using art, vocabulary, math, science and compassion. Some of the students started their own club called Turtle Time. By creating this fundraiser, the students really feel that they are part of something larger than themselves and that they are doing something good for our planet. Now the question is what do we name the turtle? Frank for a male, or Lindsey for a female?” Stay tuned.