TREMONT — The work of a Downeast science teacher is creating real world learning opportunities for students after a research device traveled hundreds of miles and made its way back to Maine.
Earlier this year, Tonya Prentice, a science teacher at Tremont Consolidated School, received an unexpected message from a man in Maryland.
“He said, ‘Hey, I found your buoy thingy,’” Prentice said.
The “buoy thingy” turned out to be a scientific drifter Prentice deployed in August 2024 while aboard a research vessel through NOAA’s Teachers at Sea program.
“You have to apply for it, and they select about 10 teachers to do the program every year,” Prentice said.
While on board the vessel, Prentice worked alongside marine biologists studying the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. As part of the research, teachers deployed drifters — buoy like devices that collect and transmit data back to NOAA.
“Satellite GPS, temperature sensors — they’re all housed in here,” Prentice said.
Once back in the classroom, Prentice and her students tracked the drifter’s movement and analyzed the data it collected.
“You can monitor how the sea surface temperature is changing the location of the currents, even monitor maybe how plankton might be floating through the water, or even pollutants such as plastics and stuff,” Prentice said.
The drifter last transmitted data April 23 just off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. Prentice said the batteries typically last about a year, and most drifters eventually sink or are lost at sea.
Before deploying it, Prentice placed Tremont Consolidated School stickers on the device — which is how George Berrue in Maryland was able to track her down after it washed ashore.
“It washed up on his dock area, and he had it and asked if I wanted it back,” Prentice said.
After contacting NOAA, arrangements were made to return the drifter to Maine. It is now on display in Prentice’s classroom.
Prentice said the experience was meaningful not only for her, but also for her students who had followed the drifter’s journey.
“We’ve been tracking it in the ocean and watching the temperature and watching where it was going. So as it was traveling and then it came back, they just thought that was a very cool experience and just a real life connection for them,” Prentice said.
The learning continues. Prentice said her classes are still tracking a second drifter she deployed, which is currently off the coast of the Azores.