by Tess Goldmann

Over the years, HPWA has been lucky to have many students volunteer their time to help with herring counting, the Herring Fest, or other projects. Starting last September, we rekindled our connection with Rising Tide Charter Public School and were able to have senior Sam McPherson intern with us for his fall semester!

Three times a week, Sam met with Education Committee Chair Tess Goldmann and Treasurer Brian Harrington to learn about our coverage area, how we assist in scientific research, and work on a larger semester-long project. The internship class at Rising Tide also develops professional skills such as presentations, interviews, and resume formatting.

Inspired by our plant ID trail at Alper Preserve, Sam brainstormed, researched, and developed a quiz trail, which was installed at Comassakumkanut Preserve at the beginning of January. The Comassakumkanut Quiz Trail consists of QR codes at various points along the trail. Scanning them with your phone takes you to a question about the local environment, flora, or fauna. Sam used and developed his research, problem solving, and coding skills to create many diverse questions with included images that are bound directly to Comassakumkanut Preserve and the unique ecosystems that characterize southeast Massachusetts.

There are 2 quizzes, a 10-question quiz aimed at young children ages 4-10, and a 17- question ‘advanced quiz’ aimed at people ages 10 and up. The shorter kids quiz takes advantage of the short loop by the preserve’s parking area, while the advanced quiz will take you all the way to the back of the preserve.

A quiz trail guide map is also in the works! Like many things, it has been delayed by the snow. If you want to do the quiz but are stuck inside, you can view both quizzes here:
https://www.theherringpondswatershed.org/comassakumkanut-quiz-trail/.

Thanks again to Sam for all his hard work creating the QR Quiz Trail!