Every Spring, Magnet sophomores trek out to Wallops Island, Virginia for a four day field trip. Wallops Island and the nearby coastal areas of Assateague Island National Seashore provide a perfect location to explore five radically different seashore biomes (salt marsh, intertidal zone, tidal creek, sand dunes, and forest) in a pure, unsullied state. While visiting the biomes, students conduct experiments with the environments, and collect samples of animal and plant life. The samples are then collected and examined in the micro- and macro-labs the last evening of the trip.

Students also enjoy an evening at "The Dream," the local roller-rink and arcade, an optional but popular bird watching trip, and, generally, the good fun of getting muddy and wet.

Our friends at Blair Network Communications put together a video of some footage shot of the 2001 trip; for those with a high bandwidth Internet connection, you can see it here.

We also have an archive of some of the photos taken during the Wallops island trip:

2000 trip
2001 trip
2002 trip

At some future date, we may try and scan in pictures from older trips for our alumni to enjoy!