The NOAA Ship Pisces. Source: http://www.moc.noaa.gov/pc/

One Renfroe Middle School teacher will spend part of his summer participating in a hands on learning project.

Kevin McMahon, a sixth grade earth science teacher, will spend  the first two weeks in July aboard the Pisces as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Teacher at Sea Program.

“The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea Program is to provide teachers hands-on, real-world research experience working at sea with world-renowned NOAA scientists, thereby giving them unique insight into oceanic and atmospheric research crucial to the nation,” the NOAA says.

While traveling on the Pisces, McMahon will participate in the Southeast Fishery Independent Survey.

The Pisces mission is “to protect, restore, and manage the use of living marine, coastal, and ocean resources through ecosystem-based management. Her primary objective is to study, monitor, and collect data on a wide range of sea life and ocean conditions, primarily in U.S. waters from the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and South Atlantic to North Carolina. The region includes important commercial and recreational fisheries, and is one of the world’s best known and most productive marine areas.”

In an letter to parents, the middle school said McMahon will share what he learns with Renfroe students. “He is excited to bring back all that he learns to Renfroe Middle School,” the letter says.

You can follow McMahon’s progress at the Teacher At Sea blog by clicking here.