Rachel Carson was a wildlife conservationist who dedicated her life to raising awareness about the importance of protecting wildlife.
So some say it seems fitting that this month, four new baby geese, also known as goslings, were hatched in the courtyard of Rachel Carson Middle School.
The geese and goslings’ home can be seen from the large windows near the cafeteria, the library, and when walking through the halls.
Ms. Elizabeth Donovan, one of the librarians at RCMS, gets to see the goslings everyday.
“The courtyard is a very safe place for geese to be raising their babies,” said Ms. Donovan.
The courtyard provides many elements such as a pond, plants, and numerous insects. This all helps give a safe environment for these small geese.
Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, used the absence of birds to demonstrate the negative effects of pesticides on the environment. At our school, the presence of these birds and the support that we give by implanting safe elements demonstrates how we are upholding her legacy at this school.
Siena Tan, 12, on the Trailblazers team, likes the baby geese.
“I think that the geese are very cute and bring joy to the school and students,” said Siena.
Skyler Kim, 12, on the Majestics team, agrees and thinks that other students would like to see the baby geese too.
“I think that some students would like to see the geese up close,” she said.
Goslings hatch with their eyes open, and leave their nest after about 24 hours. Once they are born, they are able to swim immediately. As they keep growing bigger, they will grow adult feathers and learn to fly.
Part of the goslings most noted features is their soft fur, or is otherwise known as down. They lose this fur after about 8-10 weeks after hatching. This process is called molting.
Goslings are lighter colored than ducklings, and get darker and more grayish growing up. Goslings can be 5-6 inches tall and can weigh up to 100 grams. They are also known to be larger in size than ducklings.
A common misconception is calling these goslings by the name ducklings or baby ducks. In reality they aren’t the same, with some features you can differentiate by looking closer into their appearance.
Kathleen Xin, 13, on the Champions team talked about the relation between learning and the geese.
“These geese could show students how organisms grow and change in a setting that is around us and easily accessible to view,” said Kathleen.
Even though we are helping the goslings out by sharing and providing a place for them to live, there are also ways we may accidentally disturb and bother them.
Emily Zhang, 13, on the Majestics team says that there are ways we can unintentionally disturb the geese.
“I think we might unintentionally harm them by tapping or banging on the glass,” said Emily.
Kathleen agrees and says that we could bother the goslings too much.
“We may interfere too much with the goslings while we are looking at them, and our actions may disrupt their daily schedule and their peace,” said Kathleen.
It is important to maintain the peace of these animals to uphold the legacy Carson had made by protecting the peace of these animals. All of our actions combined together creates a lasting impact on the environment and shows a lot of dedication to her work.
“I think Rachel Carson would be thrilled to have a school like this as her namesake,” Ms. Donovan said.
