Chessie, our new Maryland Terrapin, arrives!

On Tuesday October 4, 2022, Mrs. Urbas and Mrs. Slaton picked up our new Maryland Terrapin from the National Aquarium in Baltimore and brought her back to school. She is only 13 grams, about the half the weight of a pink eraser. And, her name is Chessie!

We will be raising Chessie until May as part of the Aquarium’s Terrapins in the Classroom program. This programs gives terrapins a head start so that when they are released back into the wild, they will be larger, stronger, and have a much better chance of survival.

This Terrapin Research Video from Ohio University explains the program which continues to track and monitor the Terrapins in the Classroom alumni, like last year's Terrapin, Poppy.

Last year when we released Poppy, even though she was only 10-months old, she was the size of a six year-old terrapin. Poppy was recaptured by scientists on June 28th as part of a field data collection. They reported that she had gained some weight and was very healthy!