By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer

When students at Scarborough Middle School go on a field trip to the beach they don’t bring towels and swimsuits.

They bring pencils and clipboards. 

Last Thursday, seventh-graders at Scarborough Middle School trudged through snow and ice at Scarborough Beach State Park to record data for the Maine Geological Survey’s Beach Profiling Project. They make the trip once a month to help monitor and measure rates of erosion and sand deposits, said teacher Jim Doane. 

Doane said beach profiling provides students a real-life application of concepts he teaches in the classroom.

“We have the state park right at our fingertips,” Doane said. “Rather than study straight from a textbook, we can go there and see how the ecosystem works. It means much more if you can go and observe it.” 

Students gather data in three-person teams that fan out across the length of the beach to record the rate of erosion, Doane said. 

They begin their measurements by aligning one of two string-connected meter sticks to a stake placed on top of dunes by the Maine Geological Survey. 

Students then position the top meter stick with the horizon line and place the other meter stick at the end of the attached string to measure the drop in elevation over three meters. The process continues for 15 to 20 measurements until students reach the water’s edge.

Doane said the technique can be “tricky at first,” but students prepare by practicing on a small, sloped hill by the middle school before they attempt beach measurements.

After students gather the information, it is submitted to an online Maine Geological Survey database for analysis.

The profiling project was established in 1999 with a grant from the Maine Sea Grant to the Maine Geological Survey and University of Maine, said Stephen Dickson, a marine geologist for the Department of Conservation who works for the Maine Geological Survey.

He said the project’s goal is to establish teams of people who will help measure the 15 beaches throughout southern Maine once a month and report findings to the Maine Geological survey.  Although Scarborough Middle School is the only school to involve students, there are approximately 60 other volunteers who help provide valuable research as well. 

“We’ve been able to understand seasonal cycles on the beach, when they lose sand in the winter and gain it back in the summer, and to track significant storm erosion such as that from the 2007 Patriots Day storm,” Dickson said.

Dickson said the data students gather will be used to produce “report cards” for the beach once every two years that detail its current health and condition. The data will be presented at the State of Maine Beaches conference next summer at Southern Maine Community College. 

In 2009, Scarborough Beach State Park received a C+ from the Maine Geological Survey, according to the Department of Conservation website.

The report concluded, “Scarborough Beach has undergone stability to slight recovery from the Patriot’s Day storm. It appears that the profiles are highly susceptible to storms and can vary dramatically in response.”

Dickson said the “average” rating is not a reflection on beach maintenance or mistreatment by visitors.

“The beach has been well-managed and healthy, but there have been signs of gradual dune loss and erosion of about a foot,” since the profiling project began in 1999, Dickson said, “However, we’re glad to see the beach recover from the Patriot’s Day Storm. That caused quite a bit of erosion.” 

Doane said erosion is of particular concern at Scarborough Beach State Park.

“The reason for that is simple: Scarborough Beach doesn’t have a sediment source. Higgins and Old Orchard both have a river that borders one end of it and from that river comes sediment that usually gets deposited on the beach. Scarborough Beach has to get sand some other way, but it has no real source,” Doane said.

Doane said dunes help protect the beach and are essential against storms and rising sea levels. After the Patriot’s Day storm he said the profiling project noted a loss of approximately 5 to 10 feet of sand in front of the dunes.

“Dune grass lives and thrives there for reason and it acts as a buffer for whatever is in land,” Doane said.

Seventh-grader Erin Whitney remembers devastation caused by the Patriot’s Day storm and said she can help measure how much the dunes have grown back by recording data for the geological survey.

 “I like to know what’s going on at my beach, it’s so beautiful I don’t want it to go away,” Whitney said.

Dickson said students and volunteers are welcome to attend the summer conference to see the fruits of their labor. 

“It’s very helpful for their education,” Dickson said. “It provides a valuable lesson in the classroom and data we can redistribute to people in the state.”

Doane, who has worked for 25 years as a lifeguard at Scarborough Beach State Park, said he began the program with students 10 years ago and now uses information students collect on the beach in the classroom as well.

“I decided it was something students could handle,” Doane said. “We can take the data and use it in math class to help calculate slope.”

Dickson said Scarborough is the only school in the state that participates in the program and students have been more than helpful collecting data for the geological survey. 

“They’ve been able to get out when we couldn’t even attempt to,” Dickson said. “They provide a critical data set that would be lacking otherwise.” 

Doane said the students’ dedication speaks a lot to their character. 

“To go out on cold winter days says a lot about the commitment they make,” he said.

For students like Whitney, it was just another day at the beach.

“I just like to help,” she said.

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.