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The singing began en route to Fox's Island, Va., June 3 aboard Frederick County Public Schools bus No. 9. It never really stopped until the ride back to Middletown three days later.

A group of seven jovial Middletown High School environmental science and biology students and two science faculty made the four-hour journey to the Chesapeake Bay island in hopes of finding education, fun and sun.

The students found all three in abundance, the participants said Monday after reflecting on their field trip put on by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They ate, slept and breathed the Bay for three days and two nights, staying in a converted hunting lodge on the unpopulated island, and participating in a variety of interactive activities designed to enhance their education and pique their interest in science.

"It's hands-on. They get excited about the outdoors. There's a slogan called ‘No Child Left Inside,' and it's sort of our motto," said Sharon Steger, one of the two faculty members who organized and attended the field trip. "I've been involved in field trips my entire career. It's important to get [students'] hands wet and their feet muddy."

And muddy they got, spending several hours "marsh-mucking," walking through a deep, muddy marsh, ruining their clothes and playing variations on hide-and-seek and follow-the-leader before swimming in the cool Bay water to clean off.

That was the second day, and by then the youths were used to the smells and grit of the Bay and its environs, having been mostly removed from modernity when they took the 25-minute trip from the south Eastern Shore town of Crisfield, Md., to the island aboard "Captain Bob's" fishing boat, the Jenny S.

They had no phones, no iPods and no way to take a shower at the lodge, where they cooked their own meals and collected hand-pumped water to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

The first thing they did after getting settled in was go out on the boat and place about 25 crab traps, from which they gathered two dozen crabs, which they cooked with onions and Old Bay seasoning, and feasted on, just before leaving the island.

Their full schedule also included a canoe trip, soft-shell crabbing in Bay grasses, collecting trash and shells, and a trip to Tangier Island to talk to locals about the traditions, history and demographics of the 500-person island where the main modes of transportation are motorized bikes and golf carts.

Though their days were long and exhausting, the seven students who chose to sign up to join their science teachers on the jaunt say that it was an amazing time, and that they created memories they will never forget.

"I'm definitely going again next year. It was so much fun," junior Molly Russell said. "It was the best field trip I've ever been on, but it felt more like a vacation."

E-mail Connor Adams Sheets csheets@gazette.net.