A middle school teacher is home from an adventure of a lifetime, sailing thousands of miles aboard a research vessel to the Galapagos Islands.

Thanks to his trip, his students can now use real-world data to learn about science under the sea.

-All right.

And so after looking at all this data, then I get to tie it in with what I did.

-For 30 years, Bob Miller Middle School teacher Rick Scroggie has taught students about science.

This summer, he lived it.

-I was on a research vessel, and we sailed from San Diego down to the Galapagos Islands.

It's about a 3,200-mile trip.

And so we were doing some research.

We were also working with other teachers and some professors to learn a little bit more about the geology of the area.

And this was a great chance to mix my job with my passion of traveling.

-The crew sailed right over an underwater volcano that recently erupted, deploying sensors to measure if it was still active.

-To actually be right there and as the things were being deployed, we could see the data coming up on the computer screens instantaneously.

And sure enough, boom, there it was.

And it was, it was breathtaking just to be involved with something like that.

-But not every thrill was planned.

Days before heading home, a massive earthquake in Russia triggered tsunami warnings for the Galapagos.

-They were predicting someplace between 3- and 5-meter high wave coming into the Galapagos, which would have inundated the coastline, would have taken out the airport.

And so they had a pretty major scare.

-Mr. Scroggie and his crew found higher ground, and, thankfully, the waves weren't as large as anticipated.

-Knowing that something that big could have been coming, it was pretty intimidating.

-From sunsets at sea to stargazing at the equator, Mr. Scroggie says the trip was invigorating and a good reminder of why he loves to teach students science.

-Kids hear all the time about science.

They hear about things that have been discovered, but it's not personal to them frequently; whereas, by actually seeing video of me deploying things and seeing the data coming in, all those types of things make it a little more real for them and hopefully will increase engagement and excitement of the lessons and the ideas we're talking.

-What an incredible experience for both Mr. Scroggie and his 6th and 7th grade students.