| Learning on the Edge |
|
|
| Grant allows teachers to receive hands-on science training |
If kayaking through wetlands, observing dolphins in the ocean and riding on air boats doesn’t sound like your normal classroom instruction, you’re right.
 Grade school teachers learn about wetlands by "doing." |
But this isn’t just any ordinary class, either.
Grade school teachers from across South Texas received hands-on instruction about environmental concepts at the University this past summer. The pilot workshop will now be permanent, thanks to a recent $100,000 grant awarded to Coastal Bend Environmental Science: Learning on the Edge, a four-partner collaboration of environmental programs geared toward students and teachers alike.
The Coastal Bend Community Foundation awarded the grant, its largest unrestricted grant ever, in June. “This unique collaboration of already successful programs provides an innovative and creative endeavor to meet a critical and far-reaching need in our Coastal Bend,” said Patricia M. Eisenhauer, president of the Foundation.
The Learning on the Edge project is coordinated in conjunction with the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP), the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest, the Texas State Aquarium and the University, with each entity contributing a specific educational program.
The CBBEP is providing the curriculum and educators for the project. The Texas State Aquarium’s component, Keepers of the Coast, educates schoolchildren about water conservation issues with hands-on instruction via classroom projects and field studies at a site near the aquarium.
Wildlife photographers flock to the Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest (CBWPC) every other year for the chance to showcase their work while vying for lucrative prize money. CBWPC produces a book featuring contest winners.
Dr. Denise Hill, assistant professor for the College of Education, instructs student teachers during the University’s portion of the Learning on the Edge project, a five-day course called “Teaching Environmental Sciences.”
“We do a variety of hands-on activities, including fieldwork, field trips, and lab activities, that will eventually serve the teachers well when they go back to their classrooms,” Hill said."Field trips entail kayaking through the wetlands to get a closer look at the plants and wildlife unique to the area and riding on air boats to learn how oil spills are contained. During a “dolphin watch,” teachers test and collect water samples.
Corpus Christi Independent School District fourth grade teacher Duvesa Requena says the program taught her invaluable skills.
“Most of us are not aware of the abundance of wildlife we have in areas like Aransas Pass and Flour Bluff. I look at our environment in a totally different way now,” Requena said.Requena, who graduated from the University last December with a bachelor’s in early childhood education with an emphasis in bilingual education, teaches at the Early Childhood Development Center on campus.
“After an intensive week of classes, I had an abundance of information I wanted to share with my kids,” she said. “We received so many resources and training materials to use in our classroom, it was overwhelming, but in a positive way.”
Perhaps the most eye-opening experience for Requena came when she learned firsthand the affects of pollution on our environment. “I was amazed to see for myself the effects garbage has on the environment, especially on sea animals and air quality,” she said. “I emphasize the importance of recycling to my students, since I’ve seen up close the devastating effects litter has on our wildlife and earth. |
|
