BOAT CAMP Workshop Blogs, Get WET in New England Project
Several NEOSEC members are participating in the project Get WET in New England: Ocean Literacy Through Watershed Education and Training. (see project page) This week BOAT CAMP ran their workshop, and several participants kept a blog. To read the participants’ entries, visit here
Below is an excerpt:
My name is Karen and I live in Newburyport, Massachusetts. I teach 10th grade biology at Haverhill High School. The picture above is taken at Mosely Woods. If you look closely you can see that I am blind folded. I will tell you about this experience in my first journal. I decided to take the course Get WET at Boat Camp during the summer of 2010 for many reasons. Firstly, I live in Newburyport and I would like to better understand and therefore enjoy my hometown surroundings including both the land and the sea. Secondly, I am always interested in learning more things about the natural world. There is so much to learn about our natural surroundings that we could continue to take courses throughout our lifetime and barely scratch the surface of knowledge. I have a natural interest in gardening, which includes growing vegetables, flowers, bushes and trees. It is fascinating to me and I love to watch the plants grow and change overtime. I also am interested in many of the sea creatures that live on our shores and further out into the sea. However, I do not necessarily like to venture out into the ocean. Last (but not least), I want have the opportunity to bring back the information that I have learned during Boat Camp to my high school students. Likewise, this class will give me the opportunity to bring my students out into the field. These students will gain valuable experiences about their environment and hopefully get a better sense of where they live and why it is important to observe, care and learn about the natural world all around them. I believe that students learn by interactions with their teachers, peers and the environment. Meaningful and realistic activities help students make connections between knowledge learned in school and real life experiences.
Watershed PD for Middle School Science Teachers, Massachusetts
The Gulf of Maine Watershed program, offered by the New England Aquarium, is a field- and classroom-based program that will provide Massachusetts middle school science teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach students about local watersheds and show how climate change affects watersheds. The program consists of a three-day summer workshop, two call back/follow up sessions, and a teacher-lead meaningful watershed education experience (MWEE) in the field and classroom for students in grades 6 through 8.
After completing the three-day summer workshop, participating teachers are expected to design and conduct a meaningful watershed experience with their students during the fall semester, including a field trip, if possible, and a classroom experience. The Aquarium staff will provide support for field trips.
During follow-up sessions, participants will reconvene to present their projects to one another, as well as to other educators at the Massachusetts Marine Educators annual conference. They will also share information about their projects with other educators through conversations at their schools and in presentations at local education conferences.
Dates: July 15 – 17, 2010; two call back dates, October 2 and December 4, 2010
Please register by June 15, 2010. To register for the summer courses, please contact the Teacher Resource Center for more information. Advance registration is required. Please call 617-973-6590 or email the Teacher Resource Center at trc@neaq.org.
