from Bec Boyd article: Growing Kids Who Care
Clearing Compendium 2011
Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston OR
“It’s good fun learning about the sea. We go out to the bay and find lots of different species. Itís important that we know more about the sea and how to look after it so it will be healthy.” (Grade 5 student)
Around 3500 young people aged six to twelve from twelve schools on the south-west coast of Oregon have been learning to manage the marine resources on their doorstep as a result of a highly successful programme run by Jan Hodder and Trish Mace at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB). Nine graduate students are funded by the National Science Foundation not only to carry out research, but to become excellent communicators and educators in marine science.
In an area where many rural coastal communities rely on shellfish gathering and fishing to supplement often low incomes, and some fisheries are in decline, it is important that marine life is managed wisely. What better way of achieving this than by growing a generation of young marine experts?
After a week’s intensive training, the nine graduates teach at primary schools two days a week. They have created an imaginative incremental curriculum based on field- work and hands-on projects. It is designed to help the students learn not only about marine life and sustainability but about critical scientific thinking. By Grade 6 each student has spent a year studying each marine habitat, from rocky and sandy shores to estuaries, kelp forests, the open ocean and island ecosystems. Each one is able to survey and record local coastal species, is familiar with geology, colonization, seasonal and tidal changes, diversity and food webs, as well as the impacts of human activities like fishing, energy production and marine litter, and how to manage them.
Identifying zooplankton
In spring 2010, for example, one Grade 6 class (aged 12) wrote and produced a seabird guide and used it on a bird-spotting trip to nearby Coquille Point. They carried out repeat surveys of marine life on Cape Blanco beach, adding their results to OIMB records. In one lesson Grade 5 (aged 11) learned to identify zoo- and phytoplankton and found out about their role in ocean ecosystems. Grade 4 (aged 10) students were able to talk knowledgeably about why the hunting of sea otters has allowed sea urchins to decimate kelp forests, and how modern fisheries have affected marine biomass. At the annual OIMB Open House in May, children from all backgrounds and corners of the school district brought their parents to meet their favourite graduate student and see at first-hand what they had been learning.
The aim is that class teachers will gain the skills to carry on the programme themselves, with the support of the grade-based curricula, lesson plans and training materials that OIMB has provided on its website. OIMB can then focus on a similar programme aimed at local high school students.
Local fishermen are already managing Dungeness crab and Pink shrimp fisheries sustainably and are initiating discussions on marine protected areas. As a result of the OIMB programme, a generation of school children has become engaged, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about “their” sea and how to manage it. They are already caring local citizens who give real hope for the future.