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Engaging students in the marine sciences

by Susie Vanderburg

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enny Ross, a N.A.M.E. teacher at Strawberry Vale Elementary in Victoria, BC, shared with us a creative and challenging way to engage students in the marine sciences.  When Lenny was a middle school teacher, he developed a partnership with The Rowing Center, a waterfront business on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Rowing

Center staff and Lenny created a unique opportunity for local 6th and 7th graders by offering a teacher workshop along with a one-day field trip to explore marine ecology and learn the art of rowing.  The workshop’s resources included Gloria Snively’s curriculum guide, “Salish Sea: A Handbook for Educators.”  The workshop provided a springboard for teachers to develop and teach units in marine science, preparing students for the field trip.

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During the field trip, students rotated through three stations.  The first, the rowing

station, taught students how to row an eight-person boat and offered them a wonderful physical challenge; “skilled” rowers could venture to sand dollar beds or rocky shorelines around Esquimalt Lagoon. The second station, on the dock, offered hands-on exploration through plankton tows, bottom dredging, and water quality sampling. Students also got to explore marine critters in touch tanks inside the boat house.  The third station was centered around a stream-fed saltmarsh where students learned more about First Nation cultures.  Activities included explorations, art projects with native plant materials, charcoal sketching, and story telling.

Lenny’s “Eco-Rowing” program underscores the power of partnerships for marine and aquatic education.  Through collaboration with a creative community partner, Lenny was able to offer students and teachers a rich and memorable learning experience, a perfect outlet for all that middle school energy!