Building a Better World

Articles

Sea Briefs is a report on the results of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

Editor: Valerie Winn

Top photo: Chris Snyder

This newsletter is available in PDF format from:
masgc.org/seabriefs

MASGC supports applied, interdisciplinary marine science research, education and outreach efforts to foster the sustainable development and management of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi-Alabama
Sea Grant Consortium
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Phone: 228-818-8840
E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org
MASGP 07-011-02

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Building a better world
Coastal marine science education centers initiate lifetime learning

Embracing the notion that experience is the best teacher, educators in Mississippi and Alabama are continuing to discover that the resources of three institutions initiate a lifetime of learning about coastal habitats, wildlife, and stewardship, and how this knowledge helps to build a better world.

An ROV allows students to explore a virtual ocean world. Educational programs with stimulating, hands-on learning and classroom activities can be found at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) through its Discovery Hall Program and Estuarium, the Mobile County Public Schools Environmental Studies Center (both in Alabama), and the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center (MEC) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Together, these centers enlighten thousands of students from across the nation in grades K-12 each year with science-based projects.

Each facility’s success is partially based on collaboration with one another. MASGC has been a strong supporter of such regional cooperation as a major sponsor of several of their partnership projects. For example, all three institutions are currently working on a National Sea Grant Initiative-funded project to educate the public about the dangers of marine debris and coastal pollution.

“The mission of our educational programs is to use experimental, get-your-feet-wet teaching techniques to make science come alive and to develop young minds into lifelong learners,” said Dr. John Dindo, Chair of K-12 Education Programs at DISL. He added that, with the opening of the Sea Lab’s public aquarium, the Estuarium, tens of thousands of school children from across the region can be accommodated. “This aquarium is actually a teaching tool, more than just a tourist attraction,” he says. “We have age appropriate teaching curricula that educators can download from our website prior to their visit to ensure a true learning experience.”

Another such opportunity for students and educators is Project SEA ICE (Student Enrichment Activities in Coastal Ecology) based in Mobile at the Environmental Studies Center (ESC), an experiential teaching facility designed to provide learning opportunities and resource assistance in science and environmental education. This two-year program, funded by MASGC, involves teachers and students from Mobile County’s 14 public high schools. Aligned with National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the Alabama Course of Study, its curriculum concepts and performance objectives link the project team of teachers with course assignments in advanced biology.

“In its first year, Project SEA ICE has provided high school students of the Mobile County Public System with an opportunity to increase their knowledge of coastal ecology and to enrich their learning experience through on-site field study,” said Lloyd Scott, ESC director. “Both students and teachers have been engaged by this program and have emerged with a greater appreciation and knowledge of our coastal ecosystem.”

The ROV display at DISL. During the 2004 project year, 18 teachers and more than 500 students from 13 Mobile County high schools participated in activities at the ESC. “Initial results from pre and post-testing have shown an average increase of 27 percent in knowledge of coastal ecology, with some schools increasing their knowledge base over 35 percent,” said Scott.

Another MASGC-funded program by the ESC, the The ABC’s of Wetlands, provided in-service training, support materials, and hands-on learning for 104 teachers and 1,170 of their students who encountered a host of plants, animals, and reptiles through coordinated field trips over the course of the three-year project. Experiences were integrated with classroom studies and enhanced with materials used in pre- and post-field trip enrichment activities.

The MEC, under the interim direction of Dr. Sheila Brown and located on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Biloxi facility, offers a number of creative hands-on opportunities for students and teachers. Described as “Mississippi’s Window to the Sea,” the MEC also offers a number of programs for K-12 students through its Project Marine Discovery Series, including PDM: Sea Camps during the summer months, and overnight trips, mini-camps, and field trips during the academic year. To accommodate those student groups for whom field trips aren’t practical, PDM On the Road takes the award-winning program to schools within 100 miles of the Center.
Understanding that marine science education is not only for the young, the MEC&A supports teacher education through workshops, sponsored by MASGC and other agencies such as Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Ocean Exploration and summer institutes sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The PMD: Afternoon of Marine Discovery provides a two-hour session of lectures and hands-on activities available by special arrangement for Elderhostel and special interest groups.

In another regional cooperative venture supported by MASGC, the MEC along with the DISL’s Estuarium, were funded to showcase exciting new marine technology display. Aquariums were installed to feature new Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) that allow visitors to take a virtual trip into the ocean with marine scientists. “We’ll be able to show visitors how scientists currently study the deep ocean,” said Dindo. “That kind of imagery would never be available with a diver and an underwater camera.” The MEC lost its aquarium and ROV with Hurricane Katrina.

From collaborating on teacher workshops to hosting field trips in these marine science centers, Dindo spoke for all three directors when he said, “We share a mission to educate as many people as possible about the coast, the environment, and our responsibility to preserve our natural wonders.”