there have been challenges around teaching inquiry, collecting inquiry work samples, working with volunteers/chaperones, facilitating field trips, identifying new literature for students, etc. The Partnership has developed professional development oppor- tunities that address these needs while adding an Ocean Literacy context. For example, the Oregon Coast Aquarium will provide an inquiry workshop which includes strategies for collecting a state required inquiry work sample by studying a marine envi- ronment and/or species. For specific needs that existing partners do not have the expertise in, the leadership has sought out new partners. For instance, Willamette University will contribute a writing and literature component to Spring workshops surround- ing field investigations. By coupling Ocean Literacy with existing teacher professional development requests, we have increased our opportunity to address needs while promoting the Ocean Literacy initiative.
Local Relevancy The ocean is an obvious and meaningful context for learning
in Lincoln County because all our communities are coastal. Our quest for Ocean Literacy is imbedded in the pursuit of providing an environmental context for the K-12 curriculum so that the stu- dents that graduate from the Lincoln County School District will be better prepared for the unique citizenship, natural hazards and occupations that exist in Lincoln County. This preparation will benefit our citizens, natural resources, economy and community. Every district, school and/or class can find a meaningful way
to provide context to the K-12 curriculum. The ocean affects all our lives but your students may benefit instead from prioritiz- ing forestry, watershed and/or agricultural literacy. They are all significant but it is important to first identify what context is most immediately meaningful to the place they live. As students begin to better understand how their K-12 learning relates to the place they live, they can better appreciate that place and their role as a citizen. This appreciation will better prepare them to attain envi- ronmental literacy more broadly as they mature into adulthood.
Rachel Bayor is the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s School Liaison Partnership Coordinator, a new position created to assist teachers with bringing marine science into their classrooms. She is a graduate of the University of Dayton, in Ohio, where she studied biology and geology. She is working toward her Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.
CLEARING 2011
www.clearingmagazine.org/online
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