Floating Classrooms has taken these collaborative opportunities and partnerships and turned them into the foundation for students to learn about themselves and their public school educational stan- dards in a natural way. In order to provide these expe-
riences for the students you need to create a program format that sets the stage for the on-water learning. When students arrive for the water quality lesson (Mod- ule 5 of the US Sailing Reach Program) they start their visit on land reviewing the components of what makes a healthy body of water. This brainstorm then leads to a game that familiarizes stu- dents with the different aspects of water quality to test for in order to see if the lake is indeed healthy (pH, dissolved oxygen, phos- phorus, turbidity, salinity, etc.) Students then head to the docks and test the water themselves. This is a great way to focus on place-based education – students are more invested in their learning because it includes the body of water in their neighborhood, and in many cases their drinking water. Once students have completed their on-land work they head out on the lake and collect water from different areas. They can test these areas, compare them to their shore side sample and make deductions around why the results may or may not be different. For example, differences could relate to recent weather events, if they collect near a river input. One of our most intensive fifth grade lessons takes place
during winter visits that build off of the above mentioned water quality curriculum. In the winter, every fifth grade class has three visits from a CSC educator. The first visit paints a picture of water quality and ties all of the students to the topic personally. They sit in a circle and tell the his- tory of the lake. Every part of the story introduces some- thing new that was put into the lake as time progressed, and they add a representative object into a bucket of water (an apple represents food waste, food coloring represents harm- ful runoff, etc.) and stir it around. As each stage of the story is told, the students answer whether they would swim, eat food, and drink water from this lake. At the end of the les- son they answer, “Who dirtied the water? Who is respon- sible for cleaning it up?” The next visit has the students create an image of the
ideal lake, and then explore water quality matching games to solidify their understanding of the different vocabulary and definitions. For example, the word phosphorus can be described as “comes from soap” and “increases plant growth.” The final winter visit has the students learn how to test water quality and record data like scientists do. We use La Motte testing tablets and litmus paper, Instant Ocean hydrometers, and a Secchi Disk. The classroom is set up in stations, allowing for group work and experimentation. Depending on the station, students test liquids such as salt
water, soapy water, lemon juice, and tap water. They then apply these skills when testing water quality at the lake in the spring. They understand what the results mean and can infer why they might be so. The association between
water, memories, fun, and the surrounding landscape will cre- ate a spirit of accountability, ownership, and stewardship within every student. They may not all grow up to become marine biologists or environ- mental lawyers, but we are planting the seed for lifelong stewardship. The combination of sailing and environmental education is what allows for true experiential education and for participants to learn some- thing about themselves at the same time.
Choose Your Audience After you’ve got a mission and a niche, you need to figure
out whom you want to reach with your program. Narrow- ing down the audience not only makes things manageable as you start off, it also forces you to do a more thorough job with those you are reaching out and providing programs for. Learn about your target population and determine how your program will address their needs. The more information you have about your audience the more successful you will be when you start promoting it. We knew our program was geared toward students
between K-12th grade, but we weren’t immediately clear on the grade level. We’ve tested different grade levels over the years and found the elementary school grades are the perfect fit (for now). Once we identified public schools as our primary audience, we needed to make sure our program aligned with their needs. Oftentimes, public school teach- ers function within many constraints and must achieve certain goals within certain times, and in order to gain trac- tion and be recognized as more than just a sailing field trip, we needed to help teachers meet those standards and reach those goals. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Com-
mon Core Standards have been adopted by the Burlington School District; therefore, they are important to Floating Classrooms. Find that perfect balance between public school standards and your mission to narrow down your audience and curriculum design. Each of our lessons are designed to not only work with US Sailing’s educational platform Reach, but to also address one or more of that grade’s testing stan- dards in a way that reaches that age group. Today, the focus for Floating Classrooms is on the fourth and fifth grade. Once the curriculum and logistics for these two grades are sustainable and function like a well-oiled machine, our intention is to use the same framework and expand into for all other grades in K-12.
GREEN TEACHER 109 Page 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
