On a sunny Saturday in April, two outreach team members from JCWC attended the Diack Ecology Education Program’s spring workshop at Tryon Creek State Park. We were joined by a staffer and an AmeriCorps member from Leach Botanical Garden. This workshop provided hands-on opportunities in the field and discussions in the classroom to help educators bring science-based activities to their K-12 students.
The Diack Ecology Education Program teams up with the Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School (J-GEMS) and Vernier Science Education twice a year to offer teacher training focused on field-based student inquiry. Through the program any educators can apply for a $2,000 grant (or up to $6,000 for three educators) for classroom equipment and resources for field-based activities.
During the first half of the day, participants downloaded the Graphical Analysis app in order to use the Vernier Science equipment throughout the day. There were a few representatives from Vernier that helped educate and guide participants on how to use and implement educational tools such as a pH probe, temperature probe, CO2 gas sensor and dissolved oxygen probe. Participants spent the time before lunch acquainting themselves with the use of these tools.
After lunch, facilitators discussed ways in which students can formulate scientific questions on their own. Participants practiced this inquiry process, came up with a question they wanted to answer by looking at biotic and abiotic factors, used the Vernier tools to log data and presented their findings at the end of the workshop.
Last year, staffers from JCWC and Leach Botanical Garden attended Diack’s fall workshop. They applied for the grant with the Back 5 Project partners and received the award. With this award, partners purchased equipment such as a pH sensor, dissolved oxygen probe, turbidity sensor, field microscopes, binoculars and trail cams to use with student groups in the Back 5.
Overall, this opportunity is wonderful for educators who need funding to bring their students outside to learn. The Diack staffers strongly encourage educators to use their grants to take kids outside to “get muddy.” The grant process is easy, straightforward and takes about a page and a half to apply.
