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Top of the class

Lessons in the open

At the Springs Coast Environmental Education Center, students learn math, science and grammar hands on.

By MATHEW WASSERMAN
Published August 25, 2005

WEEKI WACHEE - A school day is just not the same when there's the Weeki Wachee River right outside the classroom window.

That's what students and teachers from John D. Floyd Elementary found out recently on their trip to the new Springs Coast Environmental Education Center in Weeki Wachee.

"It wasn't another typical day," said Charles Barrett, an environmental science teacher at Floyd Elementary. "We still got through everything we needed to get through, we just got to use a different environment."

That environment is about half a mile down river of the Weeki Wachee Springs' Buccaneer Bay attraction, the perfect place for students to explore an interesting ecology, while not straying too far from their academics.

The center is owned and funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, or Swiftmud as the agency is commonly called. The school district leases the grounds and building. Constructed for about $780,000, the facility opened in April to eager crowds of students, who unfortunately were only able to visit the center one time before the school year ended.

"They all had a great time last year, just being able to see the river this way," said Mark Weaver, coordinator of the center.

"Even if the kids have been out to Buccaneer Bay, it's totally different seeing this environment from a non-recreational point of view."

The mid week field trip was the first of the new school year to the center. Students were supposed to be concentrating on the hydrological cycle, but the method for learning stretched across the curriculum.

They studied evaporation and while doing so, they looked at the frequency of rain drops and percentages of the runoff coming into the river and into the ground. They also worked on their grammar while writing essays about the water cycle.

Students had fun despite the heat.

"The best thing was the water cycle making machine. It showed how rain came down and made runoff," said sixth-grader Justin Botto. "Next time we can learn new things. We are going kayaking and we can see different animals and plants on the river.

"There are a lot of things there that we don't have at school," Botto said. "We don't have those trees or animals, or a river."

The six teachers who went were able to incorporate different subjects because the building with its four classrooms is structured for different learning groups, and because the subject matter lends itself to different areas of exploration.

"It was really a broad curriculum that used science as a glue to hold everything together," said Barrett. "Some kids come in and they don't want to write and learn grammar, but then we have them write about their observations and what they did that day and they don't even realize they are writing and learning grammar. Also when the students are studying plant life and classifications, they don't realize they are learning math with percentages and numbers and frequency."

Weaver, who has taught science for 18 years, said the center makes it easier to reach younger students.

"I've always felt strongly that kids are taught about things but usually don't get to see it so they are disconnected from it," said Weaver. "But this is a place that provides students of Hernando County with hands-on science."

The best thing about the center, Barrett said, is that students know they have a place they will be able to come back to and that each time there will be something new. The recent field trip consisted of the entire sixth-grade class, and the same group of students will return in about five weeks to continue their studies.

"They were introduced to the center with the knowledge that they can come back and do more in-depth environmental science observations," said Barrett. "I think they're really excited about coming back. Next time there will be opportunities for kayaking.

"It really got the kids going and excited about this resource, which is close to us, in our county. It's a tool to express what we do everyday. It's an opportunity to use resources in the field to get through to them."

As the center gets going for the new school year, Weaver is working to create programs and find new ways to pique students' curiosity. So far, everything is right on schedule.

"Right now, we are still filling up our calendar," said Weaver. "But we are looking to have students here about four days per week. After next week we are pretty booked up for next month."

[Last modified August 25, 2005, 01:09:20]