Twelve Miami-Dade middle and high school science teachers will spend five days this summer trekking and cruising through unique South Florida landscapes to learn firsthand about pertinent environmental issues facing our state. The hands-on field workshop is one component of a yearlong University of Florida Thompson Earth Systems Institute Immersive Environmental Education Fellowship.
The fellowship, hosted by UF TESI’s Scientist in Every Florida School Program, aims to equip teachers with the knowledge, confidence and access to experts to develop lesson plans about topics like invasive species, biodiversity, climate change and more. Thanks to funding from the Batchelor Foundation, participating teachers will receive a $1,000 stipend upon completion of the program.
“Oftentimes as teachers, we look to textbooks or the news to learn more about a topic before sharing it with our students,” said Stephanie Killingsworth, K-12 education and outreach coordinator for SEFS and a former Palm Beach County school teacher.
“Through this fellowship, we want to give teachers the opportunity to get out in the field, see the issues for themselves and talk with scientists studying these subjects. We hope they leave with the excitement and inspiration to share what they learned with their students, our state’s future environmental stewards.”
To develop the agenda for the week, SEFS partnered with several South Florida organizations and agencies, each focused on a different topic.
“We really wanted to provide experiences surrounding issues facing Florida that could also be packaged into standards-based lesson plans,” Killingsworth said.
From June 19-23, teachers will travel to several sites in Miami-Dade County for a combination of field trips and discussions.
Schedule:
- Monday, June 19: Teachers will learn about native and nonnative plants at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and hear about eco-activism from the Cortada Foundation at Pinecrest Gardens.
- Tuesday, June 20: Teachers will head offshore to tag sharks with the ANGARI Foundation and scientists from Florida International University.
- Wednesday, June 21: Teachers will learn about bird conservation from the Tropical Audubon Society at Bill Baggs Cape State Park.
- Thursday, June 22: Teachers will visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory to learn about sea turtles, coral reefs and water quality.
- Friday, June 23: Teachers will get a private tour of the exhibits at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.
During the upcoming school year, teachers will be expected to deliver one of the lesson plans they create and coordinate a scientist visit to their classroom. Those who develop an extra lesson plan based on their experiences will receive an additional $500.
“We are excited about this opportunity to expand our Scientist in Every Florida School program into South Florida and give teachers there the chance to participate in our flagship professional development programs,” said TESI director Bruce MacFadden.
Stephanie Killingsworth, skillingsworth@floridamuseum.ufl.edu, 561-644-2397; Bruce MacFadden, bmacfadd@flmnh.ufl.edu
Media contact: Rebecca Burton, 850-316-1555, rlburton@floridamuseum.ufl.edu
Featured image courtesy ANGARI Foundation. All research was conducted under Florida permits held by Florida International University scientists.