Building environmental literacy

Delaware Sea Grant secures NOAA grant to improve watershed education

With its coastline bordering the Atlantic Ocean and portions of the state being in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, it is critical to educate the next generation of Delawareans on the importance of the state’s local waterways.

Thanks to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant awarded to Delaware Sea Grant (DESG) through NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training program, a group of partners from academia, government and the private sector are looking to build environmental literacy and watershed educational capacity throughout the state of Delaware.

The main tool to do this will be through implementing what are known as Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE), which center on experiences for the learner that focus on investigating local environmental issues that can lead to informed action and civic engagement.

For the project Delaware Sea Grant will partner with the Delaware Association for Environmental Education, the Delaware Department of Education, Delaware Nature Society, the Stroud Water Research Center, and the Delaware Foundation for Science and Mathematics Education.

The group is working with schools in all three counties of Delaware: Appoquinimink School District in New Castle County, Caesar Rodney School District in Kent County and the Sussex Montessori School, a public charter school, in Sussex County.

Tonyea Mead, a science education association at the Delaware Department of Education who is assisting on the project, said that anyone living in Delaware, a state with such a close proximity to water, should understand watersheds.

“We should be pushing to have watershed education and pushing to get the kids outside so they can learn about science around their communities,” said Mead. “Outside activities bring science to their world. Many times, the students believe science only happens in the classroom, and they don’t understand that science is all around them and they’re a part of it in the natural world.”

In the first year of the grant, the group will prepare schools and districts to develop their Environmental Literacy Plans for year two of the grant. Part of preparing the districts and schools includes doing an environmental literacy audit.

During the environmental literacy audit, the group will look to identify the gaps in the curriculum of the schools and districts and to look for natural connections to develop environmental literacy plans for the future.

“We’re trying to have a plan and provide support—both professional development and resources—for integrating environmental literacy and MWEEs into their school or district,” said David Christopher, a marine education specialist with DESG.

In addition, the partners are developing a community of practice program. This program will aim to support environmental education by reaching out to businesses, non-profits, and other providers to see if they want to support the schools to help with environmental literacy plans and with integrating environmental education into different learning opportunities.

Christopher said that the ultimate goal is to build capacity for environmental literacy at these schools and in these school districts, as well as to expand the opportunities to others throughout Delaware.

“It’s about building capacity so these schools and others schools and districts in the state can participate,” said Christopher. “After we work with these schools and districts, the goal is for either us or somebody else to take the process and use it for other districts and schools in the state.”

Article by Adam Thomas