Historic Education Forum on PK-12 Brings Leaders from San Antonio Together – Texas Aquatic Science Education Among Initiatives Present
Texas Aquatic Science education curricula and experiential activities were featured at a PK-12 education forum held on April 21, 2016 in San Antonio. Along with other important education initiatives active in the San Antonio region, Texas Aquatic Science partners joined in a focus on issues and the quest for student success in the San Antonio area.
Michael Burke, founder of San Antonio Clean Technology Forum along with the San Antonio Area Foundation hosted the forum. Over 400 education and business leaders attended the event that was organized by over 30 local education stakeholders.
At the forum, Briane Willis, nature program specialist for the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, provided attendees a glimpse into the aquatic science education curriculum. She also demonstrated one of the experiential activities in the Texas Aquatic Science education teacher guide. The activity shown involves learning about runoff and the cleansing properties of vegetative buffer zones around water bodies.
Several San Antonio area schools are currently using the Texas Aquatic Science curriculum in the classroom and there are already 11 Texas Aquatic Science education certified field sites in the San Antonio area. These new field sites where teachers and students will find aquatic science education field activities include Mitchell Lake Audubon Center and the San Antonio River Authority. For a complete list of Texas Aquatic Science education certified field sites in Texas please click here:
Find a Certified Field Site
For comprehensive information about the forum and more images see the Rivard Report’s feature on the forum: Local Public School Leaders Energize Pearl Forum
Photo of forum in Facebook: San Antonio Regional Public PK-12 Education Forum
Texas Aquatic Science is a comprehensive curriculum for water and aquatic science education studies for middle and high school use, plus application at the university level for non science majors. The curriculum consists of a textbook in hard copy and fully on line, a massive teachers resource and activity guide that includes assessments, specially produced aquatic science video, and 220 online video lessons all fully aligned with Texas teaching standards. It’s become the top-ranked curriculum and source for information on aquatic science on the internet today.
Aquatic science students and adult learners may navigate the online student portal. For teachers, the Teachers Guide is loaded with science investigations, games, models, cooperative learning activities, Internet projects, readings from the student guides, short aquatic science education videos, science journals, and field based assessments of water quality and environmental conditions in a variety of field trips. Most time is spent doing hands on activities from the Teacher Guide, over 700 pages of TEKS aligned, hands-on activities designed to engage all learners and all learner types. Lessons in each chapter begin with an activity to allow the teacher to assess what students know about the concepts to be studied. Lessons embed higher order thinking skills, provide depth and complexity of learning, and provide a wide variety of hands-on activities that engage students in many contexts and methods. Each lesson includes an opportunity for students to apply what they have learned by synthesizing the information and demonstrating their learning by developing creative products or performances.