Baltimore City public school students have a whole new way of learning about science, the Chesapeake Bay and its ecosystems.
AquaPartners, a program developed and managed by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, provides lab materials, teacher training and special visits for 2,500 4th and 5th grade students who otherwise might not have access to learning about the Bay. Many of these students live within a mile of the water but have had little contact with it.
"AquaPartners brings a whole new level of wonder and excitement about learning to children in City schools," says Joe Harber, education manager and project director for the Aquarium. "This program keeps them fully engaged from September until June, and it's designed to spark a life-long interest in science and the Bay."
Throughout the two-year program, the students learn through activities such as:
- A visit from Captain Abe, a Chesapeake Bay waterman who teaches about harvesting oysters and blue crabs in the Bay
- Tonging for oysters in the lab; assembling crab pots; sorting, weighing and classify trash from the Bay
- Visiting the Ft. McHenry field station and marsh; using geographic mapping, soil testing and graphing results of trash findings
- Using scientific equipment to create brackish water for oysters and measure turbidity
- Seining for and identifying Bay fishes
The Aquarium provided each teacher with a "treasure chest" of materials for their classrooms, including nine books, a fish chart, a laboratory starter kit, a measuring cup, crayons, magnifying glass and a teacher's manual.
The teachers participating in AquaPartners spent several Saturdays this fall in training at the Aquarium in order to become familiar with the course materials and to learn how to conduct classroom experiments and field trips.
The Aquarium supplements the teachers' training by providing two Aquarium- staffed visits to the school and one field trip to the Bay each year for their classes.
AquaPartners is supported by a $390,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Aquarium's conservation education department has a national reputation for science curriculum development. Information about its many classroom and Aquarium-based programs can be found at www.aqua.org.
Posted: 11-4-2002
