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WILD SPOTS FOUNDATION

Dedicated to the promotion and protection of biodiversity.
  

From the Archives: Teaching Teachers



Windows On the World:
Broward County Teachers Save Species in Costa Rica

Paulette Friedel ( NOVA Middle School ) is conducting an insect population study in the Costa Rican rainforest near Manuel Antonio Park to learn about the pressures placed upon biodiversity due to habitat depletion. It was a difficult trek climbing a rather steep mountain to a place Costa Ricans call the Cathedral. Only the most determined Broward County teachers ventured to this magical place including science teacher Paulette Friedel from Nova Middle School. This mountain-top pinnacle gave her a spectacular view of Manual Antonio Park, a coastal rain forest preserve that boasts of having thegreatest variety of species in Central America. It was not just the climb, but also the adventure of discovery. Although the trek up the mountain lasted less than an hour, Paulette and her fellow teacher-explorers had to hike through one of the most biodiverse regions in the Western Hemisphere . Manual Antonio Park has incredible bird life, thousands of species of insects, a dozen of the most poisonous snakes in Central America , and a vanishing species, the endangered Mono Titi monkey. According to Friedel, “The landscapes and atmosphere of Costa Rica were as engaging as I had imagined. The wildlife was genuine the rainforest, beautiful and the scenery, breathtaking.” A certain atmosphere permeates this mid Pacific region of Costa Rica . It's magical. Even when staring you in the eye, it frees you from stress and troubles. The Costa Rican salutation of 'pura vida', pure life, describes the area perfectly. The Costa Rican Pacific coast ranges over 500 miles from its northernmost tip to its border with neighboring Panama . This vast extension holds countless beaches and picturesque towns and villages. Quepos, a small fishing village, and Manual Antonio Park provided the backdrop this science education workshop involving 38 Broward County and 10 New York City science teachers this past summer.


Manuel Antonio is easily accessible and is truly one of the most beautiful parks in Costa Rica. It sits along the Pacific Coast and boasts an estuary, mangroves, a lagoon, beaches and winding paths. All this on 638 hectares of land and 55,000 hectares of protected marine environment. Quepos, located around five miles from the Park, is small, therefore making it a great place to wander and investigate. From the city's outer edges, a walk to the pier takes about 20 minutes. It lies at the foot of a small hill and the road leading out of it south towards Manuel Antonio winds up and over the hill. Along this route, there are an abundance of hotels, restaurants and tour operators. Many of the hotels are part of the natural landscape that extends into forest. Intrepid explorers like Paulette and her friends took advantage of this environment to look for the ubiquitous sloth or a chattering troop of titi monkeys.


This setting attracted Dr. Barry W. Barker, Chair of Nova Southeastern University's Environmental Science/Studies program. Dr. Barker is also President of Wild Spots Foundation, the sponsor of a novel environmental science education program, Windows on the World (WOW). Wild Spots Foundation believes that protecting biodiversity is one key that solves the problems of habitat depletion and species endangerment. It also believes that the complex interaction between living things and their environment sustains life on earth. This complexity captivates human imagination and evokes curiosity, exploration, and a deep commitment to the nature world. The mission of the Foundation is to protect endangered species and their habitats through ecotourism, photography, science, technology, and education. Barker describes, “Windows on the World as an environmental science education workshop for classroom teachers and their students to create a personal involvement and interest to protect endangered species. Through photography, posting of photographs on the Internet, and live broadcasts of endangered species via 24/7 web cameras into classrooms throughout Broward County, students will see in real time images of endangered species in their habitats.” Students can currently view live broadcasts of an American Crocodile in Broward County . The Foundation has delivered to Costa Rica's Ministry of Environment a web cam to be placed in the Manual Antonio Park to monitor the Mono Titi Monkey. In addition, two other Costa Rican web cams will soon broadcast live images of Great Green Macaws at Finca Lupita Macaw Sanctuary and rarely found hummingbirds at the La Paz Waterfall Park. One of the missions for Wild Spots Foundation is to protect and restore habitats of endangered species. Through its Windows on the World program, the Foundation brings together 38 science teachers from Broward County, 10 science teachers from New York City as well as science teachers from Costa Rica to develop sustainable projects that held restore depleted tropical environments.



Jeanne Rendon ( McArther High School ), Larry Riveria (Dave Thomas Educational Center) and Michelle Krug ( Coral Springs High School ) are planting trees to create a biodiversity corridor for the Mono Titi monkey, an endangered species found in Costa Rica. Because of development the Mono Titi monkey is suffering from a lack of genetic viability. The monkeys living in the Manuel Antonio Park near Quepos need to re-establish reproductive ties with their species that live in the mountains, but cannot because of habitat depletion. They have become isolated and inbreeding is taking its toll. Each participant in the Windows on the World Program will plant one tree to help re-establish this connection and in subsequent years, all members of the Foundation visiting Quepos will contribute to this process by planting a tree. According to Barker, “Windows on the World (WOW) program involves K-12 science teachers in an international science education workshop that a) teaches teachers how to deliver the complex issues of habitat protection and species diversity to their students b) creates interaction to build long-lasting professional relationships between U.S. and Costa Rican educators and c) generates ownership, care, and concern that result in active participation of our teachers, students, and parents.”


Digital photographic images taken by teachers in Costa Rica are also posted on the Internet as an instructional resource that provides students with a glimpse (or window) on the habitats of endangered species. Students can see the threats to those habitats from their Broward County classrooms. However, they must figure out how to protect, preserve and restore this valuable nursery of biodiversity. Windows on the World uses exploration, discovery, and application as the tools for teachers to create learning. Teachers were encouraged to explore the tropical rain forest, comb the beaches for marine life, and wander the jungle trails of the area. Teachers discovered the meaning of biodiversity. Paulette claims that the WOW experience “has enriched my understanding of true biodiversity of the beautiful country of Costa Rica .” In addition, teachers will meet with Dr. Barker throughout the school year to convert these experiences into lessons and learning for students. The cost of WOW was shared by the program's sponsors and the teachers. The program occurred because of a developing relationship between Fort Lauderdale and Quepos, Costa Rica . The two cities are formalizing a relationship through the Sister Cities International Program. Marvin Chaney, the local Sister Cities International chairman is responsible for connecting interested members of the Quepos community, Nova Southeastern University , and Wild Spots Foundation. Major contributions and support came from two Costa Rican sources: the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environment. A private, eco-friendly, Quepos-based land development firm, La Ventana, contributed toward the cost of air tickets as did the Sister Cities Program and Nova Southeastern University. Teachers were asked to pay a $300 registration fee, related taxes, and some field expenses.


Why WOW? Barker explains, “There is a growing neglect of science education across the United States. The National Science Teachers Association announced last week low scores in the 2003 ACT science test. NSTA claims these scores indicate that only a small percentage of high school seniors are prepared for college science courses.” “The answer is not necessarily money. The solution is to free up classroom time of teachers and let them teach. Too much time is devoted to non-instructional time, including teaching students how to take the FCAT.” Barker also is emphatic about having teachers identify and become involved in something larger than the classroom. He describes it as a mission to goes beyond learning to have teachers and their students feel, hear, smell, taste, and see how their newly acquired knowledge works. More than 11 million children - one in four students – attend urban schools in which many of their teachers need help providing high-quality science instruction. Barker further claims, “The teachers involved in WOW have the potential to affect nearly 700,000 students in Broward County and New York City schools. Total immersion is the only way!” Connecting real life experiences to the classroom makes a difference. Paulette summarizes her Costa Rica WOW experience, “It was an adventure in science discovery unparalleled by any workshop here at home. It is an experience I will always remember.” Paulette Friedel ( NOVA Middle School ) and Jean Willson ( Sunrise Middle School ) are Broward County Teachers participating in the Windows on the World Program held in Quepos , Costa Rica . The teachers are involved in a science education project to learn a variety of strategies to teach the importance of biodiversity in the tropical rainforest to students about their return to classrooms next week.


The Foundation, through its science education program, teaches teachers innovative ways to involve their students in learning about habitat depletion and biodiversity. The Foundation uses photography as a way to document endangered species and technology to connect these images to classrooms in Broward County and New York City.


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The Biodiversity Bus

Barry W. Barker, PhD, EdD



Mission:
To foster environmental stewardship
To protect valuable habitats
To save threatened and endangered species through creating ownership
To foster environmental stewardship



Methods:
Science & Investigation and Exploration through Science Education (Students) Photographic documentation through Science Education (Educators)


The Magic Box Curriculum

Barry W. Barker, PhD, EdD




The Magic Box Curriculum is an innovative supplement to environmental science education. It uses a variety of pedagogical strategies that capture learning for both visual and verbal learners. The primary ingredients in the Magic Box are discovery, inquiry, and ownership. (See Magic Box Literature Review below.)


Magic Box in-school presentations are made by qualified, experienced individuals who have spent their professional lives in wildlife or environmental management. Presentations may involve classes as small as 10 to as many as 60. The content of these in-class workshops is based upon a Magic Box of Biodiversity concept where the field instructor uses a variety of materials to teach ecology, taxonomy, classification, biogeography, natural history.


The Magic Box is delivered in six components:


Exercise 1: The Everglades

Exercise 2: Classification of Living Things: The Button Bugs

Exercise 3: Taxonomic categories of Living Things: The Animal Phylum

Exercise 4: Digital Insect Collection

Exercise 5: Hands on - Natural Histories of . . .

Exercise 6: Biodiversity - Monitoring species
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The Magic Box incorporates environmental science, mathematics, and technology to deliver a curriculum that creates awareness, generates ownerships, builds critical thinking processes to save endangered species. The Magic Box successfully accomplishes many outcomes in science, mathematics, technology, and the language arts for New York and Florida .


Exercise 1: Biogeography of Florida: The Everglades
Exercise 2: Classification of Living Things: The Button Bugs
Exercise 3: Taxonomic categories of Living Things: The Animal Phylum
Exercise 4: Digital Insect Collection
Exercise 5: Hands on Natural Histories of . . .
Exercise 6: Biodiversity - Monitoring species


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Contents of the Magic Box

Teachers own the Magic Box and they learn to use the components in Windows on the World workshops. The items in the magic box include:
For both Florida & New York, the following outcomes are addressed for each grade group:
24/7 web cam broadcasts, analysis of data from online insect collection, and downloading of photographs, drawings, lab reports, and natural history surveys onto a website) In New York the following outcomes are addressed for each grade group:


New York Performance Standards (Elementary)
Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.


Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.


Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.


New York Performance Standards (Middle School)
Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.


Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.


Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.



Florida learning outcomes associated with the Magic Box (K-2) are:
Florida learning outcomes associated with the Magic Box (3-5) are:
Florida learning outcomes associated with the Magic Box (6-8) are:


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The Magic Box Literature Review

Barry W. Barker, PhD, EdD

The Magic Box incorporates environmental science, mathematics, technology, and the visual arts to deliver a curriculum that generates ownership, interaction (engagement), and critical thinking processes to save endangered species. The Magic Box successfully accomplishes many outcomes in science, mathematics, technology, and the language arts for New York and Florida state standards. The concept of ownership


Hungerford (1975) outlined several pedagogical myths that shook the philosophical foundations of science education and, consequently, established a new paradigm for a postmodern philosophy in the teaching of environmental science. He begins his treatise by stating 1) science cannot resolve environmental problems, 2) science teachers are not the only ones who can successfully teach environmental education, and 3) environmental educators should practice what they preach. He further explains that to overcome these problems, "students must develop specific plans for environmental action and develop ownership that authenticates the relationships between what is being learned, quality of life and the quality of the environment" (Hungerford and Peyton, 1977).


Developing ownership is a postmodern approach that creates learning. Ownership draws upon a philosophy not from education, but from anthropology, specifically, symbolic interaction and ethnomethodology. Developing ownership is key to create social interaction.


Chin and Russell (1996) describe how ownership produces positive results for students. When educators are taught how to question deep-rooted cultural assumptions about the validity of information, ownership results from discovering the truth (Munson, 1997). Dabbagh (1996) claims that personal relevance forms when adapting an educational task to a learner's individual interest. Finally, Kentish (1995) describes how involvement in local social, political, and economic issues develop problem-solving skills and personal ownership.


"The basic weakness in conventional theoretical approaches (to ownership) is the treatment of human behavior as the product of antecedent conditions" (Larsen and Wright, 1986). The key to ownership is interaction and involvement. However, one negative human trait becomes a roadblock to ownership and learning: the formation of biases and preconceptions. Identifying myths (beliefs) found in popular culture and owning those misconceptions becomes a problem for the learners, but an opportunity for the instructor to interact and teach. Interestingly, research suggests that one solution to this problem be found in technology and the computer. Schifer (1995) reports the nature of visual logic through computers actually overcomes many preconceptions (beliefs) that form basic inhibitions of learning and forming bias. In addition, Levine and Donitsa-Schmidt (1996) amplify this finding by concluding that students using multi-modal computer-based activities view their learning experience more openly than a control group.


“Visual images are framed by networks of interpretation” (Barthes, 1977) and defined as “natural, subjective, expression, timeless” (Goodwin, 1992). Sound images are aural “captions” (Barthes, 1977) and defined as “mediated, social, communication, and linear” (Goodwin, 1992). “Experiences exist encoded in inner speech and only to that extent do they come in contact with speech received from the outside” (Volosinov, 1929).


The future in online learning systems may be a reflection of “simulacrum,” the term used to describe “an audience generally familiar with (an) artist's recordings attends to hear their live replication” (Goodwin, 1992).


Ownership, interaction, engagement, and simularcrity
Simulacrum, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is an “1: image, representation 2: an insubstantial form or semblance of something” (Mish, 1996). Goodwin (1992) describes simulacrum as it relates to MTV as “an audience generally familiar with (an) artist's recordings attends to hear their live replication.” In other words, the recording industry's ultimate goal is to entice fans and supporters to see their favorite artist in person.


The future in distance learning may be found by examining MTV and its concepts of interactivity. The writer further clarifies and applies the concept of simulacrum to distance learning theory and design by creating a new term, simulacrity, defined as a process learning a collective number of images, messages, and representations, vague or concrete, contiguously by an individual or group of individuals.


Compressed learning packets are based upon the way learning occurs in a postmodern society. Students are taught and conditioned by way knowledge is propelled through the media, news, MTV, and video games. Learning takes place at a phenomenal rate. Since 1989, it has been known that interpretative and short-term listening performance remained stable until a high degree of speech compression (60%) was reached (King & Behnke, 1989). Gutenko (1995) discusses the enhanced learning benefits through running time compression of video material. According to Barker (1999), “Information is distributed in 3-6 second packages of data. In fact, a five minute Saturday morning cartoon contains a minimum of 500 sets of data being absorbed by the viewer”. The solution gleaned from this set of literature indicates instructional design strategies must include the concepts incorporated in how learning takes place in a postmodern society, specifically, information delivered in a compressed amount of time (3 to 6 second intervals) packaged with “fragmentation, stylist jumbling, the collapse of past and future into the moment of the present, and the dominance of the visual over the verbal” (Tetzalff, 1986).


Ownership is an indicator that simulacrity has been achieved
Purcell (1993) concludes that interaction is the key to quality distance learning programs and new learning environments must be explored to develop the untapped. A potential source of power for a new approach is the emergence of symbolic interactionism (Hartely, 1992) along with an ethnomethodological framework (Thompson and Coney, 1995).


"Symbolic interactionism, based primarily on the work of George Herbert Mead from the University of Chicago , is the peculiar and distinctive process of interaction as it takes place between human beings. Interpreting and defining each other's actions instead of merely reacting to them; peoples' responses are based on the meanings which they attach to such actions and are mediated by the use of symbols and interpretations. According to Mead, meaning is ascribed to the actions of others by taking the roll of others, either of a specific person or of a group. Enthnomethodology is the examination of how people in their everyday lives make sense of the situations in which they find themselves" (Soloski, J., 1977). Both methodologies require that phenomena must determine the method, although their selection reflects the investigator's choice. Ownership is built around the concept that symbols must be examined within the situations in which they manifest themselves and interact with observers.


In other words, symbolic interaction is used as a framework and participants are responsible agents who interpret methodologies and interactions via their own learning styles. The approach looks to linguistic and cognitive phenomena about the covert self-whose overt behavior is being observed. This perspective is critical of psychology, as well as structuralist's kinds-of-people theory. The potential that students see in themselves, their peers, and their instructors is manifested through communication (person-to-person and via technology) which, in turn, leads to critical thinking, creativity in the classroom of the mind, and ownership of the experience.


Ethnomethodology is the study of how people make sense of the external world and explains "why" things happen in education without first describing "what" is happening. (Heyman, 1980). Heap (1984) defines ethnomethodology as the study of how reasoning and activities are organized within the limits and resources of a culture. Larsen and Wright (1986) conclude that human beings' unique biological potential for conceptual thinking and the development of ownership ideas are manifested through language which, consequently, facilitates social interaction, and leads to reasoning, social control, and development of society.


From an educational point-of-view, the role of the teacher is to create ownership experiences within his/her students. Each learner is an entity who formulates a distinctive learning style that is the reflection of social interactions and interpretations throughout a lifetime. The instructor's role is to discover these styles and utilize a variety of methodologies. These methods can use structuralist's approaches such as recite, repeat, and review; behaviorists use of attitude change, and the constructivist view that learning and teach are negotiated forms of meaning.


The Behaviorists framework provides some validity to this theory. Mental conditioning effects the way people behave. Learning is reinforcement. Skinner postulates that attitudes are outward expressions of inner beliefs. Learning is based upon continual interactions with external and internal environments. From the moment of conception until the last dying breath, the human mind continually interacts with everything in the environment.


The Positivist views the mind as a computer. Certainly, this concept correlates with the interactionist's view that symbols are used to gain knowledge. Every interaction, no matter how small or apparently meaningless, is stored in the brain for future use.


The Constructivist theory that mind is an inner representation of outer reality, knowledge as residing in the mind, and that meaning is internally constructed is consistent with the theory that learning is internal and context to learning is gained through interaction with the outside world.


Critical thinking, as well as several dozen educational outcomes listed by the state boards of education in New York and Florida , are the products of this engagement.


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