by Licia Johnson, Naturalist
In the past few weeks, I was able to be a part of two unique
environmental education experiences involving WI youth; both of which were
completely new for me. On April 17
th
(yes, the day we received 20 inches of snow!), I worked as a Group Leader
for the 2014 WI Envirothon competition, and on April 29
th I
presented at the UWSP STEM Conference, both held at
Treehaven Campus
in Tomahawk, WI.
I had heard of the Envirothon competition before, but have
never been to one, so I was really excited to be a part of Wisconsin's ultimate
high school and middle school environmental science challenge. Teachers around
the state use Envirothon learning objectives throughout the school year to
enhance their environmental science curriculum. They form a team that is then
enrolled as part of the Wisconsin Envirothon for a day of field challenges,
team presentations. There are chances for the winning teams to advance on to a
national competition. As a group leader,
I was in charge of three teams of five high school students, escorting them to
the four different hands-on field challenges and a team presentation challenge
where each year they prepare and present on a rotating current issue. The four field challenge areas covered
aquatic ecology, forestry, soils and land use, and wildlife. Professionals from around the state put
together the exams for each station (no two years have the same questions) and
were there to present them. The exams
were true and false, multiple choice, and each one had some kind of a hands-on
station, whether it be identifying animal tracks and scat (YES!!) or working
outside with forestry tools.
This was not only a
great opportunity to networks with state professionals in these fields, but I
also had a chance to go through the exams and test my own knowledge. Let’s just say, I may be spending more time
this summer studying soils and land use…
J It was also a great opportunity to work with
and bond with high school students, an age group I rarely work with. We were together all day, each of them
working in their own school teams for the challenges. What was really fascinating was to see the
different group dynamics from each school- you could see natural leaders step
up and direct the group. The schools I
worked with were from the Madison and Appleton area. One team was very serious about the entire
challenge, getting right to work, everyone had their area and task set to
complete the challenge- and some groups had a more casual approach to the exam,
laughing and having a good time.
My favorite challenge was the group presentation. I went in not knowing what to expect. The 2014 issue was Sustainable Local
Agriculture/Locally Grown Foods. A month
before the Envirothon, schools were given a scenario related to the issue and
were asked to present, with visuals, on the topic, becoming ‘experts.’ The topic dealt with two adjacent farms, both
with different types of crops, animals, forests, on the land- the challenge was
to combine the two to make a profitable business in today’s economy. It was so neat to see which direction each
group went, how they worked the land, dealt with erosion problems, and how they
planned to sell and market their goods.
A panel of professionals in the Ag business asked questions and judged
their presentations. It was not only a
really fun day, but I learned a lot and was so gratifying to see young students
become so involved in environmental education through this great
competition! Wisconsin Envirothon is a
program of the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association (WLWCA), and a
member of the North American Envirothon.
The STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) conference I
presented at was for middle school students around the area. The day was filled with different workshops
put on by professionals that were career related to STEM. They were trying to celebrate women in the
field, and asked me to present something on being an environmental
educator. The topic I chose to speak on
was using live animals as ambassadors for communicating educational
messages. I discussed how and why we
use live animals-the major benefit being to increase affective learning and
attitudinal change. We discussed where
all our animals came from- discarded pets, injured non-releasable wild animals,
and healthy non-releasable wild animals.
Each animal has a story and a lesson to be learned. I discussed how we use these animals to teach
respect for and conservation of the native animals in our area and that these
animals cannot be released into the wild for various reasons, so they serve a
greater purpose educating the public.
All three sessions I presented were full, and the students really
enjoyed meeting and learning about the Discovery Center education animals. It was also a special treat to run into Mrs.
B, or as some of you may remember, Emily Sage, who was an intern with us during
the summer of 2011. She is now married
and is a science teacher at Tomahawk middle and high school. Always so fun to see where past Center
interns end up!
These were both great experiences for me, not only as an
educator, but as a person passionate about our natural world. Both were new experiences for me, ones that I
hope to be a part of in the future!
Just prior to leaf out (which up here is late May/early June),
there is a time when the days are longer, the sun shines brighter, the bugs are
yet to hatch, and where the warm and cool air fluctuate dramatically with ever so slight elevation and terrain changes. There
is a time when the ephemeral ponds are full, the birds start to sing - really
sing, and wildlife starts to move - really move. Porcupine are frequently sighted; and albino
deer too. Baby turtles have hatched and
are finding their way to the water’s edge. The hawks, heron and cranes rise out
of forest openings and along the river’s edge.
