New Experiences in Environmental Education

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!