Exploring Authentic Conservation Education: Teachers for CHANGE

Through this place-based field experience, the nearshore waters off the coast become a classroom with instruction being led by those conducting the research, generating authenticity. Teachers become active participants in conservation, and more importantly, ambassadors for change, which they then bring back to their schools.

Teachers will spend the morning on a chartered boat at one of our local, active study sites. They will watch us bring threatened and endangered species aboard our vessel and collect data, as they ask questions and learn about the various species. Educators will be able to see how our trunk programs mirror the research we conduct, down to the scientific tools and anatomically correct sea turtle model. These models were designed and manufactured based on one of our research turtles from Jupiter Inlet so the students get the most authentic experience possible.

From here, teachers return to the classroom for lunch and workshop time. During the workshop portion, we will unpack our trunk programs and showcase lessons from each, walking teachers through the programs. They will get hands-on in the same capacity as their students as they learn about the trunk contents, standards, and connections for their students.

Students become invested in the welfare of these animals through their teacher’s first-hand experiences that generate excitement and tether powerful emotions to the knowledge gained from them. Teachers feel empowered to share the trunk programs based on this research after being an active part of it during the field experience. Students aren’t learning about the scientific method from a textbook, but from the scientists themselves who have created hands-on lessons based on real field research.