Students find best classroom is outdoors

STEM program introduces kids to science work

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by GRETCHEN PHILLIPS Ken Hastings, a member of the Port Tobacco River Conservancy shows students from St. John's Catholic School in Hollywood a cone jellyfish during a seining field trip Wednesday to Chapel Point State Park. Students from left are Nick Jones, Abby Brugman and Julie Johnson. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Mahdi Original, 12, pours water into a bucket during a perk test at the field trip as part of a STEM program. Click here to enlarge this photo Terell Riddick, 12, a student at Matthew Henson Middle School, examines soil during the field trip.

There are no state-rated capacities when nature is the classroom.

Students from Charles and St. Mary's counties participated in a National Defense Education-sponsored science technology, engineering and math program called "Save the Bay" on Wednesday.

Students were brought to Chapel Point State Park to meet professionals in the sciences and learn about vegetation, water life, soils and more.

The STEM project launched the 16-week in-school program where students will learn about robotics and perform environmental experiments. STEM programs are an effort to get students more involved in the sciences and think about them as a career option.

According to students outdoor learning is more effective than classroom learning when it comes to science.

"You can actually see what's going on," Haley Lagana, 12, said.

Haley is a participant from St. Mary's Bryantown School, one of several Charles and St. Mary's County schools involved in the program.

Ron Thomas, science teacher at St. Mary's Bryantown said the students are getting excited about the program and the hand-on activities.

"You can't buy this kind of interest," he said.

Thomas said a teacher can stand in front of the classroom and teach from a textbook or have students read from textbooks and it will not evoke nearly as much interest as this program is bringing out of them.

"This is where a science classroom should be," he said while looking out over Chapel Point Park.

Program coordinator Melissa Miller, along with other volunteers, took time to explain to students how to identify different aspects of the physical world, take samples of soil and test for things such as pH level, temperature and nitrates.

Ken Hastings and Phil Angle demonstrated seining, a method of fishing using large nets. Seining helps with counting and identifying fish. Hastings said not many fish were caught due to the time of the year, but students were able to see a few different types of fish and some cone jellyfish.

"We learned about the different fish and what the different jellyfish are and if they sting you," Mahdi Original, 12, said.

Hastings said the program was a great opportunity for students as many might never get the chance to do some of the activities available to them through the STEM program.

At the park, students participated in projects involving three different aspects of nature — the forest, the beach and the farm — learning about the many different aspects of the ecosystem.

Thompson said with all the hands-on experience the students had Wednesday, they might think twice before littering or stop and appreciate nature a little more.

gphillips@somdnews.com