If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times…the future of the planet depends on the students sitting in our classrooms.  As educators, the task of nurturing this next generation to appreciate the role of science in addressing local as well as global problems often falls to us. At times this may seem like a super human task that requires a spandex suit and a cape. Happily, our 2013 Educator Academy in the Amazon participants are redefining what it means to be a planet super hero. They have traded in their capes for rain ponchos, field notebooks and i-buttons. They are becoming role models for their students because they understand that as teachers, they need to participate in science themselves in order to incorporate science methods in their classrooms. They need to use inquiry-based techniques in order to guide their students in the tools and skills of research. They need to experience critical ecosystems, such as the Amazon in order to teach about their importance to global health.

Here are a few examples of what our Amazon Super Heroes are up to!

Science Explorers, EcoFest, and the Wooster Elementary Environmental Science Club 

Jennifer R. and Jolene W., Arkansas, Elementary Educators.  This dynamic duo from Arkansas truly doesn’t need capes to rank as Amazon super heroes. They epitomize what it means to be “facilitators of wonder” as they lead their students on explorations of their school yard nature trail, engage them as citizens during a community wide EcoFest, and integrate an appreciation for the wonders of nature into every lesson they teach.

“Our 4th and 5th grade Environmental Science Club set up a Rainforest Awareness informational board at EcoFest in Conway.  They displayed an experiment that showed the importance of keeping trees in the Rainforest because of the effects on the water.  It also communicated the need for clean drinking water and school supplies for the people of Peru. We have shared our personal encounters and pictures with our students so that they are able to empathize with those people.   We want our students not to take things for granted and appreciate their education.”

You can read more about the Wooster Elementary Science explorers on their blog: http://richardsonscienceexplorers.blogspot.com/

Biodiversity and Butterflies 

Kathryn E., Oklahoma Middle School Educator and Fund For Teachers Fellow. With all the new standards coming out, it can take super human efforts to re-imagine classroom instruction.  But great educators like Kathryn take it all in stride.  Kathryn is turning her classroom into a rainforest as a way to energize science content and engage her students – while still meeting the standards and finding time to be a Fund For Teachers Fellow and Fulbright Distinguished Educator, too!

“How can an educator not bring amazing information from the Amazon back to the classroom? With lessons and activities ranging from fishing for piranhas to teaching S.T.E.M in the classroom, I gained valuable experiences and content knowledge to enhance my ecology unit. I am much more confident in my teaching about the attributes of the rainforest, symbiotic relationships, and natural resources. For example, when discussing symbiotic relationships with my students, I was able to use examples I observed first-hand in the Amazon rainforest. Little by little, the Amazon rainforest is coming alive in my classroom. For the first time, I have a large butterfly habit to observe and record the life cycle and then students will be researching tropical butterflies compared to the butterflies found in North America. Next, there will be fish in the classroom and learning about the pink river dolphin and piranhas. Then, I will bring in orchids, bromeliads, and ferns to teach about the trees and epiphytes of the rainforest. By the end of the semester, my classroom will be quite the example of a rainforest.”

Connecting the Desert to the Rainforest 

Amanda R., Nevada, US National Park Service. One can only imagine what Amanda could do if she actually had a super hero costume! This desert dynamo is on a non-stop mission to share the wonders of the world with all the visitors she works with as part of her job with the National Park Service. She somehow still finds time to do things on the side – like creating rainforest “GreenBoxes” for the GreenPower program at the Desert Research Institute, which will provide educators with hands-on teaching activities and materials that show just how much the desert and the rainforest have in common!

“The goal of these green boxes will be to provide a diversity of hands-on investigations by using such resources as GLOBE, STEM, Project Noah, and the 5 E inquiry model. With this goal in mind, this will be one of the many bridges that teacher can use to educate youth in Clark County and throughout the state of Nevada and the country of Peru.”

Urban Science Superstars

Holly M., Massachusetts, Middle School Educator. After returning from the Amazon, Holly launched the school year with a “DonorsChoose” project request to raise money to purchase the equipment her students will need to become citizen scientists and collect environmental data for the GLOBE program. Holly’s students come from an urban school surrounded by buildings and cement. It is a diverse, inner city school with 91% of students designated as High Needs due to low income status, English Language Learner status, or Special Education status. Nearly 66% of the children come from families where English is not their primary language.

“My goal, as their middle school science teacher, is to expose them to technology, make science authentic and investigative and show them what real scientists do, while bringing as much of the natural world into my classroom as possible.  I was inspired by the data collection I did as a participant in the 2013 Educator Academy and I want to share this excitement with my students.  By collecting data, using an exact protocol, and contributing to a scientific community, it is my hope that they will feel empowered and energized, just as I did in the Amazon.”

Read all about Holly’s DonorsChoose proposal and then start your own!

Read more about what happens when teachers become learners via Melissa J’s blog about her experience in the Amazon!

You can be an Educator in the Amazon, too.  Join us in Peru from July 1-11, 2014 for the Educator Academy in the Amazon.  Scholarships are available!  
Click HERE to get all the details and download the syllabus and scholarship application. 

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