Teachers get hands-on lesson to bring nature into the classroom

Boating along the Nanticoke River, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Adam Wickline spots a bald eagle perched on a tree.

He points to it and the boat’s passengers shift to spot the bird for themselves.

This is the theme for the early morning boat trip: Identify all of the wildlife that populates the area in and around one of the many bodies of water along the Eastern Shore.

From June 26-30, a group of Wicomico County Public Schools teachers is participating in the “Summer Institute” program, sponsored by the foundation. The program is an initiative to bring nature back into the classroom.

Wicomico teachers are exploring areas like the Nanticoke River, Smith Island and Laurel, Delaware. The program was spearheaded by Katy Semen, a mentor teacher, and Wickline, captain of the Arthur Sherwood Environmental Education Program and assistant manager with the foundation. 

Semen, who used to work at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and is now a Thinking and Doing teacher at Bennett Middle School and Wicomico Middle School, thought the teachers needed to be more involved in their surrounding environment.

“(They need to) know about our environment to teach it to our kids,” she said.  

Semen received a grant through the Chesapeake Bay Trust to cover the cost for all of the teachers. The middle school teacher already knows how she’ll incorporate the “Summer Institute” into her classroom. She’s previously taken her Thinking and Doing students out and around the Chesapeake Bay for hands-on learning.

Monday, June 26, the group spent their morning canoeing from Phillips Landing Recreation Area in Laurel, with the afternoon consisting of a tour of Laurel.

Tuesday, June 27, the group climbed aboard the Susquehanna boat at the Vienna Waterfront park to explore the Nanticoke River. Christina Bradley, biological sciences assistant professor at Salisbury University, also dropped in for the day’s activities.

The group assessed the health of the Nanticoke River through trawling, water samples and plankton, said Paige Sanford, islands senior manager.

“We’re going to be looking at how the river changes over space, so we’re going to trawl, collect plankton and look at water quality at a couple different sites on the river,” Wickline told the group. “And we’re also going to look at how the river and its watershed have changed over time, and that’s that cultural perspective and hopefully that’ll give us the context of the economy of this region in the Antebellum South.”

While trawls are typically illegal to use in this area, the foundation has a scientific permit which allows it to place a trawl net in the water for up to five minutes, Wickline explained to the group.

The net pulled up a few underwater species for the teachers to observe in water tanks and then send back into the river. Some of the creatures included a comb jelly, a white perch and some amphipods. The group also examined some plankton species and took dissolved oxygen samples of the water.

The itinerary planned for the group to head all the way up to Sharptown, allowing the teachers to take samples from different spots on the river.

The group of Wicomico County teachers came from various departments, not just science. Some of the instructors taught English or social studies, but the entire group placed an emphasis on bringing what they learned this week into the classroom.

“Environmental literacy reaches beyond science,” Wickline said.

Sanford said she’s happy to work more with Eastern Shore teachers, bringing the education back to the locals.

“Any chance we can get more local students it’s great,” she said.

From Wednesday, June 28, to Friday, June 30, the group will be spending the rest of its “Summer Institute” time exploring Smith Island. Activities include canoeing, crabbing and exploring the marsh. 

For more information on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its educational programs, visit cbf.org.

On Twitter: @The_MegRyan