The Wrack: education

Our program calendar covering February through May is now available to download. Highlights include:

• Day camps for February and April school vacations
• Winter Wildlife Day
• Monthly Lunch 'n' Learns
• Docent Training
• Two Night Hikes
• Wells Reserve EcoDay

Download the 2012 winter-spring calendar (700kb)

For years now, we've been handing out Seafood Watch pocket guides so people can make more careful decisions about what fish and shellfish to buy or avoid. The Monterey Bay Aquarium publishes regional guides, so the information is tailored to residents of the northeast, for example.

Now the aquarium has made ocean-friendly seafood recommendations even more convenient for smartphone users with its Seafood Watch app for iPhone or Android. At our house, the printed "pocket guide" often lived under a magnet on the refrigerator or got pierced by a thumbtack on the bulletin board, rarely making the trip to market. Now we will have the critical data in hand, as our mobile devices don't get left behind.

Our autumn 2011 program calendar is now available online.

Download the 2011 autumn calendar now

This week, the National Research Council presented a new framework for K-12 science education, offering a new vision to better engage students and build their understanding and appreciation for science and engineering. A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the key concepts and practices that all students should learn and will serve as the basis for Next Generation of Science Standards, a state-led effort managed by Achieve, Inc.

Toward the end of last Tuesday's meeting, long-time education committee member Betsy Stevens exclaimed, "The productivity of this education staff just boggles my mind!"

All our summer camp programs for 2010, including both half-day and full-day offerings, are now available in one handy brochure that is ready for download. It lists the Just For Kids, Junior Researchers, and Preschool Explorers day camps happening between late June and August.

Download Summer Camps brochure

Today we welcome Suzanne Kahn Eder to the Wells Reserve. She is the new Education Director.

Reserve Director Paul Dest sums up why she was selected from a strong field of candidates:

Suzanne has the right blend of skills, knowledge, personality, interests, thoroughness, and patience this position requires. Her education and past work experiences point her exactly in the direction of this position. She has an undergraduate degree in environmental studies and biology from Dickinson College, and will complete her master’s at Lesley University in ecological teaching and learning this coming January. She was most recently the Science Coordinator at the Children’s Museum of Maine; before that she was a National Park Service Environmental Educator at Acadia National Park. She is committed to environmental conservation, as a professional and as a volunteer.

Education Coordinators from throughout the National Estuarine Research Reserve System are working very closely with the non-profit Teacher Education Resource Center (TERC) to determine how often teachers educate their students about estuaries and what barriers prevent them from teaching about estuaries more frequently.

We're pleased to share the news that Sarah Jolly is the new Education Coordinator for the Wells Reserve. Sarah joined the Reserve in March 2005 as an environmental educator and has been responsible for a range of interpretive education programs. During this time, she worked closely and effectively with her predecessor, Laura Lubelczyk.

Sarah has a degree in biology from Earlham College and a master's degree in education, with a focus in marine science education, from the University of Maine. She has worked in science education for almost 10 years, including positions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Marine Science Institute at the University of California.

Wells Reserve Education Department

EstuaryLive, the NERR System nationwide web event, took place just before National Estuaries Day and some early statistics are now available. EstuaryLive 2006 featured four virtual field trips in one day for a total of 4 hours, 20 minutes of programming. The field trips featured segments on crabs, salmon, the scientific method, salt marshes, turtles, birds, fishermen, and much more.

Forty-one Gorham Middle School sixth grade students traveled to the Reserve today to take part in water quality monitoring with their teachers and five Reserve docents. The students divided into groups then participated in hands-on activities to learn about fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, and salinity in the water.

Sixty-six second graders from South Berwick are out on the trails today, split into groups with six Wells Reserve docents. It's cool and gray, but most of them are prepared for their couple of hours in the woods, along the salt marsh, and on the beach.