Program:
Outreach Education Program
- Budget:
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$644,563
- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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Female Children ( 5 - 14 years)
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Male Children (5 - 14 years)
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Youth/Adolescents only (14 - 19 years)
Program Description:
UTAH WATERS VAN: The Utah Waters Van was developed to increase student excitement and interest in science and to help students understand that water is used in a variety of ways to sustain life on earth. Presented to individual 4th grade classes in 55 minute sessions by two educators, the Utah Waters Van is an exceptional supplement to Science Core education related to the water cycle, Utah’s wetlands, water distribution, and water conservation. Each presentation begins with a brief discussion of amounts and kinds of water found in various locations on Earth. The class is then split into small groups for interactions with our two water models. The large, Styrofoam-based models have been wired and plumbed as working replicas of the water cycle and uses of water. One model produces evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. This allows for discussion of these concepts as well as percolation into the groundwater. The second model exhibits a reservoir and a city, complete with working electricity and water treatment plants. This model informs students on where their water comes from in Utah and how we utilize this precious resource. Large vocabulary signs are incorporated at both models to reinforce the vocabulary as well as to reach visual learners. Staying in their small groups to allow for more participation, students then get to build a wetland, learning about the unique plants and animals found in Utah’s wetlands. Students then interact with real samples of wetland plants as well as salamanders and snakes native to Utah’s wetlands. Interacting with the animals and plants helps them to further appreciate the diversity and importance of Utah’s ecosystems. Ongoing questioning techniques are used throughout the presentation to give the students the opportunity to critically think about the concepts being taught.
RAINFOREST VAN: The Rainforest Van program was developed to increase interest and excitement in science. Our third grade program was also designed to increase understanding of living and non-living objects interactions within an environment. The second grade program focuses on increasing understanding of relationships between plants and animals in an environment. Both the second grade and third grade programs are presented to individual classrooms in 55 minute sessions by two presenters. The 2nd and 3rd grade Rainforest Van presentations help reinforce important concepts for each specific grade by utilizing live rainforest animals. Third graders learn about the interaction of living and nonliving things within a given environment, including other operatives such as moisture and temperature. Second graders spend time learning about how weather can affect any environment from Utah’s deserts to the tropical rainforests and how animals and plants are connected in the environment. Both programs incorporate map skills to locate the tropical rainforests throughout the world. After a 20 minute introduction of the concepts, utilizing a large display board and soliciting students’ knowledge and participation, each student is allowed the opportunity to interact with the animals. The animals help to reinforce either living characteristics for third grade or food chains for second grade.
Program Long-Term Success:
Since 1998, over 500,000 students have been reached through our outreach education programs. Each year we typically will visit every elementary school throughout the state at least once.
Program Short-Term Success:
Utah Waters Van:
Every teacher is given an evaluation prior to our visit and is asked to return it following the presentation. A total of 1348 (82%) teacher evaluations for our Utah Waters Van Program were received during the 2008-2009 school year. Our two water models are the most popular part of the program, receiving more positive teacher comments than any other program component. Teachers appreciated how they allowed the students to visually see the water cycle in action. Several of our new components such as the incorporation of hand movements to teach the water cycle, our preserved samples of actual wetland plants and the integration of pie charts in our introduction received many positive comments. Teachers also appreciated our small group interactions, which is possible because two educators are sent to every class to teach our program, and classroom management techniques. We had incorporated more classroom management techniques into our training last year and were pleased to see the teachers notice an improvement. We have plans this summer to make adjustments to our online teacher packet that will make it easier for teachers to download and use. Overall, teachers appreciated the background information and lessons they could use in their classroom to support our program.
All of these questions received a higher rate of agreement compared to last year, showing that we are continuing to improve the quality of our educators, connections to the core, teacher perceived impact to end of level testing, and being able to offer unique resources to the teachers.
1) This activity addressed specific core curriculum requirements. 97.9%
2) I believe this activity will positively impact end of level testing. 87.3%
3) The presenters were well prepared and communicated effectively. 97.8%
4) This program offered resources that are otherwise unavailable to me. 88.9%
Rainforest Van:
Every teacher is given an evaluation prior to our visit and is asked to return following the presentation. A total of 352 (86%) teacher evaluations for our Rainforest Van Program were received from the 2008-2009 school year. We did stop asking teachers if they felt this program would positively impact end of level testing due to the fact that they do not test for science in 2nd and 3rd grade.
The animals continue to be the highlight of this program. We also received many positive comments from teachers about the knowledge and enthusiasm of our educators, the great use of questioning throughout the presentation, and the visuals used to support specific core content. Teachers also appreciated the high level of student participation and consistent classroom management. We had incorporated more classroom management techniques into our training last year and were pleased to see the teachers notice an improvement. Teachers have requested more animals for the program and we will be working with our husbandry department to see what is possible.
A summary of some questions we asked on the teacher evaluations is included below. All of these questions received a higher rate of agreement compared to last year, showing that we are continuing to improve the quality of our educators, connections to the core, and being able to offer unique resources to the teachers.
1) This activity addressed specific core curriculum requirements. 96.8%
2) TThe presenters were well prepared and communicated effectively. 98.6%
3) TThis program offered resources that are otherwise unavailable to me. 94.8%
Program Success Monitored by:
Annual teacher evaluation. Utah Department of Education certification.
Program Success Examples:
Since the inception of The Living Planet Aquarium, we have established a great relationship with the Title 1 public schools in Salt Lake, Davis, Tooele, and Summit Counties. In fact, in 2009 we provided 4 unique educational programs serving a total of 8,158 students and 558 teachers from Title 1 Schools. These programs are the Utah Waters Van Outreach, Rainforest Van Outreach, Curriculum Based Field Trips, and Teacher Professional Development Workshops. In the past, with support from the Utah State Department of Education, ZAP, Utah Central Water Conservation District, and Utah Department of Water Resources, we have been able to provided educational programming free of charge to these schools.