Clark County School District Attitudes, Perceptions, Barriers, and Desires for Field Trip Experiences

Field trip opportunities are plentiful throughout Clark County, Nevada, including museums, parks, and designated locations within the nearly seven million acres of public lands surrounding the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The majority of these field trip destinations, which this paper will refer to as Informal Education (IE) sites, have education teams that can create and deliver programs and/or tours for classes. Many also offer professional development opportunities for teachers. Although the IE sites are rich in natural and cultural resources and provide abundant opportunities for authentic learning experiences, teachers may not think of some of the sites as prime destinations for a field trip. For example, a teacher accustomed to conducting a field trip to a museum might not understand how to conduct a field trip to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area or Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This factor, along with academic and financial pressures facing many teachers, likely affects the attitudes and perceptions that teachers have about field trips in the Las Vegas area and potentially creates barriers that might prevent teachers from taking field trips. A survey instrument was designed to determine what types of science and cultural programming will be most useful to Clark County School District (CCSD) teachers, how to structure and deliver this programming, how teachers use field trips with respect to academic and testing requirements, and how to best cultivate professional development opportunities. It is hoped that this survey analysis will allow IE site education staff to tailor programs to meet the needs of this specific audience and to address barriers that may be preventing teachers from taking field trips. Ideally, this information will help Clark County IE sites create experiences that will have significant and lasting impacts on student learning. The CCSD Office of K-12 Math, Science, and Instructional Technology served as the district sponsor of this study so that delivery of the survey to CCSD teachers could take place. A total of 124 teachers participated in this survey between October 2005 and June 2006

Experiential Programs: Best Practice: Effective programs are experiential

“Teaching by pouring in” refers to a medieval belief that we could teach people by drilling holes in the human head and, with a funnel, pour information into the brain. We laugh at this idea, yet we still see educators and interpreters use passive instruction to “fill up” the brains of their audiences. Think back on how you learned to ride a bicycle. You took an action, saw the consequences of that action, and chose either to continue or to take a new and different action. What allowed you to master the new skill of riding a bicycle was your active participation in the event and your reflection on what you attained. Experience and reflection taught more than any manual or lecture ever could

Age-Appropriate Programs: Best Practice: Effective programs are designed to match the developmental stages of the learner

Children and adults learn in completely different ways. Too often, however, children’s programs are developed from an adult’s perspective, rather than that of a child. The best children’s environmental education programs are designed with children’s abilities, developmental needs, interests, and learning styles in mind. Different programs should be created to appropriately meet the needs of different age groups and their respective cognitive development, attention spans, coordination abilities, interests, and ways of interacting with nature

Understanding Multiple Intelligences: Best Practice: Effective programs meet the needs of people with diverse intelligences

Have you ever wondered why someone who is very smart has trouble using a map? Why one person can follow a map, but is confused by written instructions? Howard Gardner devised an explanation with the theory of multiple intelligences, presented in his 1983 book Frames of Mind. Gardner questioned the idea that intelligence is a single entity and that it can be measured simply using IQ tests. Rather, he argued that each of us perceives and processes information in multiple ways. And our learning styles reflect these multiple intelligences, with some of us learning more easily by seeing, others by hearing, and others by doing. In fact, Gardner identified eight ways in which humans demonstrate their intellectual ability

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Conservation Education and Interpretation Strategy

Four federal agencies manage seven million acres of federal lands in Southern Nevada. Increasing demands for use of these public lands has created the need for those agencies to form a unique interagency partnership and to work cooperatively in support of agency missions, protection of natural resources, and public service. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office, National Park Service (NPS) Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Spring Mountains National Recreation Area formed the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) in 1997 to address 14 initiatives and issues, including outdoor recreation education, science and research, resource protection, law enforcement, volunteerism, and litter clean-up. This document provides recommendations for the best ways to achieve strategic goals and provide desired educational experiences through CE&I products and services such as programs, interpretive media, activities, facilities, and curricula. SNAP has established five important areas to focus its work: science and research, community connection, protection, restoration, and complementary public use. CE&I services and programs are an important means by which SNAP can meet goals in the areas of community connection, resource protection, and complementary public use

Discover Mojave Outdoor World Activity Unit Curriculum

This document provides suggested activity outlines for each recreational unit as well as available resources, pertinent contacts, checklists, and activity assessments. Each unit is correlated with the themes identified by the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Conservation Education and Interpretation Team. The Discover Mojave Outdoor World program introduces urban youth, ages 8-12, to outdoor recreation and environmental education. The program promotes the belief that outdoor recreation plays an important and positive role in the health and fitness of America’s youth. The program is patterned after the national Wonderful Outdoor World (WOW) program. WOW introduces urban youth and families to the outdoors and outdoor recreation through overnight camping experiences within the heart of their own community. With this approach, the program seeks to bring the excitement of camping and the environment directly into the neighborhoods and communities of the children most in need

Explorations in Off-Higway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation: a High School Driver Education Extension

The lessons within this curriculum have been designed to meet the following goals: ● To increase knowledge about the natural world OHV recreationists will encounter in their exploration of Southern Nevada; ● To increase knowledge of responsible use of OHVs and principles of Tread Lightly! and Leave No Trace (both are nonprofit organizations dedicated to increasing awareness about how to minimize impacts while enjoying public and private lands); ● To increase awareness, knowledge, and understanding of land ethics; ● To allow youth to analyze personal values regarding recreational experiences, including OHV use

Standards of Best Practices Environmental Education & Interpretation Professionals

This document provides guidelines about the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective Environmental Education and Interpretation (EE&I) experiences in the state of Nevada. Effective experiences not only further the mission of the organization but also inspire understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Southern Nevada’s environment. Standards of Best Practices for Nevada Environmental Education & Interpretation (NEE&I) Professionals is a guide for providers working at public lands, nature centers, museums, zoos, aquaria, schools, and all nature and heritage-rich places. It is designed to help NEE&I providers develop and implement the highest quality experiences for all possible audiences. It is a tool for NEE&I providers to use as they develop new experiences, deliver programs, or evaluate the effectiveness of the experience. Because EE&I experiences come in many forms, not every part of this document will apply to every EE&I experience

Discover Mojave Forever Earth Curriculum

The Discover Mojave Forever Earth program is more than a field trip to Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA). The program takes place aboard the Forever Earth, a floating environmental learning center. It is designed to give students the rare opportunity to study different facets of water in the desert—such as its characteristics and quality, the species that rely on it, its ability to change a landscape, and much more. This educational experience complements traditional classroom studies with engaging, participatory, on-site activities and support lessons based upon a solid framework for inquiry and discovery. On-site activities and the supporting lessons described herein align with Clark County School District curriculum and are correlated to Nevada State Science Standards and Clark County School District Curriculum Essentials Framework and Science Objectives. Pre-visit lessons prepare students for their trip, introducing important background concepts, key questions, and themes. Post-visit lessons follow up on and reinforce the on-site learning, and more importantly, encourage “big-picture” synthesis and options for stewardship

Morning concurrent track 1: What does it mean for K-12 students to think about sustainability in the Western U.S.?

MORNING CONCURRENT TRACK 1: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR K-12 STUDENTS TO THINK ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WESTERN U.S.? Moderator Kent Crippen Student Union Room 207 Ellen Ebert - Using the STS/EEE Model in 6-12 Curriculum to Understand the Sustainability Issues Related to the Colorado River System (repeats Afternoon Concurrent Session #1) Abstract: Beginning in 1982, the National Science Teachers Association called for curriculum designers to develop materials that demonstrate the interconnectedness among science, technology and societal issues while presenting both positive and negative influences. This session will focus on using the STS/EEE learning model to design curriculum for secondary science that emphasizes sustainability issues focused on the Colorado River system. The presentation will outline the essential features of the STS/EEE model, then engage participants in applying the model in a novel situation. Rebecca Reichenbach – CCSD Action Research: Understanding the Urban Heat Island Effect (repeats Afternoon Concurrent Session #1) Abstract: Due to the unique placement of Western High School within a concrete and asphalt island and a result construction project to rebuild it, a group of science teachers from Western High became interested in how the new construction would affect the urban heat island footprint of their school. A student project was developed to track and document the construction process over a two-year timeframe. The participating teachers used action research to study the impact of the project on their teaching practice and student learning. Three inquiry-style laboratory activities were created to teach students about heat concepts and the effect of heat islands. A misconceptions survey, along with student journaling, were used as data sources for determining changes in student understanding. Results show significant conceptual change in the grade 9 students, with less significant change for the older student population. This presentation will describe the research context, process, and its impact on participating students and teachers. Allison Brody, Amy Page – Environmental Literacy as an Indicator for Urban Sustainability Abstract: For sustainability initiatives to be successful, citizens must have the knowledge, action skills, and motivation to support and participate in these initiatives. In other words, Urban Sustainability will not be successful unless our citizens are environmentally literate. The responsibility for creating this “environmentally literate” citizenry should fall in large part to educators, both in the formal and non-formal sectors. Therefore, these educators need a clear understanding of the specific knowledge and action skills that our citizens need. In this session, we will explore the competencies that citizens need to engage in sustainability practices in Nevada, and how educators can incorporate these competencies into their curricula and programs. Marcel Parent, Signa Gundlach – Sustainability Education at the Springs Preserve: Broad Strokes and Targeting Standards Abstract: Sustainability is a rather unwieldy and challenging area in education. From the broad but vague concepts defining it, to the innumerable sectors of human activities in which it applies, learning about sustainability is at the same time wonderfully simple and terrible complex. This presentation will introduce the participants to some of the approaches taken at the Springs Preserve to make learning about sustainability an engaging experience that will impact future behavior