Water Quality Education in Area Elementary Schools
(Lower Big Blue Watershed)
Environmental Communication students share activities
with elementary schools
in the Big Blue Watershed
concerning the value of clean water.
Dr. Steve Hill engaged eight groups of four students each in Kansas State's
AGCOM 712 (Environmental
Communications) class in the planning and execution of classroom
teaching activities focused on water quality. The students
spent the first six weeks of class gaining theoretical and conceptual
knowledge of environmental communications planning and education. In conjunction
with Dr. Laura Downey of the Kansas
Association for Conservation and Environmental
Education (KACEE), teams contacted teachers from elementary schools in the
Manhattan area and
determined their classroom needs, then conducted weekly sessions with the
students over
a period of four weeks.
Using exercises from Project WET and WET in the City and training received
from Dr.
Downey, teams conducted in-class, hands-on activities (i.e., Sum of the Parts,
Common
Water, Just Passing Through, Water Olympics, and Sparkling Water). Teams
began as
early as March 9 and concluded their four-session programs as late as April
27. School
sessions were conducted on Thursdays, when teams had approximately four hours
of
class and lab time scheduled. There were 32 Kansas State University students
involved. In addition, 148 elementary
students in eight classes participated in classroom activities.
Among the most promising results of the project appear in AGCOM 712 students'
final
reflective essay and portfolio. Qualitative analysis of student portfolios,
with the
assistance of NUD*IST software, shows that students believed at least 13
different
professional skills were frequently used and developed during the project.
Most
frequently mentioned were teamwork and cooperation; organization, planning
and time
management; and communication skills. Sixteen different leadership characteristics
were
discussed, and students considered respect for colleagues and students, responsibility
and
dependability, creativity, and fairness to be among the skills most used
and developed.
Students indicated a strong feeling of having developed professionally and
frequently
indicated a strong sense of satisfaction. Several students even indicated
the possibility of
a career change and an interest in teaching children, and many indicated
a greater comfort
level with working with that target audience.