Get outside, learn some science

I like what Mr. Palmer has to say here about getting kids outside to explore their world. And, of course, I like how he promotes science learning.

The recent groundbreaking for Polk’s Nature Discovery Center, the new environmental education center at Circle B Bar Reserve, certainly creates an opportunity for young people.

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But for Louv, spending time outdoors is about more than discovering the environment. It is also can be about discovering yourself, about gaining self-confidence that comes from walking through the woods or up a mountain for the first time. It is also about conquering ecophobia, which is defined as the overload of stories about environmental gloom and doom that could lead some young people to conclude environmental engagement or activism is futile.

“Lacking direct experience with nature, children begin to associate it with fire and apocalypse rather than joy and wonder,” Louv writes.

There are certainly problems facing the environment out there, but they will be solved only by science-based actions that result from a good educational foundation.

Even if students don’t become environmental scientists – most of us pursue other careers – they should understand scientific principles. That will provide the basis to evaluate the soundness of any proposals that cite science as their justification or question science in rejecting a proposal.

And it’s great to see teachers getting their kids out of the classroom. As science teacher Linda Yori said, you can only learn so much from textbooks.

To bring science to life, Yori put together a field trip Monday morning to Carl Gray Park, just east of the Hathaway Bridge.

The water there is shallow, perfect for students to wade out to collect sea life with seines, kick nets and yabbi pumps. It’s perfect for measuring water temperature at the top and bottom and examining sea grass.

Yori’s teaching team included Linda Fitzhugh, a biology professor at Gulf Coast Community College; Carrie Levins, a biology tech from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; retired Surfside Middle School science teacher John Foster; and Corinna Clanton, of the Department of Environmental Protection.

About Brandon Haught

Communications Director for Florida Citizens for Science.
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