Educating Public School Teachers on the Importance of Georgia’s Water Resources

Abstract

The Mountains to the Sea Program was designed to expose public school teachers to the diversity and importance of life in Georgia’s aquatic ecosystems from the mountains to the waters around St. Catherines Island. Participants joined educators and researchers for ten days of intensive field experience. They learned how landscape and land management affect the flow pathways and chemistry of water and the dependant aquatic organisms. Twelve teachers traveled to and sampled in several river basins within Georgia’s major ecoregions. They learned how inland waters and their personal actions could impact coastal organisms and examined many of these species on a Georgia Coastal Resources Division trawler. Teachers participated in an ongoing study (since 1996) examining the fishes of St. Catherines Island. Participants were certified to teach materials from Project Wet and Project Learning Tree, collect data for Georgia’s Adopt-A-Stream Program, and use these tools to support teaching strategies mandated by the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and in adherence to the National Science Education Standards (NSES). This project was funded by Georgia's Improving Teacher Quality Program.