Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Like all of the project's educational programs, the Service Learning in the Envi-
ronment Program combined academic studies with volunteerism. Miami-Dade Com-
munity College, Florida International University, and University of Miami students
gained firsthand experience in natural resource management and ecological restora-
tion. Natural science majors worked in the field with volunteers and biologists while
preparing a paper about the restoration effort for their class. The fieldwork gave them
practical experience while the project's library provided research materials needed to
complete the reflective component of class requirements. Through participation in
the program, students were given ample opportunity to validate their career choices,
or probably just as often, change their minds.
Not all of the college students that participated at Cape Florida were on a natural
sciences track. One of the most fruitful alliances was with a professor of creative writing
at Miami-Dade Community College, Carlos Gonzalez, who would bring his students
to Cape Florida for monthly workdays in exchange for classroom credit. In addition to
restoration work, students kept journals and completed writing assignments about
Cape Florida's role in the community and their own personal sense of place in nature.
Plant-A-Seed
Cape Florida's youngest volunteers participated through the Plant-A-Seed Program.
Five hundred children from ten elementary schools grew plants in their classrooms
during the year and then planted them at the park each spring. The program was a fa-
vorite with the local media and was fully funded through foundation grants, due in
part to the nature of the targeted audience.
Schoolchildren with the least amount of opportunities were recruited. These stu-
dents hailed from at-risk neighborhoods throughout Miami-Dade County. Schools
were selected based on the percentage of students enrolled in the federal lunch pro-
gram. Representing a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, all were economically dis-
advantaged and rarely went on school field trips. Most of these students had never
been to a state park or natural area; had never encountered wildlife beyond the back-
yard variety; and, sadly, had never seen the Atlantic Ocean, although most lived
within five miles. Although restoration was the primary goal of the program, reaching
minority students underrepresented in the natural science fields was an added bonus.
The program was launched annually with a teacher workshop before the begin-
ning of the school year. Teachers were given a tour of the park and the park's nursery
where plant propagation, care, and maintenance were demonstrated. Teachers re-
ceived ten continuing education credits for participating in the workshop that helped
them with their recertification requirements. A teaching guide was provided to help
implement the program in the classroom.
To help teachers meet academic goals,
Dade County's Competency-Based Curricu-
lum
was used to develop a teaching guide that showed how to meet forty-two learning
objectives in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The
Plant-A-Seed
Teaching Guide
contained a description of the regional ecosystem, the history of Cape
Florida, an overview of the restoration project, horticultural descriptions of the plants
