Grade
4, 5 and 6 students from R. F. Downey Public School to attend workshops
at Camp Kawartha: March 4
Thursday, March 3, 2005, Peterborough
Trent University’s future teachers enrolled in a course that teaches
them how to teach environmental science, will hold an Environmental Science
Workshop Day for grade 4, 5 and 6 students from R. F. Downey Public School
on March 4 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Camp Kawartha.
Elementary students will take part in four 45-minute workshops, developed
and delivered by the students taking this class, throughout the day. Workshop
topics are linked to the Ontario Science and Technology Curriculum, deliver
a message of environmental responsibility, and include Wetlands, Energy
Sources, Ecological Footprints, Habitats and Human Communities, Global
Warming, Environment and Resources, How Your Choices Can Preserve Habitats,
Alternative Energy, Mining and its Effect on the Environment, Monkeys
in the Amazon, Pesticides and Biomass Energy.
The students in ERSC-BIOL 270 - Environmental Science for Teacher Education,
have worked in groups of four and five to prepare the workshops they will
deliver on Friday. In addition, they have prepared teacher packages that
will allow the R. F. Downey teachers to review, and follow-up on the material
covered in the workshop. This workshop day follows an Environmental Science
Exhibition the class conducted at R. F. Downey earlier in the year. Students
enrolled in the course include teacher candidates from the Trent-Queen’s
Concurrent Education Program and aspiring future teachers taking Trent’s
Education Emphasis Program.
“This workshop day is an opportunity for the students to extend
what they have learned in lectures and labs,” says Prof. Michael
Fox, who team-teaches the course with Jacob Rodenburg, Trent instructor
and director, Camp Kawartha. “With this week’s event, we continue
to build on a three-year partnership with R. F. Downey. These events are
highlights for all the students involved. It all comes back to making
learning fun, but the additional benefit to this event is that it’s
science learning. ”
The elementary students will be taking part in hands-on activities and
will handle and learn about snakes and other animals found in wetlands,
they’ll play a “musical habitat” game to learn about
the survival needs of animals, as well as an “ecological footprint”
game to learn how people depend on resources and affect their environment.
“It will be a great opportunity for our students to learn about
science in such a hands-on way. We are glad to have the chance to participate
in this outstanding program,” says Jodi Whetung, principal, R. F.
Downey School.
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Media are invited
and encouraged to attend the workshop day.
For further information,
please contact:
Professor Michael Fox, Environmental and Resource Studies, 748 1011, ext.
1273
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