 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Core - Estuary Principles & Concepts
 |  |  |  |  |  | | An estuary literate person: |  |  Understands the essential principles and fundamental concepts (presented here) about the interconnectedness and interdependency of estuarine systems with other earth system in both time and space;
Can communicate about estuaries in a meaningful way; and
Is able to make scientifically informed and responsible decisions regarding estuaries and coastal areas | | | | |  |  |  |  |
| As part of their educational programs, including the development of Estuaries 101, educators within NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) believed that it was important to define key principles and concepts about estuaries that students need to master in order to become environmentally literate. A diverse group of NERRS educators took on the task of defining these key principles and concepts. The workgroup reviewed a variety of documents related to this subject including an overview of estuarine education concepts that appeared in the National Marine Educators Association’s Current Magazine1 ; the Final Report by NOAA’s Education Objectives Workgroup; the National Science Education Standards; North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Guidelines for Excellence; Ocean Literacy concepts and essential principles; the California’s Environmental Principles and Concepts; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Climate Literacy efforts.
The NERRS educators defined a set of "core principles", as embodied in Principles and Concepts for Estuaries 101. This document, which has now stabilized after a few well-thought iterations, specifies six fundamental principles – the “big ideas” about estuaries and their connections to the world around us:
- Principle 1: Estuaries are interconnected with the world ocean and with major systems and cycles on Earth.
- Principle 2: Estuaries are dynamic ecosystems with tremendous variability within and between them in physical, chemical, and biological components.
- Principle 3: Estuaries support an abundance of life, and a diversity of habitat types.
- Principle 4: Ongoing research and monitoring is needed to increase our understanding of estuaries and to improve our ability to protect and sustain them.
- Principle 5: Humans, even those living far from the coast, rely on goods and services estuaries provide.
- Principle 6: Human activities can impact estuaries by degrading water quality or altering habitats; therefore, we are responsible for making decisions to protect and maintain the health of estuaries.
For each of these principles, the document also presents more detailed concepts – the specifics that ground the big ideas in topics or facts that a lesson plan might address. For example the first principle includes sub-concepts such as: “Estuaries are part of important biological, chemical and physical cycles such as food webs, nutrient cycles, and hydrologic cycles”, and “Estuaries form an interface linking watersheds and oceans, and receive groundwater and surface water from their entire watersheds.” This document on “Principles and Concepts for Estuaries 101” lays the essential stage for the curriculum development.
Reference: Spence, L. & Jones, M. G., “Top Priorities in Estuarine Education Concepts”. Current, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1990.
|
Last Updated on: 10-19-2011
|
|
|
|