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Literacy: Weeks Bay Reserve reached 1,978 students through more than 100 estuarine educational programs in 2008. |
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Education at Weeks Bay Reserve targets K-12 students, teachers, university and college students and faculty, as well as the public. Components of our education program include school field trips, summer camps, teacher professional development programs, community outreach, and interpretive exhibits. All Reserve education, training, and outreach activities are designed to enhance public awareness of the importance of estuarine systems and provide opportunities for public education and interpretation.
The Weeks Bay Reserve Interpretive Center is open seven days a week and is free to the public. The Interpretive Center features both live and preserved animal species native to the area along with handicapped accessible boardwalks with interpretive signage leading through several coastal habitats.
The K-12 education program provides students with hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities where the content is focused on estuarine habitats, organisms or coastal issues. Teachers can schedule a field trip and bring their classes to the Reserve for a guided program which includes a nature hike on the boardwalk, a tour through the interpretive center, and grade-specific hands-on activities. The K-8th grade curriculum covers topics such as estuaries, watersheds, coastal food webs, and ecological diversity while the 9th-12th grade curriculum focuses on field-based activities such as seining in the bay to survey the different kinds of organisms and water testing.
Weeks Bay Reserve offers several outreach programs that teachers and students can participate in. Schools around the country can learn about estuaries by participating in the EstuaryLive program, an interactive field trip over the internet.
In addition to school programs, Weeks Bay offers professional development opportunities for teachers during the summer break. The courses are designed to provide participants with an understanding of estuaries and methods for incorporating estuarine issues into their classroom and field work.
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