With the official end of the school year this past June and beginning of summer holidays, many educators across the St. Clair Region can only reflect on what was truly a remarkable and unusual year.
With classes suspended since the middle of March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers found themselves turning to online platforms to reach their students. Sharon Nethercott and Melissa Levi, Conservation Educators at the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, expected a busy spring welcoming elementary and secondary school students to the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area. Instead, they focused on virtually recreating their environmental field trips to keep students connected to nature.
“Just like other educators, we were surprised by the sudden change in direction during the last few months of the school year,” said Sharon Nethercott, SCRCA Conservation Education Coordinator. “We thought we would jump on the virtual bandwagon and create an experience similar to visiting our conservation areas. We wanted to help our watershed teachers convey important science-based concepts.”
“Creating the virtual field trips required us to expand our technological comfort zone,” said Melissa Levi, Conservation Education/Community Partnerships Technician. “With some help from other SCRCA staff, outside experts and volunteers, we were able to create online resources that covered a range of grade-specific, curriculum-connected environmental concepts including biodiversity and wetland ecosystems. Thanks to the help of our volunteer translators, many of our Virtual Field Trips were offered in both English and French!”
The virtual field trips were offered free-of-charge and received tremendous support and positive feedback from teachers, students and parents alike. “The field trips were accessed by over 10,000 users and by school boards throughout Ontario, across Canada and by educators teaching abroad!” explained Levi. “We were pleasantly surprised by the demand.”
During a typical school year, the SCRCA offers a variety of hands-on, outdoor and in-class programs to elementary and secondary schools. The Authority has also become an important certification provider for the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program – an Ontario wide program offered to high school students that provide them with the opportunity to focus on skills related to a specific career path.
The SCRCA Virtual Field Trips included a visit to the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area pond where concepts including biodiversity, water quality and camouflage were introduced. Students were also taught about benthic macroinvertebrates (bugs in the mud) and how they can be used to determine the health of an ecosystem.
“We are really grateful for the tremendous support and success of our virtual field trips this spring,” continued Levi. “We have created a teacher survey that we would be very appreciative if teachers could fill out to provide their feedback.”
Although there are many unknowns regarding how schools will look this coming September, both Nethercott and Levi are formulating strategies to ensure conservation education programs continue in the fall. “Obviously we hope to welcome students back to the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area,” said Nethercott. “But regardless, we are looking forward to September and excited to share our new ideas to keep students learning naturally and staying connected to our environment.”
For more information on the SCRCA’s Conservation Education programs visit the SCRCA webpage at www.scrca.on.ca. The Virtual Field Trip Teacher Survey can be accessed at www.scrca.on.ca/govirtual.
