A Caribbean King Crab, which plays a crucial role in coral reef health.
The National Center for Science Education in collaboration with the Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key led a successful four-day workshop on climate change and coral reef resilience for teachers. This unique workshop, called My COAST (Climate-Oriented Authentic Science Teaching), brought together 28 elementary, middle, and high school science teachers from across the state of Florida to learn about climate change and its impact on coral ecosystems.
My COAST featured field trips during which teachers learned firsthand about Florida’s unique coral reefs and ecosystems from local experts. These trips were paired with activities in which the teachers had the opportunity to learn about NCSE’s lessons, resources, and strategies for identifying and resolving misconceptions and misinformation about climate change.
During the field trips, the teachers snorkeled through established living reefs as well as coral nurseries where smaller coral were being held while they grew large enough to be transplanted to specific reef locations. Teachers also toured on-site labs to learn about coral reproduction, health monitoring, and water chemistry analysis. Guest speakers Abby Smith, Mote Education Coordinator, and Kristen Ranges, Mote Education Manager, also contributed to the teachers’ experience by discussing the history, ongoing research, and learning opportunities at the various Mote facilities across Florida as well as detailing how recent extreme temperatures have impacted coral populations off the coast of Florida.
NCSE Science Education Specialists Blake Touchet and Wendy Johnson and Executive Director Amanda Townley helped teachers to bridge the gap between field and classroom by sharing lessons and strategies developed by NCSE. Teachers learned about common tactics of climate change denial, applied NCSE’s new data and media literacy tool DataWISE, and participated in lessons from NCSE’s new Story Shorts Sustainable Climate Solutions and Climate Change in Your Backyard.
NCSE would like to thank all the teachers who attended as well as the Mote staff for making this event such a great, collaborative learning experience. Be on the lookout for upcoming My COAST events!
