This past week Abriendo Mentes had two activities that
focused on environmental issues. Costa Rica is known for its ecotourism and
amazing biodiversity. Costa Rica is the size of West Virginia (one third of a
percent of the world), but has nearly 4% of plant and animal species are found
in this little country. I had been told that people were very concerned with
the environment here, especially since Costa Rican environmental consciousness
is imperative in order to keep the environment pristine and open for tourism
business. While there is no type of
recycling program, which unfortunately is not too surprising because of its
rural location, the children took a field trip to Conchal Reserve for an
environmental science lesson and we also planted trees for Costa Rican Arbor
Day.
Abriendo Mentes works with the staff at Conchal Reserve to
bring an outdoor education program to some of the children of Portero. Four
times a year, selected students go on a field trip to the reserve to learn
about environmental scientists do and to observe different parts of the forest
and coast during the different seasons. Last week I went with the students in fourth
and fifth grade. Only 5 students came with my group (the third and sixth
graders went the next day) because some missed the bus, but once they got into
the activity, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
At the reserve, the students were given a talk about what the scientific method is
and how observation is an important part of doing and investigation. We then
learned what an estuary was and the importance of the mangrove trees in the
estuaries. The children completed their observations by writing about what they
saw, smelled, and felt at our first location, which was an estuary that was
part of the protected reserve area. We then drove to a different beach (in
Brasilito where I teach English) to observe a second estuary. This one was
right next to houses and restaurants that had been built on the beach and was
very dirty and included many signs of human destruction. The children had to
again make their observations and then had a brief discussion comparing what
they had seen and the importance of taking care of these important bodies of
water. As homework, the students are supposed to go to the estuary on the Potrero
beach and make the same sorts of observations and consider how clean they think
it is.
Though not all of the students in Abriendo Mentes are asked
to participate in these trips (students are selected based on best attendance
in classes), programs like these are very important. The pristine beaches and
protected areas are not places the children would normally have an opportunity
to see and we hope that the stark differences between the two estuaries
encourages them to take action to keep their own town and beaches clean. The
students who participate in the yearlong program also will be making a
presentation about what they learned to their classmates at school.
AM students observing the estuary with volunteers and the Conchal Staff
Mangroves in Estuary 1
Estuary 1 (protected)
The teacher showing the kids the mangrove roots.
Estuary 2 (not protected)
Debriefing
We also celebrated Costa Rican Arbor Day this week. Abriendo
Mentes and the Potrero school had 200 trees (saplings) donated to be planted on
Arbor Day. The children got out of school early to celebrate by planting the
trees all around the plaza. Before receiving a tree, we had a brief discussion
about the importance of trees for us and for other animals. Children scattered
in groups with the volunteers and planted their trees.
Both of these programs related to the environment help the
children of Potrero to understand the importance of being environmentally
conscious citizens. I think
environmental education could be a whole program on its own here, but
the field trips and experiential learn activities are a great start to taking
care of Potrero and making sure Costa Rica continues to be among the top 20
countries with the highest biodiversity in the world.
Meeting outside of Potrero School- discussing why trees are important
Truck with the trees to plant
No comments:
Post a Comment