Ecoliteracy Project Overview

Aldo Leopold writes in The River of the Mother of God, “Liberal education in wildlife… calls for somewhat different teaching materials and sometimes even different teachers. The objective is to teach the student to see the land, to understand what he sees, and enjoy what he understands.”(pg. 302) Phillip Schlechty “…students see meaning in what they are doing, and that meaning is connected to the ends or results that truly matter to the students.” The Ecoliteracy Project has been funded and/or supported by Norton Elementary PTA, Norton Elementary, the Foundation For Allen Schools, Montgomery Farm/Emerson Partners, Keep Allen Beautiful, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) and the City of Allen. Norton Elementary has successfully brought environmental and ecological education to the forefront of the educational process. More than 450 students and 12 teachers have been working in a local natural area known as “The Wood Lot” with Royce Milam (naturalist, ecopoetist and owner of Wild Visions) in an easement on the conservation minded Montgomery Farm development, a residential and commercial project owned by Emerson Partners. Over the last two years, these students and teachers, along with the students in the Norton Environmental Education Club have: • Collected data and conducted research to publish a biodiversity inventory of the local flora and fauna by the end of the school year (w/ Royce Milam) • Created a tree inventory of every tree on the school property (w/ Susan Campbell - City of Allen Urban Forester) • Completed a workshop with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY (w/ Mark Baldwin - Education Director @ RTPI) • Participated in the Adopt-a-Waterway project through the City of Allen’s Keep Allen Beautiful organization (4 clean up dates per year) • Built and maintained more than 40 nest boxes for Bluebirds, Screech Owls and, soon to be added, Wood Ducks The Ecoliteracy Project continues in the field with students and teachers conducting research and collecting data on the local Blackland Prairie watershed. The SEED Team, made up of ten teachers, will continue to utilize the field investigation and observation techniques taught by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. To further support the watershed project, Norton teachers will attend field investigation workshops at the offered by professionals in aquatic science. Teachers and students will take a field trip to the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility to work directly with the aquatic scientists. This will provide training opportunities for teachers and students that extend their knowledge and provide in-depth research opportunities in aquatic plant and wildlife observations and investigations. Expansion of the project will include: • Using technology such as Global Positioning System devices, Google Earth and the GIS mapping program, student will add new aquatic data to their previously published biodiversity inventory. This technology includes field laptop computer, digital microscope, and electronic data collecting devices. • Student field work that consists of collecting data on the local watershed and aquatic plants and wildlife, the water quality and deterioration of the watershed, and the reconstruction of the watershed due to large scale development. • The primary grades (K – 3) will work with the City of Allen Water Education Specialists utilizing enviroscape tables that demonstrate watershed point source and non-point source pollution. They will be in the field two times each semester. • The intermediate grades (4 – 6) will work under the guidance of local and regional experts in the fields of aquatic research, urban wetland development and local water district governance. The newly established wetlands at Montgomery Farm will provide a sustainable water source for maintaining the locally designed native plant landscape and will provide extensive study opportunities. They will be in the field a minimum of four times each semester.

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