It’s one thing to learn about aquatic ecosystems and water chemistry from a textbook. It’s a different lesson when the teaching takes place on a boat on Lake Lanier.
That’s why, for the past three years, Young Middle School science teacher Senetha Mitchell has made taken about 60 students to the Floating Classroom, a project of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
“This gives them a different perspective of the environment and the world they live in,” said Mitchell. “They can see the relationships are very symbiotic and important. Not only do many of them not know Lake Lanier and its natural areas that exist; many of them have never been on a boat. It’s a different view of nature.”
Mitchell rewards the school’s science fair winners and top students with the trip that includes hands-on experiments and, oftentimes, close encounters with wildlife. Since it began 20 years ago, the program has catered to more than 80,000 students and teachers who participate on Lake Lanier or West Point Lake near LaGrange.
“We’ve developed good relationships with teachers who bring their students back year after year, and over the last few years, we’ve been serving between 4,000 to 5,000 students a year,” said Riverkeeper’s Henry Jacobs. “Our sweet spot is fifth and sixth grade science, when the water cycle tends to be part of their curriculum. But the biggest thing for most students is that it’s their first time on a boat or on Lake Lanier or West Point, so this is a good way to show them the source of our water and why it’s important to protect it.”
The adventure usually features about an hour of learning about watersheds and looking at interactive models. Other activities reinforce classroom lessons with basic chemistry and water quality tests. The concepts are then brought to life with a trip on one of Riverkeeper’s 40-foot boats.
During COVID, the Floating Classrooms were docked, but Jacobs and his colleagues created a virtual experience that brought the same curriculum to a wider audience. Videos of the activities and interactive question sessions were part of the online approach that recreated the program remotely. But as the in-person program is gradually returning, Mitchell looks forward to making more water excursions with her classes, though she acknowledges that putting young, novice boaters on a lake can be a challenge.
“Taking children on water trips is risky, and sometimes it’s hard to get approved,” she said. “I’m very strategic about the children I take. But it’s very safe and worthwhile. The biggest thing it gives them is an applied look at science. A lot of times, they don’t see the interaction of how science impacts their lives. That’s the biggest thing I try to drive home: This is how it applies to your life and our world.”
Information about the Floating Classroom program is online at chattahoochee.org/our-work/floating-classroom.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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