Nature Distractions or Attractions?

Have you ever been listening to an outdoor presentation, but found yourself totally distracted by nature?

That is exactly what happens each spring and fall when George Mason University field interpreters attend Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) trainings.

In our NOAA B-WET partnerships with Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Schools (PWCS), field interpreters guide over 10,000 middle school students through inquiry-based activities each year.

In March, while songbirds serenaded, osprey plunged into the pond and belted Kingfishers rattled along the tidal marsh, Joy Greene, Environmental Education Director for PWCS, shared strategies for engaging students in water testing and macroinvertebrate identification at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Woodbridge, VA.

When ‘nature distractions’ occur, instead of redirecting the conversation, we encourage our interpreters to roll with the teachable moments. “How might fish get into the pond when there are no feeder streams? How long do you think it will take for this dragonfly nymph to shed its exoskeleton? Why is there a blue crab here in this freshwater stream, when the Potomac River is more than 10 miles away?”

Acknowledging kids’ observations is one of the best ways to encourage their continued active engagement with nature. Frequently nature distractions are what the students remember most about their field experiences.

How do we know this? (shhhhhhhh… don’t tell the teachers…) When middle schoolers find nature exciting, the question always gets asked, “Can I a take a picture?” Like magic, camera phones appear, and the facebook posts and tweets start flying. Within seconds this nature distraction becomes an attraction!

Learn more about GMU’s K-12 education programs at Potomac Environmental Research & Education Center!