Mission:
Teens4Oceans' mission is to empower our next generation to become
impassioned stewards for their oceans through education, experiential learning, scientific research, and innovative technologies.
Engaging Youth in Their Education Through Research
By eighth grade, American students are falling behind their peers in other countries in their scores on assessments such as the Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey. One attempt to change this trend focuses on inquiry-based, student-centered science teaching. The National Research Council national science inquiry content standards state that high school students should learn to:
- Understand the questions and background that direct a research project
- Develop scientific investigations
- Use data to devise a scientific hypothesis
- Express and support a scientific argument
However, it is widely recognized that traditional lecture-based teaching approaches and cookbook-style labs show students the process of science, but do not allow them to develop critical thinking. Although teaching methods are changing, many teachers have to relearn their profession to become skilled at student-centered science. T4O offers students the opportunity to pose and answer their own scientific questions and teachers to develop their ability to help students conduct inquiry-based science.
Among the key barriers to classroom learning is the relevance of science to the student's life. Motivation and relevance are essential ingredients to learning. Through T4O, students will learn how science is the tool that enables them to make sense of their world and the environment in which they live. The current generation of teens is as altruistic as any previous and is much better informed about the global environment than any preceding it. This generation is also bombarded with negative messages about impending or on-going environmental catastrophes, usually by media sources that sell advertising based upon the attention these negative stories draw.
Initiatives toward teaching inquiry-based science have received increasing national attention in the last two decades (CSMEE 2000) as the workplace changes, as new challenges for human societies arise, and technology radically reshapes American culture. Parenthetically, little time is devoted to inquiry-based science work in high schools as teachers, students, and their parents feel compelled to prepare for standardized testing and advanced placement classes. High school students have been taught traditional disciplines in science, including physical science, physics, environmental science, biology, and chemistry. Within these disciplines, courses are occasionally offered that provide options for students to specialize, such as in astronomy, human anatomy and physiology, and marine biology. However, few students actually practice doing science.
The factors identified above conspire to provide a perfect nexus of opportunities to teach basic science that is not only perceived by students as being relevant but also empowers them to personally take the reigns of control by becoming the solution to environmental challenges rather than frustrated, dismayed and powerless bystanders. The Teens4Oceans approach provides the infrastructure and support, from teachers and scientist, for students to study science problems whose outcomes have environmental consequences. The program teaches students to apply basic science tests to problems, which can in turn help teachers meet the objectives of standardized curricula and testing.
Stewardship Towards our Oceans
Fact: America's ocean ecosystems are imperiled.
Fact: We have a narrow window of opportunity (est. 10 years) to mitigate ecosystem degradation before they collapse completely.
Fact: Scientists are convinced we can turn the tide and reverse the trend in the near term with a collective national effort (15-20 years).
Fact: We have a stark choice; either ACT NOW to save America's ocean or ignore it like before and let our children suffer the consequences. This is what is at stake. This is also our opportunity.
Over the last five decades, the global population has nearly doubled, and the population of the United States has increased by 90%. This factor alone has placed unprecedented anthropogenic stress on natural ecosystems whose functionality is collapsing worldwide. It is with great sadness and surprise that young people learn what future lies ahead for their world. Our rivers, lakes, tributaries and watersheds fall victim to our growing need for food and increased production. Near shore coastal zones, the most productive part of our ocean ecosystems, are compromised by overfishing and non-point source pollution. Global warming threatens every ecosystem that simply cannot adapt fast enough to the rapid change. Today, students are exposed to multiple sources of information and disinformation, such as television shows and the Internet, that highlight the pressing need for global environmental action. It is through the empowerment of young people that T4O will be successful, and may be the only way to engage and teach student that conservation begins in their very own backyards. The primary difference between T4O and other ventures that try to foster interest in marine conservation and education is that students develop their own materials, those materials that they feel are worth their hard work and passion.
T4O is inspired by the work of John Muir, a young Scotsman whose passion for nature changed a nation's stance towards the land and spawned the first of the great parks and monuments that today's generation holds so dear. For more than 115 years the conservation ethic he established has concentrated on conservation of the land and its creatures. It has become the focus of our national efforts and, today, the United States have an unparalleled natural heritage.
In the oceans, Americans have an equal heritage in the US Exclusive Economic Zone, in which Americans have control and responsibility for conservation of all natural resources. This American marine heritage is almost 4.5 million square miles in extent and is 23% larger than all the land area combined. It provides food, more than half of all the oxygen we breathe, and human health and welfare depend upon it. Recently, two Ocean Commission Reports — the Pew Oceans Commission (2003) and the US Commission on Ocean Policy (2004) drew the convergent conclusions that:
- Our ocean heritage — the US Exclusive Economic Zone — in which we control jurisdiction and resources, is degraded and recommended that,
- Public education was a priority to solving the problem.
The Commissions also concluded that if we act swiftly we can re-establish healthy marine ecosystems within the foreseeable future. These two factors make ocean science a priority for motivating students and teaching them science and scientific principles. Working in close collaboration with America's Ocean Challenge, T4O will develop the program to meet the need of students at multiple levels.
John Muir's hunger for knowledge still exists today in the young mind of every American child. It is the fostering of this hunger, through the passionate pursuit of knowledge and empowerment of students, that underlies the principle on which T4O will be built. In addition to traditional classroom activities, Teens4Oceans will provide a national forum for students around the country to develop and/or become involved in projects that have tangible and effective outcomes.
Teens4Oceans will not only provide middle and high schools with the means to incorporate meaningful investigation into established curricula, but also will provide the support for science teachers to develop courses or programs that foster the passion that young people have for the natural world. Students may excel in traditional ways such as academically, in sport or art. Through T4O, students may excel in science and collaborate in a program that supports the driving requirements for standardized testing excellence as well as enabling students to build a personal portfolio of work that positions them well for college application. Finally, the program fosters student understanding of their environment, applications to real world problems and their position to influence the future.