The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all aspects of our lives, but one of its most significant impacts is on the way we educate our children. In Mississippi and Alabama, there is a great deal of variety in the approaches our schools have taken to the new school year. Some are forging ahead, opening on time with safety precautions in place. Some are going entirely virtual for the first grading period or semester. Others are trying blended learning, with students in attendance a few days a week and working at home the other days. Regardless of the approach, one of the repercussions has been the almost complete cancellation of field trips.
We all recognize that learning can take place anywhere, not just in a school setting or during the school day. Field trips have been one of these avenues of learning – from the trip to a historical site or a trip to the coast – and have enhanced understanding of classroom topics, increased awareness of today’s important issues, opened eyes to job and career possibilities, and often allowed students who do not excel in a classroom setting to get excited and engaged in their own learning.
Results from a nationwide survey, funded by National Science Foundation and conducted by the Lawrence Hall of Science, indicated that 63% of the organizations that provide field trips and outdoor science and environmental education are uncertain about their ability to reopen after the pandemic. The authors estimate that the approximately 1,000 organizations that responded served 11 million children who will have missed out on field trips and these learning opportunities by the end of 2020. In this study, respondents indicated that 58% of these students would have come from communities with limited resources.
Your support of science and environmental education centers in our region will ensure that their doors have not closed when field trips once again become possible. Several of these organizations have opened and are operating at reduced capacity, like the Aquarium of Alabama, while others have opened their doors to visits from families, such as Discovery Hall Programs. Some are providing directed online instruction, such as the Marine Education Center in Mississippi and Discovery Hall Programs at Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. Others, like the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile, have opened their grounds and are providing guides for self-directed exploration. All would appreciate your support in any form.
We also need to and can work collectively to support at home learning situations for our students now. There has been a concerted effort by many of these organizations to share their educational resources for at home learning. From the national level, such as NOAA’s National Sea Grant program and NOAA’s Office of Education to the community level, like Mobile’s science museum, organizations have compiled hands-on activities, videos, lesson plans and ideas for learning. We have done so also at Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant and at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Explore these resources and work with your students to keep the excitement of learning alive.
Meet the author
Tina Miller-Way, Ph.D.
Assistant Director for Education
Tina Miller-Way serves as the assistant director for education for the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC) and is a former chair of the national Sea Grant Education Network. She has... Read more
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