Thousands of K-12 students increase their environmental literacy through direct instruction from Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant educators

Relevance:

Experiential educational opportunities engage, increase environmental literacy and improve critical thinking and other science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills for K-12 students. Student experiences, which address coastal issues, integrate learning new skills and provide experiential field or lab activities relevant to coastal habitats, increase student understanding of the need to conserve coastal habitats, ensure the sustainability of coastal resources and make responsible decisions concerning coastal resources.

Response:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported environmental education centers (Discovery Hall Programs (DHP), the Environmental Studies Center (ESC) and the Marine Education Center (MEC)) offered on-site, virtual and classroom-based education programs for K-12 students and their teachers in Mississippi and Alabama. On-site programs were offered year-round and included educational standards-focused school-year classes, summer camps and drop-in programs. Programs focused on traditional coastal natural history and ecology and included Sea Grant focus areas and current issues, such as marine debris, climate change, coastal resilience and fisheries.

Results:

More than 37,600 K-12 students participated in programs at the three Sea Grant-supported education centers. Pre/post-testing of a subset of students participating in school year experiential programs indicated significant increases in content knowledge (specific to the program being offered) (DHP: p<0.001, n=1,622; ESC: p<0.001, n=423). Although multi-year data is not available to document impacts for participating students, research has shown that more environmental awareness does correlate positively with attitudes and action in environmental stewardship.

Recap:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported education centers increased the environmental literacy of more than 37,600 K-12 students through education programs focused on coastal ecosystems. (2022)