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CONSERVATION EDUCATION: COMMON GROUND IN CONSERVATION

The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis is launching a new conservation education and outreach project, Common Ground in Conservation. The project is designed as an opportunity to help students better understand the processes causing species endangerment both in their local community and in a distant partner community somewhere else in world. The project initially will target students in higher primary school (e.g., fifth grade).

The Common Ground in Conservation (CGC) project is rooted in the following concepts: (1) most endangered species originate from a small set of fundamental processes (e.g., habitat loss, habitat degradation, exotic species), (2) many students are aware of endangered species but they may not be aware of the social and ecological processes causing endangerment, and (3) scientists and teachers need an efficient educational opportunity that respects ubiquitous constraints of time and resources. Based on these concepts, the CGC project is preparing to implement a simple and effective strategy. The project will facilitate classroom visits by conservation biologists who will talk with students about a local endangered species. Then, in the classroom or as a homework assignment, the students will be asked to prepare a short essay, story, poem, or drawing that describes the general processes placing their species at risk of extinction. At approximately the same time, another biologist will conduct a parallel exercise at a partner school. After both biologists have visited their schools, materials produced by the students will be shared between partner schools. The biologists will return to their classrooms and review the materials sent by the partner school. The biologist and students will discuss similarities and differences between their species and their partner's species. Via this exchange, we hope that both partner classes will learn something new about their local environment and perhaps make a personal connection in another part of the world.

The CGC project requires a biologist to commit to making two classroom visits for approximately two hours total. The participating teacher is asked to provide two blocks of time for the visits, plus time to collect and compile materials produced by students as classwork or homework.

A demonstration of the project is being organized with teachers and students already involved in the NCEAS Kids Do Ecology program in Santa Barbara, California. So far, at least six local teachers are interested in the CGC project. We already have identified several partner biologists across the United States, and we are looking for 4-5 more biologists to participate in the project. The ideal partner biologist would already have contacts with a local school, but we may be able to help someone find a classroom through schools involved in the international Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program or through schools affiliated with a National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research site. For more information, please visit the NCEAS Kids Do Ecology website (www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids) and contact Britta Bierwagen at britta@nceas.ucsb.edu.

Chris Pyke and Britta Bierwagen

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