Local educator to use digital technology in wildlife setting to teach stewardship & apply classroom learning.
(Town of Scott, WI) Thanks in part to a grant from the Wisconsin Public Service Foundation, some of Wisconsin’s prized nature preserves will become a giant classroom for middle school students at Holy Cross Catholic School in Green Bay.
Middle school science teacher Jason Johnson received a grant for the purchase of Garmin Global Positioning System (GPS) Units and memory cards.
Mr. Johnson, an avid outdoorsman in his free time, said students will use the GPS units to mark observation points within a wildlife refuge or state park during the fall, winter, and spring. They will document the seasonal changes that take place with respect to plants, trees, and wildlife, and will also use the GPS units to create a topographical map of the environment in which they are recording their observations.
Mr. Johnson said there are many obvious academic benefits of the project. Students will incorporate math, science and technology.
“And it’s just really cool to get out of the classroom for some hands on learning,” commented Mr. Johnson. “Students have the opportunity to learn the application of academic skills to the real world.”
Just as important, Holy Cross students learn what it means to be good stewards of God’s creation.
“This project is designed to get students connected with nature,” commented Mr. Johnson. “We want to make our students aware of the organisms around them and the changes they go through. Our goal is that they will develop an awareness and concern for the impact that we, as humans, have on the ecosystem around us and the world God created.”
This is the second time Mr. Johnson has earned the Innovative Educator Award.
“Jason is always looking for creative ways to engage our students within the curriculum,” commented Principal Robin Jo Jensen. “I am very pleased that the Wisconsin Public Service Foundation has given him this recognition and the means to make his vision happen”.
This project will incorporate all of the middle school students at Holy Cross Catholic School. This year 62 6th-8th graders will participate. Each year all middle school students will be able to participate in correlating information against previously collected data as well as expanding the study into new locations. The project will impact every student who walks through the doors of Holy Cross Catholic School.