The hands-on Texas Explorers program makes learning about math, science and social studies a fun experience.
(Corpus Christi)—When third-grader Lauren Hall and her classmates made a mold of an animal’s footprint during a recent field trip, she didn’t know it, but she was studying for a test. And not just any exam but the state-mandated Texas Assessment Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test that determines a child’s ability to succeed at the next educational level.
Lauren is one of the more than 40 second-and-third-grade students from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Blanche Moore Early Childhood Development Center who participated in the Texas Explorers, a six-week program to learn more about the animal and plant life that thrive along the Texas coast. After making the mold, the students went back to the classroom and compared the impression with those shown in a nature book to determine what animal left the print.
“At home we have a book called Animal Tracks of Texas and getting to see the tracks and look at the pictures to see what animal made them is a lot of fun,” Lauren said. “But the best thing is getting to explore different places and seeing all the wildlife.”
At the beginning of the Texas Explorers program, team teachers Lina Lopez and Gina Reynolds divided the students into 11 groups, each named after an indigenous Texas animal. In the ensuing weeks they explored the beaches along Corpus Christi Bay, as well as the waters of Oso Bay, learning about and comparing the ecosystems.
“Essentially, we turned Ward Island into a classroom,” said Lopez. “By exploring the beach on one side of the island and the wetlands on the other side, we were able to give the students the big picture of what ecosystems are and how they work together for their mutual benefit.”
All the experiments and exercises performed by the students were designed to prepare them for the TEKS test by merging math, science and social studies into one project. But the Texas Explorers project went beyond the state requirements by giving them an opportunity that goes far beyond what can be taught in the classroom. According to Reynolds, the project was especially rewarding for students who come from homes where English is not the first language.
The award-winning center, which presents its entire curriculum in both Spanish and English, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
“As a bilingual teacher, I see how hands-on learning helps those students make connections more quickly,” Reynolds said. “And, while they may already have the vocabulary to describe what they’ve seen in their primary language, it helps them transfer what they’ve seen into English.”
All instruction at the center is split evenly between Spanish and English every day so that students become fluent in both languages.
There were particularly exciting days for the students, like the day a dolphin dropped in for an unexpected visit as the children combed the shore for beach treasure. Other days they saw examples of man’s abuse of his environment in the trash washed up by the tide and the litter strewn throughout the wetlands that fish, birds and other animals call home. The children were so upset about the man-made litter the animals have to live with that they spent an entire class picking up the trash left by environmental abusers.
While exploring the different ecosystems, students were encouraged to record interesting observations and write down any questions they had. Later, the class compiled a list of inquires and submitted it to researchers at the university’s Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. In another exercise, the children sat quietly, listening to the environment and recording what they heard, saw, smelled and felt.
“This project brings education out of the classroom and makes it real-world to the students,” said Christine Marroquin, principal of the ECDC. “While the goal is to prepare them for the TEKS test, we take it beyond that by using our unique location to give them hands-on/minds-on learning that students in other parts of the state don’t have the opportunity to experience.” 