St. Thomas training College
Submitted by
Arathi.MG
Optional-Natural Science
Optional-Natural Science
IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR BETTER SCIENCE
TEACHING AND LEARNING
NATURAL RESOURCES
FOREST
WETLAND MANGROVES SACRED GROOVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING
Submitted to
Mrs. Asha
Sindhu
Lecturer at STTC============================================
Contents
1) Introduction
2)
Why should you identify community assets?
3) Using Community Resources to enhance Science
Education
4) Science Centers
5) Bringing the Community in Classroom
6) Sacred Grooves
7) Mangroves, Forests and Wetlands
a) Intrinsic
Values of Mangroves
8) Wet Lands
a) Functions of Wetlands
b) Emergent water plants – Typha, arrow arum
9) Forest Ecosystems
a) Role
of Forest in Sustainability
10) Tips for Teachers
11) Connecting the curriculum to the Real World
12) Conclusion
13) References
INTRODUCTION
A community resource is anything that ca n be used to
improve the quality of community life.
It can be person, a physical structure or place, it can be a community
service that makes life better for some or all community members, a business
etc. Everyone in a community can be a
force for community improvement if only we knew what their onsets were and
could put them to use.
Why should you identify
community assets?
· They can be used as a foundation for
community improvement.
· External resources may not be available.
Therefore the resources for change must come within each community
· Identify and mobilizing community
resources, enables community residents to gain control over their lives. People can become active shapers of their
destinies.
· You can’t understand the community without
identifying its assets knowing the community‘s strength make it easier to
understand what kinds of programs or initiatives might be possible to address
the community needs.
· People can plan on the strengths of the
community they understand that they have resources and deal with it positively.
Community resources are important because
Ø The importance of field trips is that after
the visit, the students will say “I have seen it”; it gives direct learning
experiences, restrains the image for a longer period.
Ø Effective motivating agents – Once learner
gets motivated he effectively proceeds in the pathway of learning community
resources have great deal power appeal
for seeking effective motivation of students by making them interested
capturing them attention towards the study of the subject.
Ø Helpful in maintaining interest and
attention, hence goals can be easily realized.
Ø Clarity of subject matter - It helps to
differentiate, discriminate, explain among various things, Instead of verbal
explanation to study a food web or food chain, visiting a forest to study
forest ecosystem can be beneficial. How
ecosystem works, then functions can be studies live by the students.
Ø Saves time, energy of students and teachers
Ø Helps in realization of objectives of
science.
Ø Observing and living, recording skills.
Ø Healthy classroom interactions after
visits, develops scientific attitude and scientific thinking.
Ø Reduces verbalism and dependence on printed
notes rote memorization.
Ø Makes study of biology meaningful
purposeful by making the children learn the application of science facts and
principles.
Ø Uses of maximum senses – close integration
of 3H’s head, heart and hand.
Ø When we discuss in class to adds to
collective the knowledge and gets reinforced and allows transfer of learning.
Using Community Resources
to enhance Science Education
· Curriculum reform in science calls for new
look at using community resources. The
national standards in science suggest that good programs require access to the
works beyond the classroom, so that students will see the relevance and
usefulness of science, in and out of the school.
· Changing the educational experiences of
children by moving beyond the classroom walls can diversity the array of learning
opportunities and connect school lesson with daily life and real problems.
· Away from the structure of classroom many
characteristics of constructivism the key idea of new school reforms for e.g.,
a field trip or a museum visit they talk about it discuss, interact, what they
have experienced in and out of the class.
· Social discourse and direct experience help
them construct an understanding of the phenomenon the exhibit puts
constructivism into action.
· They experience, create and solve problems
together.
· The use of community resource, provides
shared memory to the class e.g. Field
trip is only a part of the total experience. As students and teachers talk
about the trip and think about it after, they are building a shared experience
/ understanding. This event becomes a part of common knowledge of class and can
be referred to in subsequent lesson.
· What is thus learned, is reinforced in
subsequent lessons.
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The teachers can effectively develop,
interdisciplinary units, with their students outside the class.
· World is not made up of discrete
disciplines. Students working on a
street for eg making a survey of how a building is used today and how was it
used in past can learn social studies an science (by observing the materials
used in building for signs of weathering)
· Subject matter barriers dissolve as
children learn from their environments.
· Community resources that can enhance
science learning include science centers to visit museums nature centers interactive
science centers, aquariums, garden and zoos.
· Outreach: Many students don’t live near
zoos or nature center or museum or field trip and it can be engaging learning event
for students.
Science Centers
v A learning activity should have purpose and
hence field trips should be a part of curriculum. The teacher can visit science center for
planning the needs of teaching units with the resources of the site.
v She can then match student’s cognitive levels
with those exhibits that demonstrate the concept she is teaching.
v Students can find interactive exhibits
engaging and are effective tools for generating a positive attitude towards
learning these subjects.
Bringing
the Community in Classroom
Numerous national organizations have also
developed curriculum materials, guidance materials from professional
organizations are useful ties to the workplace.
Sacred
Grooves
Sacred places have their own relevance in
biodiversity conservation. The religious or cultural designation of an area as
sacred promotes the conservation of its biodiversity. These sacred places
compliment national parks, natural reserves, wildlife refuges and other
protected areas established by the government.
Restrictions on access and use of such
areas, especially sacred places in nature may reduce or even eliminate human
environmental impact and thereby protect species in the area.
A wide range of natural phenomenon, not
just places are considered sacred by different cultures, religions which include
mountains volcanoes, hills, caves, soils waterfalls swamps, forest, wetlands,
grooves, plants animals, wind tides etc.
Indigenous societies are grounded in
biodiversity ecosystems landforms in their habitat are important in considering
and exploring their relationships between sacred places biodiversity and
conservation.
Sacred Grooves are stands of trees or
patches of forest that local communities conserve mainly for them religious
importance.
These grooves serve economic medical social
and cultural functions.
Sacred grooves help protect watershed
resources like springs, soil fertility, moisture, ecosystem processes, like
nutrient cycling.
Conservation of biodiversity is promoted
mainly by selective limits or prohibitions on use of biotic species.
Sacred grooves are dynamic systems with
historical ecology because it will have mosaic of patches of various types of
plant communities they may help in sustaining the biodiversity of that region.
They also serve as seed source for
ecological restoration of degraded landscapes they are vegetation rich
ecosystem compared to their surroundings.
Teachers can help bridge the natural,
social sciences humanities ecological and environmental aspects of these sacred
grooves and help students to explore document and manage connections among
sacred places, cultures, religions, biodiversity and conservation.
The students can get firsthand experience
about these areas by interacting with nature directly to learn about their
cultural diversity, spiritual connections and biodiversity.
1) Sacred groves in Shipin, Shimla
2) Sacred groves in the hills of Garhwal and Kumaon
3) Sacred groves in Khasi Hills of Meghalaya
4) Sacred groves in Chotanagpur, Bihar
5) oraans of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Bikaner
6) "Kavus" of Kerala
Mangroves,
Forests and Wetlands
o
Mangroves are a crossroad
where oceans freshwater land realms meet. They are among the most productive
and complex ecosystems on earth.
o
Mangroves
are mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions within 30o of
Equator.
Intrinsic
Values of Mangroves
·
Coastal
resilience – Protects and shelter against extreme weathers- storms, winds,
floods, tsunamis.
·
Biodiversity
– Provides habitat for a wide variety of animal and plant species rich in food,
plankton, algae, fishes birds mammals like monkeys.
·
Livelihood
– Is of high economic value – fishing, tannin production timber etc., non-wood
forest products etc.
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1) Pichavaram mangrove forest, TamilNadu
2) Vedaranyam mangrove, TamilNadu
3) Tuticorin mangrove, TamilNadu
These are of 3 types –
Swamp forest, Peat land forest, Intertidal
forest- Wetlands are land areas that is saturated with
water, either permanently or seasonally hence is a distinct ecosystem. The
vegetation is adapted to its unique soil condition.
Wet lands consists of hydric soil that
supports aquatic plants water may be saltwater, freshwater, brackish water.
Functions
of Wetlands
v Principal role in water purification, flood
control shore line stability fire protection.
v Biologically diverse ecosystems – home for
wide range of plant and animal life.
Eg. Largest wetlands Amazon River Basin, West
Siberian Plain.
v Flooding is an important characteristics of
wetlands duration of flooding determines whether the resulting wetland is
aquatic marsh or swamp.
v Soil, Carbon sulphur phosphorous Nitrogen
are found in soil
v Flora - submerged water plants eg. Sea
grasses, eelgrass floating water plants – they are the food for avian species
duckweed, lily pad & waterlillies.
1) Himalayan Wetlands
2) Indo-Gangetic Wetlands
3) Coastal Wetlands
4) Deccan Wetlands
§ Fauna – Fishes, amphibians, reptiles,
mammals, Insects, vertebrates etc.
§ Flood control Groundwater replenishment,
shoreline stabilization, storm protection, water purification, reservoirs or
biodiversity, wetland products, cultural values, recreation and tourism,
climatic change, mitigation, adaptation.
Forest
Ecosystems
o
Areas
dominated by trees and woody plants, and many animals.
o
Forest
ecosystems are self – sustaining and self-regulating community of living
organism and its non-living environmental.
o
They are dominated by 20%
caropy together with wildlife, birds mammals amphibians, marsupials, reptiles
insects, plants as well as moss fungi microorganisms and non-living things such
as water, soil and air interacting with same areas
o
It is
a community of organisms, living in a forest ecosystems depend on each other
through a complex series of interacting relationship called food-webs. These food webs are dependent on food chains.
o
Parasites
– Some types or organisms are parasitic eg.
Misttelec platn eucalyptic trees as dense masses of leaves and with
parasitic root system grows into the host tree. Where it draws out nutrients
and water. Mistletoe bird is responsible for dispersing the seed of this plant.
Role
of Forest in Sustainability
ü Forest ecosystems, play a crucial role in
sustainability through the efficient capture and conservation of energy from
the sun, and its storage into plant material thus acts as food for other
organisms. For sustainable capture and supply functions. Forest should be
managed properly.
Tips
for Teachers
ü Change the language to field trip to study
trip, thus emphasizing the treasure of learning that will occur at the
community site.
ü Talk to the community resource staff from
the place that you will visit with your students. Developing a personal rapport
will give the staff the background they need to meet your students need and
begin the partnership between your school and the site.
ü Teach the children “Study trip etiquette” –
appropriate volume of choice shaking hands for a proper greeting, eye contact,
asking good questions.
ü Before each lesson, introduce children by
name to the community member. It takes only a few minutes but it changes the
atmosphere from anonymous visitors to real people.
ü Practice –note taking and sketching as
tools for learning before the study trip.
The more prepared students are beforehand the more information they
remember.
ü Schedule the study trip in the beginning of
the teaching unit that the students will have real world context for lesson in
classroom.
ü Write letter of appreciation to the
community member or site after the study trip.
Connecting
the curriculum to the Real World
This is the key connecting the curriculum to the real
world, learning the four walls of the classroom and bringing the children out
into the community to learn.
In order to help children transfer the
learning to the real world, we should practice our class lessons in other
settings.
CONCLUSION
Lessons in forests, wetlands, grooves etc visits to museums
and direst learning, firsthand experience given to students.
Teachers should attend training programs to learn skills for
teaching in community settings for integrating curriculum and helps students in
learning and practicing skills in a natural setting that is real and purposeful
the point is that the students will now learn to see beyond the four walls of
the school and see the outcomes of learning in a new light.
Reference -:
1. Quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mfr/4919087.006.104/--using-community-resources-to-the-fullest?rgn=main;view=fultext
2. www.sed(.org/pubs/classroom-compass/cc_v3nl.pdf
3. En.wikipedia.org/wiki/forest
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