You don't have to be named Sam to enjoy Green Eggs and Sand. At least this is what coastal resource managers and environmental educators in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey intended when they created an education project on the science, biology, and management of horseshoe crabs and shorebirds.
"This is a controversial and challenging issue," notes Katy Lamborn, education coordinator and acting manager of the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve. "We think this could be a model for people across the U.S. who have controversial science management issues" that could be the basis for valuable education projects for the general public and schoolchildren.
Green Eggs and Sand: The Tri-State Horseshoe Crab/Shorebird Education Project is the result of a collaboration of coastal managers and teachers from three states who developed teacher workshops and a curriculum for middle and high school students about the natural phenomena and the way in which management decisions are made.
Since May 2000, 150 teachers from the region have been trained in the use of the curriculum. Educators from state natural resource agencies, national wildlife refuges, public aquariums, state parks, and other nature centers are using elements of the curriculum for public education. The lesson plans meet state and national educational standards, and incorporate science, language arts, social studies, and math.
Delaware Bay has the largest spawning population of horseshoe crabs in the world. These prehistoric-looking creatures and their eggs are prized by migratory shorebirds, bait fishermen, ecotourists, and biomedical companies, which extract a component of their blood for medical tests.
"Until not too long ago," Lamborn explains, "the regulations for harvesting the crabs were pretty loose." When the population of horseshoe crabs began to decline, user conflicts and stricter regulations resulted.
In 1999, state aquatic resource educators and nonprofit organizations in the three states formed a steering committee to develop educational materials about the issue. Fourteen master teachers were invited to attend a workshop in 2000 where they heard from stakeholders, scientists, and managers and participated in a spawning survey, digging for eggs and scanning for shorebirds.
These teachers then worked with scientists and managers to develop the four Green Eggs and Sand curriculum modules and accompanying video, which were presented to a new group of teachers attending a similar workshop in May 2001. Two workshops are now held annually, which teachers must attend to receive the curriculum.
Lamborn says teachers attend the workshops for free, with the only requirement being that they fill out forms evaluating the lesson plans.
"The feedback we've gotten is that this has really gone over well with students. Not only do they understand the biology and ecology, but they get to see how humans factor in, and how management is not always easy," says Lamborn. "That's really been the strongest part of the whole curriculum."
For more information on Green Eggs and Sand, contact Katy Lamborn at (302) 739-3436, ext. 20, or katy.lamborn@state.de.us. You may also point your browser to www.berkanacenter.org.
