Educators Learn New Ways To Teach Natural Resources Workshop ‘Expands Their Worlds’

Rob Sauer didn’t know dropping water from a straw at different heights and measuring the splats could help him teach his students secrets about hydroelectric power. The farther the drops fell, the larger the splats.

Sauer, a Wenatchee science teacher, realized Wednesday how the exercise could help his students appreciate the science behind Columbia River dams in their own back yards.

“Science is all around us,” he said. “It affects everybody.”

Attending a weeklong workshop at Eastern Washington University on innovative ways to teach about natural resources, Sauer hopes to take what he learns back to his middle school.

He is one of about 70 Northwest teachers who have traded textbooks and daily planners to become students again. The Natural Resources Teachers Workshop focuses on mining, agriculture, forestry and water.

The program, complete with dozens of hands-on activities, speakers and field trips, was started four years ago to educate the public and clear up misconceptions about how government agencies and companies manage natural resources, said Rebecca Mack, executive director of Northwest Natural Resources Institute in Spokane.

“There was a feeling that what we do is not well-understood,” Mack said. “Now, many people can look at a dam and understand how it works.”

Mack said she hopes the teachers get a taste of what natural resource conservation and management are all about.

“I think we all get a little blase about the natural world, maybe only paying attention when we go fishing,” Mack said. “It’s very exciting to give (teachers) an opportunity to expand their worlds.”

About 50 volunteers from various organizations and companies are participating in the workshop as guest speakers.

The teachers, some of whom prominently displayed “Science Is Fun” pins, shelled out $75 each to attend the workshop, but Mack said they’re getting more than their money’s worth.

They’ll walk away with about $400 worth of educational materials, including boxes of mineral samples and other science kits, she said.

Yakima teacher Kathryn Stephanik bubbled with excitement as she talked about the supplies and videotapes she’ll bring back to her students - resources her school couldn’t afford to buy.

“They’ll love this because they’ll get to get wet and make a mess,” said Stephanik, taking notes as fellow teachers used plastic pop bottles and tubing to simulate how a dam spillway works.

Kim Plemons of Spokane joined a group of colleagues on a field trip Wednesday to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge near Cheney.

She said she plans to take her own class on nature outings.

“The impact we’ll have on the kids is more than what we can get out of books,” the Grant Elementary School teacher said.

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