Oceanography Day at Foundation University
On the 11th and 18th of November, a group of interns and staff from MCP had the pleasure of hosting an oceanography day with the high school science students at Foundation University in Dumaguete. Creating a successful environmental education programme with local schools is something MCP has been pursuing since the very beginning of the organisation. When the biology teacher at the high school expressed interest in creating an oceanography day for the students, Johnny and I jumped at the chance to get involved.
We’re interns at MCP staying for four months, and we both hold a bachelor’s degree in Oceans, Climate and Physical Geography. Together with Annelies, MCP’s science officer, and the staff at Foundation, we began organising the event. We recruited help from two of the marine biologists at MCP, Miranda and Chase.
The aim of the event was to introduce the students to the fundamentals of oceanography. There is currently no programme in Dumaguete where students can learn about oceanography, so it was great to be able to work with a local university on this topic. We hosted two Fridays at Foundation, starting each morning with two lectures covering the main aspects of oceanography, including tides, waves, circulation, ENSO, biodiversity, chemistry, sea level rise and human impacts. This was followed by group project work, creating and presenting posters on each topic. To make the competition interesting, we offered a prize for the winning group: an ocean experience day at MCP, including a mangrove tour and snorkelling, with the possibility of a PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience. This motivation gave a healthy competitive edge among the students.
We were utterly overwhelmed by the creativity and effort the students put into their projects. The posters included, amongst many others, a hand-drawn world map illustrating ocean circulation patterns and a 3D papier-mâché creation to illustrate sea level rise! Every student got involved, either in researching the content or getting creative and designing the poster.
The winning group for the first week was Team El Niño, who produced an excellent, informative poster on mitigation strategies for the community in response to El Niño events. It was topped off with an incredibly engaging presentation which got all the students cheering! The winners of the second week were Team Sea Level, who produced a fantastic poster explaining the causes of sea level rise and the predicted sea level by 2100.
For someone who isn’t a natural when it comes to teaching and giving presentations, I found the day extremely rewarding. Teaching the students about the ocean and seeing their passion and enthusiasm to learn about our planet was incredible. Hopefully, MCP can continue to expand its education programme with more events like this. All in all, a great day!
– Abigail
Editor’s note: This oceanography day turned out to be the first of several projects with Foundation University. Two years later, that relationship grew into an ongoing partnership through the university’s National Service Training Program, which now brings marine education to freshman students as well, you can read more about that in Teaching new teachers at Foundation University.
