Today’s students sometimes have to cover a lot of ground in a single day.
That was evident at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center’s recent Environment Fair, at which kids learned about environmental topics as diverse as prehistoric sea creatures, dinosaurs and modern-day composting methods.
The Delmar preserve hosted more than 600 students from around 10 Capital District elementary schools during the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s three-day Environmental Fair, which began Tuesday, May 14. During the event, students were taught through presentations given by DEC employees on a range of environmental topics. Presenters often used games to help connect children to what they were learning and keep them engaged.
Harold Evans, assistant director of DEC Public Affairs and Education, said the event brings children into nature and teaches them about what the department does every day.
“Our main focus here is to introduce children to the concepts of environmental education,” Evans said. “This is really kind of an opportunity to work with young people and people in the community … and teach them about a variety of environmental concepts — nature, ecology and biology.”
Evans said the DEC offers teachers education material through another program to introduce students to environmental concepts in the classroom.
“This is sort of a hands-on opportunity to reinforce the things that are learned in the classroom,” he said. “You can learn only so much from a book and getting them out in the actual environment and seeing some of the concepts they are taught in class sort of reinforces that.”
There were 14 different presentations being given on Tuesday, focusing on air, water, forests, wildlife, preventing pollution, composting, recycling, geology and minerals along with other topics.
One presentation focused on the DEC’s spills response team, showing a hazmat suit and other tools used. After learning about the gear and precautions used, students played a couple games that simulated a surface and water spill. One involved a kiddie pool filled natural substance. The other game simulated a roadway cleanup after a traffic accident.
“We used the oil absorbent pads that float to keep oil off of the pond simulation,” said DEC Environmental Engineer Rob DeCandia. “In beginning we try to give them a little overview of land and groundwater. These guys were third graders … so you kind of have to tailor it a little bit. Some of the fifth graders … talked about it in school so they understand it and you can get into a little more detail.”
Presenters in another group discussed invasive species affecting the forest, such as the Asian longhorned beetle that bores in maple and other hardwood trees. If an infestation is severe the beetle can kill off a tree because it basically eats deeper and deeper into the tree.
This presentation’s game involves the emerald ash borer and how the pest is attracted and stuck to a trap. Children in a relay race ripped off ping-pong sized balls stuck to a stump and then stuck the balls, or emerald ash borers, to a mock purple trap similar to what is designed to catch the pest.
The “Walk Thru Time” presentation added some Hollywood flair to the day. The first surprise was a smoldering volcano standing more than five feet tall that without warning erupted red streamers and a debris cloud made of Cheerios.
Right before the last stop on the tour was the showstopper, as a faux asteroid came careening down from a nearby tree to the ground right next to a blow-up T-Rex. It let off a stream of smoke as it fell and shot the T-Rex up in the air as is landed, signaling the end of the days of the dinosaurs.
For environmental educators, the hope is children will want to return to Five Rivers after to explosions and volcanoes are gone.
“Hopefully they … have their parents bring them back out,” Evans said. “These kids are the future stewards of the environment. We won’t be around forever, but hopefully with the next generation that comes up we teach them some reasons why we feel it is important to protect the environment and keep open space and natural areas like this available.”