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Sea Turtle Awareness and Education is a priority of Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles (FOSWST). The Education Committee is headed by Beth Coppage and was formed so that all information about sea turtles that is passed on to the students, visitors, and local residents is accurate and consistent. Although all VBAs educate the visitors and local residents they meet, a goal of the Education Committee is to teach sea turtle conservation to students in the Walton and Okaloosa County School Districts.
Every year, the education team goes to elementary schools in Walton County. The sea turtle awareness program is presented to fifth-grade classes in public, neighborhood, and private schools. The education team also reaches out so that students who are home-schooled can participate in the program. Therefore, we can proudly say that every student in Walton County will eventually benefit from this program. The program is also presented to some classes in Okaloosa and Bay counties, and Sea Turtle Awareness and Education in these counties could eventually be expanded.
The education team's day in the classroom is divided into three sections. The first part educates the students about sea turtle species, habitats, food sources, nesting and hatching processes, and what students can do to help sea turtles. This is done through a slide presentation using PowerPoint. For the post-lesson activity, students play a lively game of "Jeopardy" where questions are based on the facts learned during the prior session. In the third part of the classroom program, students in groups of four assume the role of biologists using a model sea turtle and a modified capture sheet. The students work together to collect data about their model turtle and determine if the turtle is healthy enough to be released, or if it needs to go to a facility to be rehabilitated.
Weather permitting, the fourth activity is a field trip to the beach. During this activity, the students are split into three groups. In one group, students simulate a female turtle digging a nest using strokes that resemble digging by the mother turtle's fin. In a second group, students don a backpack filled with golf balls and belly-crawl on the sand through an obstacle course to simulate the mother turtle's trek to her nesting place. For this exercise, the students are blindfolded to experience a mother turtle's journey from the sea to the dunes in the darkness of night. The third group walks the beach with a VBA who emphasizes the need for beaches to be #CleanDarkFlat. Everyone in this third group picks up any trash and fills in any holes that they find.
We want to thank Beth Coppage and the education team who make Sea Turtle Awareness and Education a reality in Walton County. This is a monumental project with benefits that will remain with the participating students for their lifetime.
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