MLCI Uses Hi-Tech Hi-Touch to Teach Tomorrow’s Leaders

Floating Classroom

The Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute (MLCI) is well-known known for its floating classroom, the Melinda Ann.  The 30-foot pontoon boat, equipped with state-of-the-art water monitoring equipment, brings a transformative educational experience to lake groups across the State during summer months.  Every passenger gets the chance to use many lake monitoring tools, including secchi disc, benthic dredge, underwater camera, hydrophone, plankton net (and more), and view search results on a computer screen.   The 1 to 2 hour voyage shows sailors of all ages that lakes are not only beautiful but also complex, fascinating, dynamic, and …fragile.   

Stewardship Education in the Internet Age As outstanding as MLCI summer trips are, it’s the winter Schools Program that’s the heart of the award-winning nonprofit.  While the Melinda Ann is in dry-dock, the MLCI staff, under the direction of Dr. Mary Ann McGarry, takes lake learning into 7th and 8th grade classrooms from one end of Maine to the other.  Currently partnering with 9 schools in an effort that will expand to 12 schools in 2005-2006, MLCI commits 3 years to each school so that the lake study program can be integrated into each school’s permanent curriculum.  Timely subject matter, experiential learning, computed-aided research, reporting and publishing on the World Wide Web set MLCI’s approach apart.  The George Lucas Education Foundation has recognized its excellence and features the Schools Program on its website;  look for “The Maine Event” at www.glef.org .   

MLCI’s is focusing this year on invasive aquatic plants and animals.  The goal for students is to educate themselves and others about what the impact of infestations could be on the lake(s) in their communities  What, exactly, do students do in MLCI’s program?  They make models of Eurasian water milfoil (EWM) to better learn to identify this plant and distinguish it from native look-alikes.  Using bathymetric maps supplied by Maine Lake Charts (www.mainelakecharts.com), they color in their maps to show the damage potential of EWM on “their” lake, then scan and post these maps on MLCI’s Student Portal (www.mlci.org/students) for viewing on their school’s web site. Students research zebra mussels and use the PEARL website (http://www.pearl.maine.edu/)  to look up the pH of their lake to see if zebra mussels could survive there.  They improve  fish identification skills, learn how species differ from one another,  which ones have been introduced by man, and see how changes in fish populations can affect lake ecology.  The invasives curriculum, developed by MLCI and the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, is aligned with the education standards of the State of Maine Learning Results.   Each school customizes the MLCI curriculum, adding unique elements of its own.  In Eagle Lake, Lucy Devoe’s students are creating a display on invasives for their town office.  Helen Morris, at Carrie Ricker Middle School in Litchfield, says the project has been a great education for her.  She contacted Litchfield’s Town Manager, Mr. Musica, for background information and large maps of their watershed.  Connie Regula’s students at Bonny Eagle Middle School designed t-shirt logos to educate the public about invasive aquatic species. The Students Portal fives more detail about student work.   Students’ work is showcased on MLCI’s Student Portal to diverse audiences in Maine, the nation and abroad.  “Students find it meaningful to pursue learning that involves sharing the results of one’s research with others,” Dr. McGarry  says.  “We see students develop a commitment and pride in their accomplishments when they know their work is significant.”   The culminating event of the Schools Program is a trip on the Melinda Ann.  MLCI engages approximately 15 students at a time in an investigation of their local lake.  “We discuss the purpose of our monitoring tools, divide the students into groups and cycle them through stations, aiming to have every student handle each piece of equipment. Students are always amazed to take an upclose look at the ‘alien’ zooplankton”, says Mary Ann. “These nearly invisible creatures take shape under our Ken-o-vision magnification projected on the Melinda Ann’s computer screen.”   Students waiting their turn on the lake are engaged in land based activities which reinforce stewardship lessons.   MLCI is accepting applications for its Schools Program and still has a few slots open for groups who wish to sponsor a visit from the Melinda Ann this summer.