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NICEVILLE – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) launched
a new Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) program today in Okaloosa County.
More than 200 students from Destin Middle School and Richbourg Middle School
examined water chemistry, wave energy, and non-living components of the
ecosystem at Rocky Bayou State Park and Aquatic Preserve as part of their
science curriculum.
In order to learn more about Florida’s natural resources and improve science
skills the students will participate in two off-campus field experiences and
will also conduct schoolyard monitoring of water quality or weather conditions.
In addition, the second field experience will take place in the spring is
expected to bring students to either Camp Timpoochee or Henderson Beach State
Park.
“Students in this LIFE program combine long-term monitoring of environmental
conditions on their own school grounds with unique field experiences to places
like Rocky Bayou State Park,” said Greg Ira, DEP’s Director of Environmental
Education. “Not only will this program benefit these students, but it might just
produce the next generation of scientists capable of managing local, regional
and global issues.”
The LIFE program is a partnership with the Office of Environmental Education
and the Okaloosa County School District. Additional partners include the
Okaloosa County Extension Offices of the University of Florida-Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Sea Grant agents and the Friends of Emerald
Coast State Parks.
“The LIFE Program aligns perfectly with our goal of making science more
relevant to middle school students,” said Dr. Alexis Tibbetts, Superintendent at
the Okaloosa County School District. “The Department of Environmental
Protections’ LIFE Program has brought life to our middle school environmental
field experiences. We are so appreciative of this partnership.”
The start of DEP’s Okaloosa County LIFE program is the 12th LIFE program to
get underway in the state of Florida. DEP’s Office of Education was able to add
the new LIFE Program site in Okaloosa County with financial assistance from the
Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama as part of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s
Priority Issue on Environmental Education - a partnership of the five Gulf of
Mexico states and the federal government.
Since 2004, more than 5,000 future scientists and stewards have participated
in the LIFE program. The LIFE initiative established a systematic and statewide
network of field-based, environmental-science programs that bring students out
to public lands to learn science. The goals of the LIFE program are increased
student achievement, teacher professional development in science, increased
participation of underserved and under-represented populations, and increased
stewardship of public lands. For more information about DEP’s LIFE and other
Office of Environmental Education programs:
www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/ed
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2012 State of Florida