Science Teacher Katherine Swinkels believes that a picture is worth a thousand words and an experience inspires a lifetime of learning. She is using a group of unlikely class pets to teach students at Southeast High School about climate change, water shortages, pollution, food shortages and more.
Every day, students in 9th and 10th grade Environmental Science and Honors Environmental Science classes are connecting with an albino leopard gecko, an African pygmy hedgehog, a bearded dragon, a Chinese water dragon, a red-footed tortoise and a betta fish. The occasional crested gecko or dart frog makes a classroom visit.
According to Mrs. Swinkels, students light up when they're learning about defense mechanisms and see their hedgehog display her own personal shield. They're also grasping concepts like genetic mutations by comparing the color of geckos. Later this school year, her Honors class will be growing food for the animals using a hydroponics system and utilizing solar panels to make energy for the hydroponics unit.
In the near future, Southeast High's engineering club plans to design an enclosure for a new class pet, a sulcata tortoise, which has a life span of 70 years or more. The young engineers can use the experience to earn community service hours and increase their understanding of environmental and bioengineering opportunities in Florida, which is a quickly expanding career field.
Mrs. Swinkels hopes that by teaching her classes these valuable lessons, they will become proactive and inspired to come up with amazing ideas for sustainability.