Why teach about estuaries?

Estuaries offer a wonderfully rich context for science education and inter-disciplinary learning. Estuaries are dynamic environments with a daily flux of ocean flows mingling with river water, creating a remarkably diverse range of life and ecosystems. As a result, they offer learners a convergence of such fields as Earth systems science, biology, chemistry, geography, geology and marine science. For example, students develop math skills through detailed measurements, modeling phenomena such as growth and cyclical variation, and analyzing data to make comparisons across multiple estuaries. They develop language skills as they read and write about estuary-related topics and communicate their explorations and findings with other students and scientists. Since estuaries have also played a significant role in human settlement, exploration and development, students gain new eyes on human history, geography and culture.

Most estuarine concepts and skills are part of the national and state science standards. Although "estuaries" per se may not appear prominently in many state standards, the underlying science concepts embodied in estuaries have broad connections throughout the standards. For example, most state science education standards refer to understanding "Earth as a system", with interwoven cycles and processes relating to land, air and water. Estuaries provide engaging and accessible examples of these processes at work. Estuaries also integrate key concepts in biology (e.g. habitat adaptations), chemistry (e.g. salinity analysis) and physics (e.g. wave motions). Furthermore, most state standards call for inquiry-based learning through hands-on experiments, direct observations and active use of data - all of which occur as students engage with estuaries.

In addition, while learning interdisciplinary skills using estuaries, students gain an appreciation for the importance of estuaries in their lives and learn how their behavior impacts coastal ecosystems. We believe that it is of utmost importance to prepare tomorrow's leaders to make sound decisions about the environment and the nation's oceans and coasts. Students must understand the crucial connection between estuaries, coastal, and upland areas, and the effects of a growing population.