A teaching module for taking a group of twenty middle school students (6th, 7th, 8th grade) students to Costa Rica has been created. This plan includes a pre-trip preparation, in country plan and activities as well as a post-trip project. The actual trip is for nine days during which students visit and learn about areas such as the cloud forest, volcanoes, lowland rainforest and coastal ecosystems as well as introducing Costa Rican culture.
The learning goals created for this module were fashioned keeping the state’s/school district’s learning/teaching criteria in mind. The pedagogical approach is the integration of multiple subjects and materials into each activity. Students with a wide variety of learning styles, multiple intelligences, and disabilities will be attending. Therefore the module addresses this with a wide variety of multi-sensory learning techniques and other cooperative teaching methods such as the jigsaw method and group work. The evaluation method of the students is also included in this module.
Introduction
The situation is such, we have been chosen as lead teachers to create a new module on Costa Rica in our local middle school. This module will include a nine-day trip to Costa Rica during which the students will be exploring and learning about such areas as the cloud forest, volcanoes, lowland rainforest, and coastal ecosystems as well as Costa Rican culture. In order to fulfill our goal of a successful module and trip we need to create and carry out a pre-trip preparation, in country plan and activities as well as a post-trip project. Also, we have to work all of the Costa Rica material into the state’s/school district’s learning criteria for the school year. One of the most exciting parts of this endeavor is that funding is not an issue.
The students will be 20 general middle schoolers (6th, 7th, 8th grades) from a school that practices inclusion. Inclusion is defined by Debbie Staub and Charles A. Peck in “What Are the Outcomes for Nondisabled Students?” as the “fulltime placement of children with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities in regular classrooms." The stipulation will be that due to the fact Costa Rica does not have as many well equipped facilities for students with disabilities only students who can still function with the situation in Costa Rica can attend.
Therefore students with a wide variety of learning styles and disabilities will be attending. Also addressed in our teaching plan will be the fact there are multiple intelligences, at least eight different intelligences: linguistic, musical, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist (Gardner, 1993). To address this a wide variety of individuals a multi-sensory leaning experiences will be used.
Learning Goals and Pedagogical Approach
Many school districts have certain guidelines as to what material should be covered at each grade level. This is done in order to fulfill state set learning criteria. When we created the learning goals we kept these requirements in mind. The pedagogical approach will be the integration of multiple subjects and materials in to all activities. The material will be integrated so each activity covers several subject areas. For example, while learning about various plant species (botany) the students will have to take measurements and do calculations (math), draw pictures of the plants (art) and then write about the experience (composition).
The learning goals are as follows:
(1) Discuss the natural history of Costa Rica
(2) Discuss the ecology of areas studied (Cloud forest, coastal systems, etc)
(3) Compare and contrast the Costa Rica ecosystems to temperate ecosystems (Ohio)
(4) Demonstrate the ability to identify common local plants and animals in Costa Rica
(5) Demonstrate a basic understanding of Cost Rica culture
(6) Use basic Spanish phrases
(7) Demonstrate map-reading skills
(8) Further develop language art skills
(9) Applied mathematics
- Money conversions
- Metric measurements
- Temperature conversions
Pre-Trip Activities
Ideally the trip will happen during the students’ April vacation. This would be a good time because the students will not miss much regular school, the weather is favorable in Costa Rica and it is later in the school year. Later is the school year is important because the teacher will have all year in which to present material pertinent to the trip and for the students to grow together into a cohesive classroom community.
The main activities that will occur before the students leave are to learn basic Spanish, snorkeling fundamentals, create a temperate forest leaf print t-shirt for a buddy exchange, and complete a field notebook covering a large array of important topics about Costa Rica. The use of basic Spanish phrases will be needed in order for the students to communicate within Costa Rica as well as with their local buddies. Their local buddies will be students from a school in the Monteverde Cloud Forest area with whom they will spend time in order to learn about that life is like for Costa Ricans their own age. The snorkeling basics and in some cases swimming is essential so the students will be able to fully experience all the ocean has to offer.
Field Notebook
The field notebook will be the main source of Costa Rican information for the students before they leave. The students will be creating the field notebook themselves based on their research. Teams of two will be formed and they will be able to pick from a given list of ten topics. Each team will do research and become an expert in their topic area. The team will then produce an insert for the field notebook. The ten inserts will be duplicated, laminated and then bond into a waterproof notebook and each student will receive a copy of the field notebook.
The field notebook topics are as follows:
(1) Typical foods (6) Insects
(2) Top ten birds (7) Geography
(3) Epiphytes (8) Famous Costa Ricans
(4) Trees (9) Marine Life
(5) Amphibians and retiles (10) Plate Tectonics
There will be one additional insert, which will be created by the teachers. This will cover basic Spanish phrases from Entradas (Higgins, Liskin-Gasparro and Medley, Jr, 1993), a “lets be careful” sheet based on a similar chapter in the Neotropical Companion (Kricher, 1999) as well as money, metric, and temperature conversion charts.
In Country Schedule and Plans
While in Costa Rica the students will be responsible for several assignments. One will be keeping a journal of their private thoughts as well as writings on provided topics. This will give the students a chance to reflect on all they have experienced as well as practice expressing their thoughts in written and artistic forms. In addition, the students will be taking part in a jigsaw method activity and completing a defining characteristics matrix both of which will be explained in a moment. The rest of the learning will take place by total immersion in the country with traditional instruction and self-exploration.
Jigsaw Method
While in the cloud forest the students will be utilizing the jigsaw method. The jigsaw method involves a group of students becoming experts on a given topic for example, birds. These students then in turn teach others about what they have learned and the other students teach about their “expert” area. It is a cooperative form of learning (Slavin, 1995). In this case the 20 students will be divided into 5 groups of 4 students. Each group will have an expert area (possible topic areas: birds, retiles, plants, other animals, topography). On the first hike into the cloud forest (with a guide), each group will learn as much as possible about their expert area. On the second hike, the groups will be reassigned with an expert on each topic area in each group. During this hike each student will have a chance to teach the other students about their area of expertise. There will be a guide on the second hike to fill in the gaps in the student’s knowledge.
Defining Characteristics Matrix
The defining characteristic matrix is a way for a student to organize as well as compare and contrast information on several topics. In this case the matrix will be looking at several ecological topic areas and comparing/contrasting them between the cloud forest, lowland rainforest, and Ohio. The following is a brief example.
Cloud Forest Lowland Rainforest Ohio
# of Species-plant-reptile, etc
Geography
Climate
The students would then fill in the chart with the appropriate information and observations in written form or with drawings. Some of the information will be provided by the teachers, such as number of species. Other possible subject areas can be plant adaptations and leaf shape, pollination methods, elevation, etc. After the trip the students will have an organized way to review the characteristics and draw conclusions on the similarities and differences.
Note: I was unable to find the source for the defining characteristics matrix.
Itinerary
The following table shows the basic itinerary. Further details on each day’s activities will be supplied immediately afterwards.
Table 1: Basic Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive San Hose Day 6 Travel to Quepos (Pacific Lowlands)
Day 2 Day trip Poas Volcano Day 7 Manuel Antonio National Park
Day 3 National Museum and bus to Monteverde Day 8 Manuel Antonio National Park
Day 4 and 5 Monteverde Day 9 Return to the States
Day 1
Lodging: San Jose
This day is dedicated for travel from the United States to San Jose. The lodging will be in San Jose.
Day 2
Lodging: San Jose
Morning: There will be some time for the students to settle into the area as well as going over some applied mathematics exercises which will cover money, metric and temperature conversions.
Afternoon: A trip to Poas Volcano National Park which is ~35 km away (Rachowiecki and Thompson, 2000). Upon return to the hotel there will be a chance for the students to swim and relax.
Evening: The maps will be marked to record the journey. The journal topic will be “What natural disasters can occur in your home area?” The Disney video Fern Gulley will be shown. This film addresses some destructive forces affecting the rainforest.
Day 3
Lodging: La Casona at the Reserve
Morning: Visit the National Museum with Dr. Francisco Corrales Ullos (~2 hours) and then begin travel to Monteverde.
Afternoon: After arriving at Monteverde a short hike highlighting safety will be taken in the cloud forest.
Evening: The maps will be marked and the journal topic will be “How do you think the plants and animals will differ from the ones you see at home?” Afterwards the National Geographic Video Pioneers of the Rainforest will be shown.
Day 4
Lodging: La Casona at the Reserve
Morning: The students will go on a guided hike, which includes a slide show. During the hike the students will divide into their expert teams (Jigsaw Method).
Afternoon: This time will be spent at the local school visiting their buddies. With their buddies they will collect leaves
Evening: Dinner will be shared with their local buddies. Afterwards they will make tropical leaf print t-shirts and give the previously made temperate forest leaf t- shirts to their local buddies.
The journal topics will be 1) Compare and contrast the plants and animals from the cloud forest and your home area. 2) What is the most important/interesting thing you learning from your buddy?
Day 5
Lodging: La Casona at the Reserve
Morning: Teaching hike with the mixed teams (Jigsaw Method).
Afternoon: Monteverde gift shop (money conversions) and then on to Les Jardin de las Mariposas, the butterfly garden
Evening: A night hike followed by the journal reflection of “How did you use your other senses in the cloud forest at night? How did you feel?
Day 6
Lodging: Hotel in Quepos
Morning: Travel to Quepos (Pacific Lowlands)
Afternoon: Finish travel, settle in, and walk on the beach
Evening: Mark the maps. Journal: How did you see the land being used today as we drove? The film from National Geographic will be shown, Costa Rica.
Day 7
Lodging: Hotel in Quepos
Morning: Guided wildlife tour through Manuel Antonio National Park
Afternoon: Complete Defining Characteristics Matrix to compare the three ecosystems and have some ocean exploration time.
Evening: There will be a beach night walk and sea turtle watch. The journal will be written near the beach so the students may address the question: “ Observe how the ocean/beach differs between day and night.
Day 8
Lodging: Hotel in San Jose
Morning: Snorkel and play on the beach
Afternoon: Travel to San Jose. There will be a travel assignment, which will be to create a game with a Costa Rican theme.
Evening: Costa Rican game night!
Day 9
The flight back to the United States
Post Trip Activities
Upon returning to the United States the students will have the chance to take what they have learned, further research it and present it to fellow students, friends, and family. The students will make the presentations at “A Costa Rican Evening”. The presentations can be in several possible formats, such as, PowerPoint, Posters/Display boards, a Web site, illustrated storybook, and any other creative expressions. The following are possible topic areas:
(1) Rainforest products
(2) Connections to the ocean
(3) Ecotourism
(4) Poaching
(5) Indigenous people/ Local cultures
(6) Natural disasters of the tropics
(7) And many more.
Typical Costa Rican food will be served.
Evaluation
What is required in almost all formal school systems is a form of evaluation. An evaluation of students on a trip of this sort would be no exception. Of course, it is difficult to evaluate each individual’s learning to start with, but this task can be more difficult outside of the traditional classroom. For this trip the students will be evaluated by the teacher on effort, participation, the four projects (field notebook, jigsaw, defining characteristics matrix and final presentations), journals, and their behavior/attitude. The students will also be given the chance to evaluate themselves.
Before the participating in any part of the trip, from pre trip to post trip, the students will be made fully aware of the teachers expectations. The students will also be asked to write that their personal expectations of the trip and themselves as well as to create a set of personal goals.
Conclusion
As anyone can tell a trip of this sort would be a huge undertaking, but it has been done before. In the Neotropical Companion by John Kricher there is a program mentioned called the Children’s Environmental Trust Foundation (CET). I visited their web site, www.cetfoundation.org/ to learn a little more about them. In 1992, a group of teachers from Zeeland, Michigan took 39 middle schoolers to Costa Rica for a Rainforest Workshop similar to the trip I just outlined. Due to this trip, in 1994 CET came about as a non-profit public charity and continues to take students from around the world to Costa Rica as well as to the Amazon and Tambopata. The trips have a 9-month pre-immersion study followed by a 1 to 2 week workshop in country. CET would be a great resource for planning a trip such as this.
I could write a huge paper and teaching manual on this topic, but I will stop here. I hope in the future I can be apart of the planning and execution of such a trip. Hopefully it will be a trip, which will allow students who do not have much opportunity to travel a chance to experience the world.
One more note, the schedule is very full. When going on a trip like this it is key for schedule and teachers to remain flexible.
Works Cited
Children’s Environmental Trust Foundation. 2000. Children’s Environmental Trust Foundation. Available from the Internet: www.cetfoundation.org. Accessed 10 July 2001.
Gardner, H. Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.
1993.
Higgins, H., Liskin-Gasparro, J.E., and Medley, F. Jr. Entradas. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. 1993
Kricher, John. A Neotropical Companion. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1999.
Rachowiecki, R. and Thompson, J. Lonely Planet Costa Rica. Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Publications. 2000.
Slavin, R.E. Cooperative Learning. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 1995.
Staub, D. and Peck, C.A. “What are the outcomes for nondisabled students.”
Educational Leadership. December 1994/January 1995.
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