The Environmental Education Program at the University of Montevallo was awarded a grant from CAWACO to provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities to the students of Montevallo City Schools. The grant funded field trips, classroom visits, and summer day camp programs for our community’s youth. Overall, we were able to serve 102 students this year. The topics covered a wide range of environmental science concepts that meet Alabama state education standards for their respective grade levels. The high school students tested the water quality of Shoal Creek and discussed the impacts for the larger watershed. The second graders made observations about the primary rocks that make up central Alabama’s geography and made face paint with them! During summer camp, students visited Ebenezer Swamp Ecological Preserve and explore the biodiversity that can be found in Montevallo, AL. They also took a field trip to the James Wylie Shepherd Observatory and looked through a solar telescope at the surface of the sun.
