Swamp Tromp

Dr. Henry G. Selby Headmaster All Saints’ Episcopal School Morristown, TN

As you are reading this I am knee deep in brackish water, surrounded by dwarf cypress trees, mangroves, and eighth graders. We’re all keeping a sharp eye out for Burmese pythons and alligators as we explore the Florida Everglades, conducting a field study of this fragile and magnificent ecosystem.

The idea of a field study, quite distinct from most field trips, is that there is vectored knowledge at work. Here’s how: middle school students in east Tennessee are quite familiar with our oak-hickory biome, with the temperate rain forest ecology of the Great Smokies, and the notion of invading species (such as the dreadful woody adelgid that is devastating our local hemlocks). The Everglades, on the other hand, is a vast and slow moving river of grass that gradually becomes the largest estuary in our hemisphere. It is located in the temperate zone, but is obviously tropical in nature. The laws of wind and rain do not obey our lines of latitude! Already familiar with their own local ecosystem, students make an academic study for an entire year of the Everglades. Then, having attained “doctorates” in a particular field (like dendrology or aquatic zoology), they learn the so-called “ground truth” by practical study in the swamp itself. They now have two vectors of scientific inquiry. One day, perhaps in high school or college, they will study yet another ecosystem. And their vectored knowledge will help them to observe and ask the right questions (which is at the heart of all science).

Like most teachers, I’ve chaperoned trips to the aquarium, the museum, the television station, and the factory. Even with the most creative preparation (“O.K. kids, we’re going to play museum bingo! It’ll be fun! And it counts as a quiz grade”) it is a stretch to have students truly engage with venues that are often nothing more than passive entertainment. If the goal exists for long term retention of information, there is nothing like having the total sensory experience provided by a true field study.

On a daily basis, great teachers accomplish similar outcomes right in their classrooms (or perhaps right outside in the school yard). It’s not so much that the lessons are “hands-on”, but more that that the lessons are multi-dimensional. There’s an accompanying sensory experience that somehow ingrains the lesson’s objective into the learner’s mind. You don’t have to go to the Everglades to have this happen, but I’m still glad we’re here. From my point of view, there are moral considerations that I advocate along with good science. The environmentalist Joe Podger said, “The Everglades are a test. If we save it, we get to keep the planet.” I’m in favor of keeping the planet.

“Henry G. Selby, headmaster of All Saints’ Episcopal School in Morristown, is a popular speaker at seminars, conferences, civic events, and professional development meetings. He would be delighted to speak at your next meeting. Please call the school for more information.”