BREWSTER PONDS COALITION - Protecting the health, beauty and enjoyment of Brewster's ponds
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Business Partners
    • Board
    • Board Meeting Minutes
    • Strategic Plan and By-Laws
    • Contact Us
  • PROGRAMS
    • Citizen Science
    • Children's Pond Education Program
    • Water Quality Monitoring
    • Pond Trail Monitoring
    • Pond Remediation Projects
    • Pond Neighborhood Outreach
  • LEARN
    • Beneath The Surface
    • Six Concerns
    • Five Quick Solutions
    • Videos
    • Publications
    • Links
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Become A Member/Donor
    • Become A Business Partner
    • Become A Volunteer
    • Leadership And Action Teams
  • NEWS/EVENTS
    • Calendar

New Virtual Children's Pond Education Program Launched

6/21/2021

 
With the help of our Community Partners Lower Cape Television, The Brewster Conservation Trust and The Association To Preserve Cape Cod, the Brewster Ponds Coalition has launched a new Virtual Children's Pond Education Program.   The program consists of a series of seven originally produced videos that Brewster science teachers use for classroom and in-home learning, which were created during this Covid era, when field trips were not possible.  The videos are now available for parents and children to view on the Brewster Ponds Coalition website by clicking here.   There is also a robust list of additional instructional resource links and videos. 
“Pond Education for school children in Brewster public schools is one of the BPC’s signature programs,” said Susan Bridges, President of the Brewster Ponds Coalition. The curriculum teaches the children about the importance of protecting the environment and pond health. In prior years, the program ended with a pond field trip filled with hands-on learning activities and a puppet show. “Covid prevented an in-person field trip this year, but our dedicated Pond Education team worked hard all winter and spring to create a wonderful virtual program that was presented in classrooms earlier this month and is now ready to share with anyone who visits our website,” she said. “We are very grateful to JM O’Reilly and Associates for sponsoring our Pond Education program and to our partners at Lower Cape Television, The Brewster Conservation Trust and APCC (The Association To Preserve Cape Cod) for joining us in communicating the launch of this important effort.” 
Marcia Kielb, Chairperson of the Ponds Education Committee, explains the process the committee used during COVID to continue the program. “Many techniques were used to record the videos including iphones, laptops, ZOOM, Google, cameras, green screens, etc. with the assistance of high school intern, Bennett Hartley. We all learned to do many new things during this trying time,” she said.
Cape Cod authors helped record some of their writings and illustrations. The Brewster Bookstore, another business partner of BPC,  also assisted.
Kielb added, “As a remembrance for completing the BPC Ponds  Education program, the 5th graders and their teachers were given take-away bags provided by BPC filled with many water-related items including water bottles from the Brewster Water Department, Susan Baur’s book A Guide to the Best Ponds on Cape Cod, and other printed materials about how to care for ponds.”

The Brewster Ponds Coalition embarked on the planning, development and execution of the Children’s Pond Education Program in 2017. The program provides teachers with grade appropriate Pond Kits which include detailed Pond Curriculum Guides, lesson plans, classroom activities, games, crafts and reference materials, and culminates in an end of school year field trip to a Brewster Pond. BPC volunteers coordinate with the schools’ science teachers in aligning the curriculum according to grade level and scheduling the pond trips.
Once at the pond, students are treated to a puppet show performed by BPC docent volunteers, and then collect, observe, investigate and identify pond creatures at hula hoop research stations. Students also learn which macroinvertebrates indicate a “healthy pond.”
Since the program’s inception, more than 600 students have experienced this unique and wonderful program in person, and no fewer than 33 BPC volunteers have welcomed school buses and students to the pond. This year alone, 198 Brewster 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade students and 14 teachers utilized the program.
Now with these new videos and the reach of the internet, thousands more will enjoy this program!
BPC volunteers create the Pond Kits, which are donated to local schools and “refreshed” annually. BPC volunteers are also involved in a wide range of other activities from helping to prepare materials, setting up at the pond, cleaning, storing and transporting equipment, performing in the puppet show, and working with students pond-side!
Brewster has more pond acreage than any town on Cape Cod.  The Brewster Ponds Coalition formed in 2014 with the mission of “protecting the health, beauty and enjoyment” of the town's 83 ponds. 
The Brewster Ponds Coalition is an all-volunteer 501(C) 3 charitable nonprofit organization with more than 70 volunteers actively involved in protecting pond health and improving water quality.   

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @BrewsterPonds

Contact  info@brewsterponds.org
PO BOX 459, Brewster MA 02631
508-258-9801




Picture
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Business Partners
    • Board
    • Board Meeting Minutes
    • Strategic Plan and By-Laws
    • Contact Us
  • PROGRAMS
    • Citizen Science
    • Children's Pond Education Program
    • Water Quality Monitoring
    • Pond Trail Monitoring
    • Pond Remediation Projects
    • Pond Neighborhood Outreach
  • LEARN
    • Beneath The Surface
    • Six Concerns
    • Five Quick Solutions
    • Videos
    • Publications
    • Links
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Become A Member/Donor
    • Become A Business Partner
    • Become A Volunteer
    • Leadership And Action Teams
  • NEWS/EVENTS
    • Calendar