Students in Brianna Lugibihl’s fifth grade social studies class interact with a national park ranger in the Everglades.
Dean Brown | The Lima News
LIMA — Education reaches beyond the boundaries of the classroom. There is so much for students to experience outside the walls of the school. Technology can provide opportunities that normally aren’t available from a desk. The fifth grade social studies class of Brianna Lugibihl at Liberty Arts Magnet reached beyond the walls to the Florida Everglades via Zoom on Thursday.
“I hope when they look at this, they start to see that landforms that they don’t normally see in Ohio come to life for the first time,” Lugibihl said. “We can talk about what plains look like, but unless we actually see the what the grassy plains in the Everglades look like it doesn’t become real for them. Then we also understand different ways that different climates impact how people live. We know that in Ohio right now it’s cold, but we can see in the video that they’re not even close to cold in Florida right now. It’s just making the world a little bit wider for students who aren’t necessarily able to get out and see for themselves because we can’t take a trip to Florida in the middle of the school year.”
The students have been learning about the six ecosystems. They we exposed to Hardwood Hammock, the Pine Rockland and the Sawgrass Prairie in the Everglades. They discussed with the national park ranger the two seasons in Florida, wet and dry, each lasting about six months. Students were able to talk to the rangers about the wildlife, both indigenous and invasive.
Student John Richardson said, “We learned about alligators and we learned about bobcats. We learned about the Florida Black Bear. We learned about invasive species coming from different lands or countries.”
This wasn’t the first time that the class has used Zoom to enhance education. The class has interacted with people locally and as far away as Seattle, New York and of course, the Everglades.
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
