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Kino Bay Environmental
Education Program
 Environmental education is a key element of the Kino Bay Center’s mission. Our Environmental Education Program was established in collaboration with the Kino Bay community, and as a result of a planning workshop funded by the National Science Foundation. The Kino Bay Environmental Education Program (EEP) addresses a critical need for education and capacity building in a community that is faced with complex marine resource management and coastal development issues, the outcomes of which are uncertain and could threaten the livelihood of future generations. Now is an important time to reach out to the youth, the future of Bahía de Kino, to provide them with the knowledge, motivation, and skills to secure a sustainable ecological and economic future.
Due to high teacher turnover and lack of funding, the schools of Bahía de Kino do not have the capacity to provide educational opportunities in ecology and conservation. Therefore, successful environmental education in these schools must be facilitated by other motivated and skilled environmental educators. The Kino Bay Center’s Environmental Education Program is staffed through the Conservation Fellowship Program. Since 1998, sixteen fellowships have been awarded to biologists and environmental educators from three countries. Fellows work and train under the Environmental Education Program Coordinator, to implement the EEP while gaining valuable field experience and training in environmental education.
The Kino Bay EEP was initiated in 1998, and operates under a collaborative agreement between Prescott College and the elementary and middle schools in Bahía de Kino. The EEP provides students with opportunities to:
- Expand their appreciation for the importance of local ecosystems
- Develop a solid foundation in ecological concepts
- Participate in experiential and field-based education
- Gain an understanding of regional conservation issues
- Learn field skills in ecology, natural history and environmental education
- Raise awareness about career opportunities in science and conservation
The program reaches 260 children per year, and currently operates in the fourth and sixth grade at the local Lázaro Cárdenas Elementary School, and with seventh grade students from the middle school, Secundaria Técnica Estatal #14. The curriculum focuses on ecology, natural history and conservation of local ecosystems. The Environmental Education fellows facilitate weekly activities with each grade.
The fourth grade Island Ecology curriculum is concentrated on island ecology and conservation. The sixth grade ecology curriculum introduces students to ecological concepts and provides opportunities for exploration of local ecosystems. The seventh grade Ecology Club curriculum focuses on the scientific and experiential investigation of local ecosystems, and provides opportunities for students to do an Environmental Action Project.
Together, the educational projects described here strive to create an integrated program of environmental education that progresses from awareness and value building (elementary school) through development of knowledge and ecological literacy, to the development and practical application of field based scientific skills and conservation actions (middle school level and beyond). This educational program gives individual students and their families opportunities to learn about and increase their awareness of and involvement in regional ecology and conservation issues. Together the EEP and the Conservation Fellowship Program strive to build capacity for local involvement in environmental education and conservation. To learn more about the individual programs, click on the links below:
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