CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT OF NEW BRITAIN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Helen Yung District Communications Specialist (860) 832-4382, cell (860) 877-4552 [email protected]
URBAN AND SUBURBAN TEENAGERS TAKE TEAM WORK AND DIVERSITYTO NEW HEIGHTS ATOP HUBLEIN TOWER
(SIMSBURY, CT)—Climbing Hublein Tower at the Talcott Mountain State Park was the least of the challenges for a group of 35 middle and high school students conducting geological field studies along the Metacomet Ridge on July 15. The students, from six school districts dispersed from New Britain to the greater Hartford area are enrolled in the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy (MRIA). The MRIA program is funded through the State Department of Education Interdistrict Cooperative Grant and managed by CREC (Capital Region Education Council), have the task of studying the environment of the Metacomet Ridge, a rocky ridge that rises above the Connecticut Valley and stretches from Long Island Sound to far above the Massachusetts/Connecticut border.
According to Dr. Nalini Munshi, lead teacher at Roosevelt Middle School’s S.T.E.M Academy, the students conducted a land cover testing that includes a site of 30 by 30 meters square squares at the bottom of Talcott Mountain State Park. The students with assistance from NBHS Teachers Joe Bosco, III and Robert Ramsey feed their data into an international website for scientists known as the Globe network, where in Scientists can access it and use it for their own research. The work that the students do is considered real time science. Referring to the land cover testing, Dr. Munshi said, “we calculate the canopy cover and ground cover and measure the height of the dominant and co dominant tree species. We also test the soil for NPK which is Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and the ph level.” In addition, she said the students conducted hydrology testing for Alkalinity and dissolved oxygen and explored the Vernal pools for the Flora and fauna.
From July 6 to July 24, the MRIA students conducted field studies through the use of electronic measuring devices during the school day. The student findings are submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for analysis and help the DEP identify new invasive plant species and may be a concern ecologically. There is also an international component to the MRIA program. Teachers who were trained at the Talcott Mountain Science Center train the students to input their data electronically into the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) database, an international site where scientists and students from around the world can learn about the students’ findings on the changing landscape of plant species.
According to Thomas Menditto, Consolidated School District of New Britain’s (CSDNB)’s coordinator of science, technology, and applied education and coordinator of this CREC program, the MRIA program enables students from a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to acquire and use many specific scientific skills that are highly technical in nature. The students use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for determining location as well as scientific equipment in the field to collect information. Computers are incorporated to utilize Geographic Information System (GIS) software for spatial mapping of data and Landsat satellite images and Google Earth databases to study the Ridge remotely. All teams participate in a culminating activity where the students’ research findings are presented and shared.
Diversity is the commonality of the makeup of the MRIA students and the places they will visit this summer. Students from Enfield, Farmington, Hartford, New Britain, Simsbury, Suffield, West Hartford and Windsor have been working together to conduct field studies during the school day and have the opportunity to visit over 14 locations throughout Connecticut. Some locations include: Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, Wadsworth Fallls, Mohawk Mountain State Park, and Action Wildlife Park in Goshen. The students work in interdistrict teams to collect, organize, and analyze data on the Ridge’s unique geology, plant life and animal habitats along the ridge lines.
“Although the overall composition is continuously changing, the school districts participating in the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy are significantly impacted by the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic isolation of Connecticut public school students,” said Menditto. “The socioeconomic disparity between many of the ten participating communities is likewise significant. Through many successful interdistrict programs that have gained support from the Connecticut State Department of Education, it has been shown that interdistrict projects such as this allow students the opportunity to develop understanding, respect, and appreciation for peers from a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Over the past ten years, evaluations of the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy program have demonstrated its effectiveness in developing high quality and lasting relationships between participating students from diverse school districts as well as significant achievement of academic and social competencies.”
The MRIA science academy began in 1999 as a way for students from diverse racial, ethnic and economic status to come together to protect the Connecticut environment. Through the students’ study of vernal pools along the ridge line, they are able to identify invasive plant species that can help the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) identify areas of concern ecologically. In addition to this, Menditto mentions that students conduct experiments in the same way real time scientists do when measuring soil corrosion, entering and analyzing data to form a hypothesis after collecting their samples. Through the help of their instructors, teams of students then produce reports for the CT DEP and develop presentations about their findings. According to CREC, this program builds critical thinking, technology competency, scientific understanding, scientific research and many other skills for students in grades 7-12.
Each of the towns associated with this program are located on or adjacent to geological terrain associated with the Metacomet Ridge. The program involves interschool visits, multiple environmental field studies, inquiry-based science activities, and exchanges of information through technology. The participating students work in interdistrict teams to collect, organize, and analyze data on the Ridge’s unique geology, plant life and animal habitats and to produce reports that will be entered into the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) database.
For more information, please contact Thomas Menditto, District Coordinator of Science, Technology, and Applied Education at (860) 827-2244 or email him at [email protected]. For questions regarding media interviews and/or program dates, please contact Helen Yung, district communications specialist at (860) 877-4552. Please see attached MRIA program schedule.
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