Wetlands and Woodlands

Everglades, Mangrove, and Estuary Ecology, Florida Seminole History

Naples, Florida

Among the mangroves

Explore mangrove estuaries and learn about the history of the southern Everglades, at Collier Seminole State Park!

Students begin the educational exploration the Everglades Ecosystem as they chart a historical course through a unique mosaic of sawgrass marshes, freshwater ponds, prairies, and forested uplands.

Travel to the Miccosukee Indian Village, certainly, an authentic educational opportunity to learn about the Miccosukee tribe that calls the Everglades their home. Tour the exhibits highlighting the historical and contemporary history of the Miccosukee tribe. Once part of the Seminole nation, the Miccosukee history and culture are preserved in the museum through historical documents and archival photographs and original artifacts. Watching the alligator demonstration, a centuries-old tradition and ritual, students understand the importance of this historical practice as an important resource for the Miccosukee survival in the Everglades. In addition, students glide through the River of Grass on a Miccosukee airboat ride spotting alligators and birds along the way. Then, arrive at a typical hammock-style camp that has been owned by the same family for more than 100 years and get a glimpse into traditional Miccosukee life.

Continue to Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor Center. Students learn about the freshwaters of the Big Cypress Swamp, undoubtedly, essential to the health of the neighboring Everglades. In addition, the freshwater from the Swamp supports the rich marine estuaries along Florida’s southwest coast. Encompassing over 729,000 acres of swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve contains a mixture of tropical and temperate plant communities and is home to diverse wildlife, including the Endangered Florida panther. Next, travel southwest to Everglades City, where students visit the Museum of the Everglades and learn about the history of this unique city. Once accessible only by boat, this remote frontier trading town took an ambitious new turn in 1923 as the base of operations for county founder Barron Gift Collier’s construction of the Tamiami Trail. Furthermore, at the coast, students arrive in the island of Chokoloskee and visit the Smallwood Store. In addition, students learn about this historic trading outpost between settlers and the indigenous people of Florida. Next, depart for Collier Seminole State Park where students set camp. In the evening around the campfire listen to stories and participate in a vision quest experience, a very important traditional Native American rite of passage, before ending with delicious s’mores. Snug in tents, students rest for the next days adventure.

Begin the day as students break camp and embark on a canoeing adventure through Florida Bay mangrove estuaries. Student groups paddle through mangrove tunnels and observe a rich and diverse assemblage of animals. Through the calm nutrient rich waters of the estuary, view sponges, algae, corals, snappers, stingrays, and the occasional small bonnet head shark. Observe Migratory and residential birds that can be seen roosting in mangrove trees and feeding in tidal seagrass beds. In addition, students are provided with the educational opportunity to better understand the conservation efforts between human activities and estuary communities. Finally, students travel to Knaus Berry Farms in the Redlands, a historic community and agricultural area just northwest of Homestead. Undoubtedly, students enjoy homemade baked goods, delicious milkshakes, and even seasonal picking of fresh strawberries grown on site.

Finally on the Journey home, students reflect on the ecological dynamics of Big Cypress, the southern Everglades, and the ongoing conservation efforts to protect these endangered ecosystems!

INSTRUCTORS ARE:

Experienced and professional
Required to complete an intensive on-site training program
Present the program material in a way that makes it come to life
Lifeguard, First Aid and CPR certified
FDLE and FBI Level 2 Background Checked
ASAP-Camp Safety Certified

OUR PROGRAMS BUILD…

Self-confidence
Self-reliance
Teamwork
Friendships
Leadership skills
A “can do” attitude

OUR FIELD TRIPS INCLUDE:

Certified instructors
All meals and snacks-full day and overnight trips
Activity fees
All equipment
Transportation
Educational journals
Bus activities
Accommodations-overnight trips

FLEXIBILITY AND CUSTOMIZATION:

Each trip is carefully planned to provide an educational and memorable experience
All programs can be custom tailored to meet your school’s individual needs
Level of instruction varies based on grade level.
All programs are taught using a fun, interdisciplinary and hands-on approach
Local history is incorporated into the learning experience
Scholarships available so no student gets left behind

Florida State Standards following Grades 6-High School

Students will:

learn the importance of recording data in a field journal, with an emphasis on the value of each person’s contribution to the total body of scientific observations and the effort to compare and contrast their findings with those of other students
- SC.6.N.1.1 Define a problem from the sixth grade curriculum, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific investigation of various types, such as systematic observations or experiments, identify variables, collect and organize data, interpret data in charts, tables, and graphics, analyze information, make predictions, and defend conclusions.
  
  SC.6.N.1.4 Discuss, compare, and negotiate methods used, results obtained, and explanations among groups of students conducting the same investigation.
  
  SC.7.N.1.1 Define a problem from the seventh grade curriculum, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific investigation of various types, such as systematic observations or experiments, identify variables, collect and organize data, interpret data in charts, tables, and graphics, analyze information, make predictions, and defend conclusions.
  
  SC.7.N.1.6 Explain that empirical evidence is the cumulative body of observations of a natural phenomenon on which scientific explanations are based.
  
  SC.8.N.1.1 Define a problem from the eighth grade curriculum using appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific investigations of various types, such as systematic observations or experiments, identify variables, collect and organize data, interpret data in charts, tables, and graphics, analyze information, make predictions, and defend conclusions.
  
  SC.8.N.1.6 Understand that scientific investigations involve the collection of relevant empirical evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses, predictions, explanations and models to make sense of the collected evidence.
  
  SS.8.G.6.2 Illustrate places and events in U.S. history through the use of narratives and graphic representations.
  
  SC.912.N.1.3 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented.
  
  SC.912.N.1.6 Describe how scientific inferences are drawn from scientific observations and provide examples from the content being studied.
  
  SC.912.N.2.4 Explain that scientific knowledge is both durable and robust and open to change. Scientific knowledge can change because it is often examined and re-examined by new investigations and scientific argumentation. Because of these frequent examinations, scientific knowledge becomes stronger, leading to its durability.
learn the importance of conducting water testing, understand density, salinity, temperature, turbidity and pH and how these are measured and compare, and interpret the results of their investigations
- SC.8.E.5.10 Assess how technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information.
  
  SC.8.N.1.3 Use phrases such as “results support” or “fail to support” in science, understanding that science does not offer conclusive ‘proof’ of a knowledge claim.
  
  SC.8.N.1.4 Explain how hypotheses are valuable if they lead to further investigations, even if they turn out not to be supported by the data.
  
  SC.8.P.8.8 Identify basic examples of and compare and classify the properties of compounds, including acids, bases, and salts.
  
  SC.8.P.9.2 Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.
learn how Europeans arriving by boat affected Native American populations living in this part of Florida and how both groups used their knowledge to shape each other and the land
- SC.6.N.2.3 Recognize that scientists who make contributions to scientific knowledge come from all kinds of backgrounds and possess varied talents, interests, and goals.
  
  SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.
  
  SS.6.G.2.6 Explain the concept of cultural diffusion, and identify the influences of different ancient cultures on one another.
  
  SS.6.G.4.1 Explain how family and ethnic relationships influenced ancient cultures.
  
  SS.7.G.2.3 Explain how major physical characteristics, natural resources, climate, and absolute and relative location have influenced settlement, economies, and inter-governmental relations in North America.
  
  SS.8.A.2.5 Discuss the impact of colonial settlement on Native American populations.
understand the concept that the presence of certain trees are an indication of events that are occurring, noting that they have adaptations that allow them to live in certain areas
- SC.7.N.2.1 Identify an instance from the history of science in which scientific knowledge has changed when new evidence or new interpretations are encountered.
  
  SC.7.L.17.3 Describe and investigate various limiting factors in the local ecosystem and their impact on native populations, including food, shelter, water, space, disease, parasitism, predation, and nesting sites.
  
  SC.912.L.17.8 Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species.
  
  SS.5.G.3.1 Describe the impact that past natural events have had on human and physical environments in the United States through 1850.
  
  SS.6.G.3.2 Analyze the impact of human populations on the ancient world’s ecosystems.
understand the predictability and logistics behind the KLOE system, with a focus on the Everglades as a natural and interrupted ecosystem
- SC.7.E.6.6 Identify the impact that humans have had on Earth, such as deforestation, urbanization, desertification, erosion, air and water quality, changing the flow of water.
  
  SC.8.N.4.1 Explain that science is one of the processes that can be used to inform decision making at the community, state, national, and international levels.
  
  SS.8.G.5.2 Describe the impact of human modifications on the physical environment and ecosystems of the United States throughout history.
  
  SC.912.L.17.19 Describe how different natural resources are produced and how their rates of use and renewal limit availability.
  
  SC.912.L.17.20 Predict the impact of individuals on environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles affect sustainability.
  
  SS.912.G.5.6 Analyze case studies to predict how a change to an environmental factor can affect an ecosystem.
understand the significance of human actions, including their own, in the protection of natural resources such as water and its pollution and redirection in the Everglades area
- SS.6.G.3.2 Analyze the impact of human populations on the ancient world’s ecosystems.
  
  SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.
  
  SS.8.G.5.1 Describe human dependence on the physical environment and natural resources to satisfy basic needs in local environments in the United States.
  
  SC.912.L.17.11 Evaluate the costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources, such as water, energy, fossil fuels, wildlife, and forests.
  
  SC.912.L.17.12 Discuss the political, social, and environmental consequences of sustainable use of land.
  
  SC.912.L.17.13 Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions.
  
  SC.912.L.17.15 Discuss the effects of technology on environmental quality.
  
  SC.912.L.17.16 Discuss the large-scale environmental impacts resulting from human activity, including waste spills, oil spills, runoff, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surface and groundwater pollution.
  
  SC.912.L.17.18 Describe how human population size and resource use relate to environmental quality.
  
  SS.912.C.2.4 Evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues that cause the government to balance the interests of individuals with the public good.
  
  SS.912.C.2.8 Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change.
  
  SS.912.G.2.5 Use geographic terms and tools to analyze case studies of debates over how human actions modify a selected region.
  
  SS.912.G.3.3 Use geographic terms and tools to explain differing perspectives on the use of renewable and non-renewable resources in Florida, the United States, and the world.
  
  SS.912.G.5.2 Analyze case studies of how changes in the physical environment of a place can increase or diminish its capacity to support human activity.
  
  SS.912.G.5.4 Analyze case studies of how humans impact the diversity and productivity of ecosystems.
understand the history and cultural significance of the Seminole tribe, with a focus on their traditional relationship with the natural environment
- SC.6.N.2.3 Recognize that scientists who make contributions to scientific knowledge come from all kinds of backgrounds and possess varied talents, interests, and goals.
  
  SS.6.G.2.6 Explain the concept of cultural diffusion, and identify the influences of different ancient cultures on one another.
  
  SS.6.G.4.1 Explain how family and ethnic relationships influenced ancient cultures.
  
  SS.7.G.2.3 Explain how major physical characteristics, natural resources, climate, and absolute and relative location have influenced settlement, economies, and inter-governmental relations in North America.
  
  SS.8.A.2.5 Discuss the impact of colonial settlement on Native American populations.
  
  SS.912.H.3.1 Analyze the effects of transportation, trade, communication, science, and technology on the preservation and diffusion of culture.
understand how Native Americans were able to utilize Florida’s unique barrier island systems throughout their history and discover how Estero has a unique past that includes the Calusa Indians and many other groups that have influenced and shaped its culture and natural environment
- SC.8.N.4.2 Explain how political, social, and economic concerns can affect science, and vice versa.
  
  SS.6.G.2.6 Explain the concept of cultural diffusion, and identify the influences of different ancient cultures on one another.
  
  SS.6.G.4.1 Explain how family and ethnic relationships influenced ancient cultures.
  
  SS.7.G.2.3 Explain how major physical characteristics, natural resources, climate, and absolute and relative location have influenced settlement, economies, and inter-governmental relations in North America.
  
  SS.8.A.2.5 Discuss the impact of colonial settlement on Native American populations.
identify and understand Estero’s marine organisms, with a focus on gastropods and their structural functions and how these relate to behavior
- SC.6.L.15.1 Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linnaean system combined with the concept of Domains.
  
  SC.7.L.16.1 Understand and explain that every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits, that this hereditary information (DNA) contains genes located in the chromosomes of each cell, and that heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.
  
  SC.7.L.15.2 Explore the scientific theory of evolution by recognizing and explaining ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors contribute to evolution by natural selection and diversity of organisms.
  
  SC.7.L.15.3 Explore the scientific theory of evolution by relating how the inability of a species to adapt within a changing environment may contribute to the extinction of that species.
  
  SC.912.L.15.7 Discuss distinguishing characteristics of vertebrate and representative invertebrate phyla, and chordate classes using typical examples.
  
  SC.912.L.17.6 Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms, including predation, parasitism, competition, commensalism, and mutualism.
  
  SC.912.L.17.7 Characterize the biotic and abiotic components that define freshwater systems, marine systems and terrestrial systems.
understand that leaf litter in mangrove estuary decomposes to release nutrients vital to the growth of the juvenile marine creatures living there
- SC.7.L.17.1 Explain and illustrate the roles of and relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.
  
  SC.7.L.17.2 Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms such as mutualism, predation, parasitism, competition, and commensalism.
  
  SC.8.L.18.1 Describe and investigate the process of photosynthesis, such as the roles of light, carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyll; production of food; release of oxygen.
  
  SC.912.L.14.8 Explain alternation of generations in plants.
  
  SC.912.L.14.10 Discuss the relationship between the evolution of land plants and their anatomy.
  
  SC.912.L.17.2 Explain the general distribution of life in aquatic systems as a function of chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity, and temperature.
  
  SC.912.L.17.9 Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels.
learn that the importance of mangrove trees lies in their adaptive ability to flourish in salt water systems where competition is minimized
- SC.7.L.17.3 Describe and investigate various limiting factors in the local ecosystem and their impact on native populations, including food, shelter, water, space, disease, parasitism, predation, and nesting sites.
  
  SC.7.N.2.1 Identify an instance from the history of science in which scientific knowledge has changed when new evidence or new interpretations are encountered.
  
  SS.6.G.3.2 Analyze the impact of human populations on the ancient world’s ecosystems.
  
  SC.912.L.17.4 Describe changes in ecosystems resulting from seasonal variations, climate change and succession.
  
  SC.912.L.17.8 Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species.