Dominican students commence studies on whale and marine life

Fourth and fifth grade students of the Jones Beaupierre Primary School in La Plaine and the Soufriere Primary School will today begin a semester-long exploration of Dominica’s marine heritage through the educational programme known as Floating Classrooms.

Floating Classrooms, a collaboration between the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the Caribbean Whale Watch Operators Association (CARIBwhale Inc), the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, and the Youth Development Division of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, teaches students about the importance of protecting marine life near Dominica and around the world, ultimately inspiring the next generation of ocean stewards. Students are introduced to Dominica’s whales, sea turtles and more, through classroom activities and face-to-face encounters. Already, Floating Classrooms has reached thousands of Dominican students over the past ten years.

The Floating Classrooms curriculum includes topics on a variety marine issues and species, but particular focus is on local whales and sea turtles of Dominica. According to Whale Watching World Wide, a 2009 IFAW report on the international whale watching industry, whale watching brought almost two million dollars (US) into the Dominican economy in 2008. The industry shows all the signs of continued growth.

Already, it is clear that Dominica recognizes the value of a healthy whale population. “Many admire Dominica’s decision not to support commercial whaling at the International Whaling Commission,” says Jacob Levenson, a Marine Biologist with IFAW. “It shows how much Dominica values living whales and the ecotourism revenue they provide.” Floating Classrooms extends this sense of value into the classroom.

However, Floating Classrooms is about more than whales, explains Levenson. “Floating Classrooms prepares and inspires students for future careers in science or ecotourism by integrating ocean literacy principles into Dominica curriculum requirements.”

Today’s announcement marks an important milestone for the Floating Classrooms programme in Dominica. Today, teachers are receiving copies of the newly developed Floating Classrooms educational handbook, from which they may choose a variety of lesson plans that integrate the Floating Classrooms programme and goals into existing curriculum standards. Teachers at the Jones Beaupierre Primary School and Soufriere Primary School are the first to receive these handbooks and implement the lesson plans in their classrooms. The teachers will provide feedback to Levenson and his team over the coming term, thus contributing to a finalized draft handbook. The programme concludes in May, when students will board a CARIBwhale member whale-watching vessel, and take part in a research cruise that allows them to put their classroom lessons to work at sea.

Levenson hopes that Floating Classroom students will complete the programme with a greater appreciation for marine life, and an understanding of how our oceans connect us all. “We’re taught in Geography class that there are seven oceans, but they are divided by lines that we humans drew on a map. The truth is there is only one ocean. This is the ocean through which our sea turtles and great whales migrate. They pay no attention to the lines we’ve drawn. If we are to protect our fisheries, preserve our coral reefs, and responsibly grow a successful ecotourism industry, we must recognize that each of us — young and old alike — has an important role to play.”

Levenson believes that this collaborative approach to Floating Classrooms will serve as a model, allowing the programme to be replicated elsewhere in Dominica and throughout the Caribbean.

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