Beyond Fear: Inspiring Students to Appreciate Sharks and Understand Their Role in the Ocean

Authors

Carolina A. Souza, University of Central FloridaFollow
Janelle Seefelt, University of Central FloridaFollow
Jordyn Delikat, University of Central FloridaFollow
Brianna Rendon, University of Central FloridaFollow

Streaming Media

Files

Course Code

BSC

Course Number

4310

Faculty/Instructor

Dr. Linda Walters

Faculty/Instructor Email

linda.walters@ucf.edu

About the Author

We would first like to express our gratitude to Geneva Elementary School and Ms. Vonhagel for allowing us to give a presentation on sharks. We would also like to thank Ms. Vonhagel’s fourth-grade class for being such attentive, respectful, and wonderful students. Finally, we want to thank Dr. Linda Walters for giving us the opportunity to engage with our community and raise awareness for such marvelous animals.

Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement

Our team visited a fourth-grade classroom of 26 students at Geneva Elementary School to speak on sharks. We highlighted the ecological significance of sharks, cultural respect for them in Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures, threats facing shark populations, and different ways students could help protect them. Our goal was to address negative stigma surrounding sharks. The students participated in a take-home project where they decorated their own paper bag shark puppet and wrote what they loved about sharks on the back. They also made shark tooth necklaces. Lastly, each student picked a marine organism, decorated it, and glued it onto a class food webposter. We hope that by educating these fourth graders, we have sparked an interest in marine science that will remain with them throughout their lives. Understanding the importance of sharks and the role they play in maintaining a healthy ocean is essential for conservation efforts. This visit allowed us to develop our leadership and scientific communication skills, which are both invaluable to success in the field of marine conservation/restoration.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Community Engagement; Environment; Sharks; Service-Learning; Environmental Education; Conservation; Marine Biology

Recommended Citation

Souza, Carolina A.; Seefelt, Janelle; Delikat, Jordyn; and Rendon, Brianna, "Beyond Fear: Inspiring Students to Appreciate Sharks and Understand Their Role in the Ocean" (2024). High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2024. 40.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2024fall/40