A new Inland Bays Interactive Learning Center (ILC) designed for instructive use in Delaware’s 5th grade classrooms is now available! The ILC was created and produced by Creative Education, Inc. as a grant project funded by the Center for the Inland Bays.

“The purpose of the Learning Center is to provide an exciting, hands-on tool for students to start building a knowledge base about water, watersheds, the Inland Bays, and their local environment. Through active participation with the Learning Center, students will gain a greater appreciation of their natural surroundings and begin to make responsible decisions about the environment. Learning is student-directed and will require teachers to play a minimal role. It is up to the teacher how to most effectively integrate the Learning Center into their classroom and to decide when the students have access to it.” (excerpted from Interactive Classroom Learning Center Activity Guide by Creative Education, Inc.)

The ILC’s panels focus on three distinct aspects of Inland Bays’ ecology. These include the causes and effects of pollution, Inland Bays’ plants and animals as components of an estuarine food web, and the dynamics of tides. A majority of these activities are student-directed; however, an accompanying activity guide allows teachers the flexibility to integrate an entire Inland Bays unit into their curriculum.

The Learning Center is correlated to Delaware State Content Standards and Performance Indicators for fifth grade and is suggested for instruction at that level. For more information about how you can bring the Learning Center to your school and classroom, please contact the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Center for the Inland Bays at outreach@inlandbays.org or (302)226-8105.