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Lights, Camera, Ecotourism!
A project of Florida Learn and Serve

Lucille A. Law
Marianna High School
C. Chadwick Taylor
Apalachicola Riverkeeper

Marianna High School's Dawg House Productions is proud to present the following mini-documentaries on Jackson Blue Spring (Blue Springs), and the Chipola River. Lesson plans that correlate to the Florida Sunshine State Standards may be found on this site. Please use the plans and share them with other teachers.
Partners
Apalachicola Riverkeeper - C. Chadwick Taylor - serves as the Chipola River steward and serves as our resident expert for the two documentary projects.
Chipola College Television - Mini-documentaries will be shown on Channel 4 through Comcast
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce - Linked mini-documentaries to the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Website

Lesson 1: Jackson Blue Spring
Lesson Plan:
Targeted Grades: 6th - 12th grades
Subject Matter: Science/Reading/Language Arts
Objective: Students should become familiar with the ecological concerns related to Jackson Blue Spring (Blue Springs Recreational Area).

Vocabulary List:
1. First Magnitude Spring - a spring that discharges 64.6 million gallons of water per day
2. filamentous algae - Mass of long, stringy, hairlike strands; usually green in color but may become yellow grayish or brown; individual filaments are a series of cells joined end to end, which give them a thread-like appearance (Filamentous algae: Minosota DNR)
3. consumptive: tending to consume (Consumptive - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
4. sufficient: enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end <sufficient provisions for a month> (Sufficient - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Procedure:
Step 1: Show students the mini-documentary and complete the KWL chart.
Step 2: Introduce vocabulary related to the lesson. Use the Voluminous Vocabulary Builder worksheet to encourage a deep understanding of the words.
Step 3: Assign students to groups and let them read The future of Florida's springs isn't eternal by Robert Knight and Sky Notestein.
Step 4: Give each group 6 sticky notes and have them write down the 6 most important pieces of information from the article. Allow each group to present their 6 pieces of information. Compare the information and discuss why the pieces of information may or may not be the most important information in the article.

For further study, follow these links that relate to the documentary.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/springs/about.htm

http://eeg.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/4/347

http://www.springsfever.org/

Works Cited

"About Florida Springs | Springs | Florida DEP." Welcome | Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 17 Feb. 2009 <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/springs/about.htm>.

"Consumptive - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 17 Feb. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consumptive>.

"Discriminating Sources and Flowpaths of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Discharges to Florida Springs, Streams and Lakes -- BACCHUS and BARILE 11 (4): 347 --." Environmental and Engineering Geoscience. 17 Feb. 2009 <http://eeg.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/4/347>.

"Filamentous algae: Minnesota DNR." Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Minnesota DNR. 17 Feb. 2009 <http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/aquatic_plants/algae/filamentous_algae.html>.

Follman, Joe, and Richard Buchanan. Springsfever.org. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.springsfever.org/>.

"The future of Florida's springs isn't eternal - St. Petersburg Times." Home Page | tampabay.com - St. Petersburg Times and tbt*. 17 Feb. 2009 <http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/article751162.ece>.

"Sufficient - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 18 Feb. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sufficient>.

Lesson 2: Chipola River
Lesson Plan:
Targeted Grades: 6th - 12th grades
Subject Matter: Science/Reading/Language Arts
Objective: Students will increase their awareness of ecological concerns and ecotourism opportunities related to the Chipola River.

Materials:
Note - A copy of all handouts has been linked and may be printed. The documentary must be viewed on Windows Media Player. If you do not have a current version of Windows Media Player, click here to download. The documentary takes about 5 minutes to download. Be prepared to wait for it. You will want to download it before class begins.
Chipola River mini-documentary
KWL chart
Voluminous Vocabulary Builder
PDF - More Details on River Rescue from the Jackson County Floridan
Computer Lab Access is recommended but not required.

Vocabulary List
1. shoal - a sandbank or sandbar that makes the water shallow (Shoal - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) The shoals found along the Chipola River such as the Look and Tremble are made of rock.
2. tributary - a stream feeding a larger stream or a lake (Tributary - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
3. ecotourism - the practice of touring natural habitats in a manner meant to minimize ecological impact (Ecotourism - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
4. biodiversity - biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals (Biodiversity - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Procedure
Step 1: Show students the mini-documentary and complete the KWL chart and the Voluminous Vocabulary Builder.
Step 2: Go to http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/regions/panhandlewest/trails/chipola.htm Go over the map that plots a trip along the river. Make a list of things to take on a canoe trip. Lists will vary, but all should include a life jacket for each person in the canoe, paddles, snacks, drinks, trash container, etc. Please emphasize the importance of taking a trash container for refuse.
Step 3: Read More Details on River Rescue - an article from the Jackson County Floridan online. This article relates a rescue of many tubers on the river who did not prepare for their trip in a responsible manner and ended up stranded on Spring Creek after dark. Brainstorm safe tubing tips. Make a poster that advertises safe tubing techniques.
Step 4: Go to http://www.nwfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/chipolariver.html and identify the major tributaries of the Chipola River - Rocky, Dry and Spring Creeks (Chipola River). After reading the web site, have students list other recreational opportunities that relate to the Chipola River.
Step 5: Go to http://www.nwfwmd.state.fl.us/pubs/wrsr04-01/index.html (Chipola River Springs) and let students jigsaw the different sections of the document. Jigsaw is a teaching strategy in which each group is assigned a small portion of text. Each group reads and takes notes on its section and then reports the findings to the class.

Works Cited

"Biodiversity - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity>.

"Chipola River." Northwest Florida Water Management District. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nwfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/chipolariver.html>.

"Chipola River Springs." Northwest Florida Water Management District. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nwfwmd.state.fl.us/pubs/wrsr04-01/index.html>.

"Chipola River." Welcome | Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/regions/panhandlewest/trails/chipola.htm>.

"Ecotourism - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecotourism>.

"More details on river rescue | Jackson County Floridan." Home | Jackson County Floridan. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.jcfloridan.com/jcf/news/local/article/more_details_on_river_rescue/69164/>.

"Shoal[2] - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoal[2]>.

"Tributary[2] - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tributary[2]>.