Cyberways and Waterways
Texas Watch Newsletter of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Programs in Texas, Winter 2000
The Cyberways & Waterways™ project is a pilot program that integrates technology and education by means of an environmentally based curriculum centered on Texas' streams, rivers, coastlines and the Gulf of Mexico. Through the creation of a unique public-private sector consortium, Cyberways & Waterways™ brings together the best of the best in education, technology, marine and aquatic science, and the private sector to deliver a high profile program for participating schools. This innovative online and field study learning program offers students and teachers an unprecedented opportunity to study and electronically visualize the entire Texas watershed from school grounds, streams and rivers to the Flower Gardens coral reef 110 miles off the Texas shore in the Gulf of Mexico.
Students become technically literate as they develop interdisciplinary real-world skills such as data analysis, graphical presentation, interpretation, critical thinking, and information synthesis using the environment as a contextual framework for learning. In keeping with LCRA and Texas Watch guidelines, students test water quality, biodiversity and garbology in the field. Then they report their results online. The Cyberways & Waterways™ curriculum, website, resource material, and online chats are fully bilingual (Spanish and English) to insure that all students, parents and teachers derive maximum benefit from the program.
Currently, the school districts situated on or near the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers involved include Austin, Brownwood, Colorado City, Palacios, Van Vleck, Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo, Presidio, and Socorro in El Paso. The program involves over 14,275 students and indirectly involves 152,433 students in participating school districts. The program will indirectly include more than a million people through consortium member organizations as well as the nearly limitless population of the world wide web.
The Cyberways and Waterways™ website will be accessible in early spring. If you would like to be notified when the site is up, please go to http://www.4empowerment.com and let us know! Water quality monitors properly certified by a Texas Watch or LCRA River Watch trainer will be able to input their data onto the site. In the future, there are plans to include all of Texas's major rivers. If you or your school would like to get involved, please contact Ashley Galaway at ashley@4empowerment.com or call 512.469.7447.
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