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September 28, 2004
Winnipeg Free Press
By Nick Martin
MIKE Patenaude's students have nifty classrooms -- the
banks and bottom of the Seine River, a Coast Guard
vessel sailing out of Gimli, Assiniboine Forest and
Fort Whyte Centre.
But these aren't field trips, Patenaude emphasized.
"These are field work. It's an actual lab activity."
Patenaude, department head of the Advanced Program at
Grant Park High School, has launched a half-year AP
environmental science course this fall that qualifies
students for university credit.
"We're doing water quality analysis, soil quality
analysis," he said.
The course brings biology and chemistry together, then
applies the science outside the classroom, he said.
"We are going to go into the Seine River with probes
and technology to do analysis." The students will
learn hands-on research techniques at Fort Whyte
Centre, then use them in the Seine.
Patenaude hopes his students can conduct solid
research on the Seine River over the next five years.
"We would hopefully offer our data on the Internet,"
he said.
The universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg have been
eager to offer their help, Patenaude said.
AP programs offer challenging and accelerated courses,
he said. Students taking environmental science in
Grade 11 must already have completed Grade 11 biology
and chemistry in Grade 10 as a prerequisite. It is the
first Advanced course in Manitoba on environmental
science.
There are several other high school environment
courses offered, but they are more issues-based social
studies programs that are not so heavy on science, he
said.
"It's a whole new world of science," said student
Steve Currie. "There's a lot of biology, and some
chemistry. This is like their practical applications."
"It's a combination of all the sciences, and how they
interact," student Tatjana Trebic explained. The
course will help her "be more aware of environmental
problems, and how we as students can do something
about it."
Alex Leaver enrolled because "Mr. Patenaude told me it
wouldn't just be classroom stuff, learning from
textbooks. That's one of the best parts of this class
-- we get to go out and see what we're learning," he
said.
Added Currie: "In other classes, we're learning about
research -- in this class, we do our own research.
"When a lot of your lessons have 'the world is going
to end' in them, you tend to pay attention," Currie
said.
"It made us more aware," Trebic said.
"I think the coolest thing this class has produced is
an ecosystem in the aquarium in the library," he said.
"It has crickets."
"It's driving the librarians crazy," laughed Leaver.
Patenaude said he hopes Grant Park will offer the
course permanently.
"The technology is very expensive," said Patenaude,
who's hoping foundations or businesses will step up
with help. "One set of probes is $2,500. For a high
school science budget, that's expensive."
© 2004 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
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