Florida Springs: From Inspiration to Preservation Natalie Wicklund Contemporary Issues in Art Education Critical Intervention/Personal Voice Action

Plan February 3, 2013

Florida is known for many things, one of which is its abundance of natural springs and rivers. Since Juan Ponce de Leon came to the area seeking the Fountain of Youth in 1513, people have flocked to Florida for its mineral rich and crystal clear water. Now days, Florida is known for its natural beauty: lush landscapes, bountiful wildlife, and numerous water activities. But for those of us who live here year round, the springs and rivers might not be forefront in our mind. It is something that we live with every day and as such do not notice the minimal changes around us. Even with the vast quantity of water that flows throughout Florida our aquifer is still slowly being depleted. Between 1950 and 1990, Floridas human population more than quadrupled, and our population continues to increase ("Floridas springs strategies," 2000, p. 5). With so many people living in and visiting Florida, both the quality and quantity of water has declined. Numerous groups, government agencies, and universities have monitored the watershed, promoted conservation, and set laws in place to preserve our natural resources for future generations. But, as the future admirers and caretakers of Floridas precious and overlooked natural resource, what can we teach those future generations to do to help out too? For my Critical Intervention/Personal Voice Action Plan I wish to demonstrate how students can be inspired in an art class to help preserve our aquifer and all the elements that are tied to the water source. Getting students to care about something they dont see as immediately relevant to their lives can be incredibly hard. The last thing on the average high school students minds is water preservation, water quality, and saving wildlife. Instead of taking a direct approach of conservation, like can be done with elementary kids through the use of a mascot, we should instead be looking at what high school students do care about and how we can use this as a medium. Things like fishing, hunting, going tubing and boating down the rivers are common weekend activities for students here in North Florida. It is a selfish way of thinking, but if students realized that they were putting these activates that they love so much in jeopardy from constantly letting the sink faucet run while brushing their teeth they might stop doing such simple yet harmful things. The first thing to do is start talking about this concept with the students. Before they can raise their awareness they must first personally realize how much we rely on the springs. Poll the classes to see how many go fishing and where. Which students go tubing and boating and how often? How many students use wells for water, which directly tap into aquifer? How many of

those students notice pollutants in that water when it floods? Do they know why this happens? After this initial polling, one can segway this into a reading on the watershed and the distribution of water into the springs. Easy and informative readings can be found from websites such as Florida Springs and other sites listed in the resources section. Have students read about the watershed and how it is tied to not only our wildlife and outdoor activities, but also our everyday life. Once students begin to correlate their unknowing dependence on the watershed with their everyday activities, they will be more willing to personally do something about preservation. Simple projects can be done throughout the study of the water system. A daily assignment, or bell ringer, can be done with Drawing Animals Made Amazingly Easy by Christopher Hart. The step-by-step guide teaches students how to start with simple shapes and slowly add on details to draw animals like the largemouth bass and white-tailed deer that are local to the area. Alongside the readings students can do a myriad of larger projects, one project idea being a landscape drawing or painting. Most likely students will have pictures to reference from but if not there are plenty of images to be found on the Florida State Park website. After discussing the various preventative measures that students can take, have them come up with one or two unique ones and illustrate this with a caption to be displayed for the rest of the school. Simple things can be done to help prevent the loss of our water system. From the commonly known ideology of taking showers instead of baths to washing cars on the lawn so excess water goes in the lawn and not down the drain, there are lots of things that everyone can do to help preserve the aquifer. Besides water conservation, water pollution is another large problem our aquifer faces. Trash, sewage, litter, oil, chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, and other pollutants can contaminate the watershed and the water flowing across it (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2002) Many websites in the resources section have lists of preventative measures for students to follow and get ideas from for this project. In order to keep Floridas greatest natural resource clean, clear and abundant, we must tailor our message to fit the audience. High school students flock to the water for fun and sport in the spring and summer and go about the woods and trails in the autumn and winter. It is my hope that, if these students can be inspired to help preserve our water, they might begin to share their knowledge with their friends when they are out on a boat or off tubing down the river. As the future generation, they have as much responsibility of keeping our rivers and springs healthy as the waters' current caretakers, and it is never a bad to start working early on teaching students

responsibility and conservation skills.

References Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2002). Florida's water then and now. Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/water/water.htm Florida Department of Environmental Protection, The Florida Springs Task Force. (2000). Floridas springs strategies for protection & restoration. Retrieved from website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/springs/reports/files/SpringsTaskForceReport.pdf Florida Nature. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.floridiannature.com/ Florida's Springs. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.floridasprings.org/ Florida state parks. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2013, from http://www.floridastateparks.org/resources/aboutus.cfm Hart, C. (2006). Drawing animals made amazingly easy . New York, NY: Watson-Guptill. Scott, T. M. (2002). Florida's springs in jeopardy . Geotimes, 47(5), 16. What you can do. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2013, from http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xweb protecting and restoring/what you can do Why is it important to conserve water?. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2013, from http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/envsrvs/watercon/important.aspx