12th Annual SEEA Conference & Research Symposium

‘Postcards from the Past’ is a classroom-based program in which middle and high school students investigate how human cultures have interacted with coastal environments throughout history. Students in the program learn about the animals of the Gulf of Mexico (with a focus on shelled animals), human use of coastal resources, anthropogenic change, and the science of geochronology through short, hands-on activities. They adopt an individual radiocarbon-dated clam (0 to 6000 BP) from one of several Gulf of Mexico locations. This is a starting point in investigating how human cultures used and affected the Gulf of Mexico during their clam’s lifetime. Pre-recorded videos from art educators are shared that serve as inspiration for expressing this understanding in a mixed media ‘Postcard from the Past’. Participants in this session will get their hands dirty exploring foolproof art techniques and learn how to bring the environmental and cultural history of the northern Gulf of Mexico into their classrooms. ‘Postcards from the Past’ is a collaboration between Dr. Paul Harnik (Colgate University) and the education program at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.