FSU Panama City education course brings Whale Day to Lucille Moore Elementary School

Future educators from Florida State University Panama City will present Whale Day to Lucille Moore Elementary School students from 9-10 a.m. Wednesday, April 9.

Students from Teaching English Learners (TSL 3081) will present an interactive curriculum to teach students about whale species and behaviors.

Elementary education instructor Cristina Rios conceived of Whale Day in 2007 as a way to demonstrate didactic teaching methods, those that convey information and instruct in an entertaining way.

Rios chose whales as the focus of this exercise because of the variety of whale species that have their own distinctive behaviors and ways of communicating parallel to human beings.

“There are whales found in every ocean in the world with their own regional dialects, in the same way there are children from different nationalities.  It is very interesting to learn about the language of whales and what it communicates.” Rios said. “Language and effective communication are very important, especially in the classroom.”

Thanks to partner Oceana, the event also aims to raise awareness about whale conservation.