The Florida Institute of Phosphate Research (FIPR) Education program is six years old. In that brief time, it has touched 1,178 teachers in more than 30 counties and produced about 40 integrated teaching units (K-12) that are in varying stages of completion and publication. Those interested can read a complete list of integrated teaching units through 2003.

The education program uses a variety of workshops to provide information to teachers that they can use in the classroom. FIPR has hosted two-day, one-week, and two-week workshops, short courses and in-school workshops designed to help schools use phosphate information to meet school improvement goals.

A two-week, intensive summer workshop is, however, the cornerstone of FIPR's program. It immerses teachers in the local community. They learn specific details about Florida's environments and the phosphate industry through field trips, interaction with experts and hands-on activities. In recent years, there has been a waiting list of more than 50 teachers wanting to take part in the summer session that draws from all over the state.

FIPR's summer workshop attracts highly qualified teachers, including those with national certification. Teachers have also used the materials and experience they gained in FIPR workshops to apply for National Certification, which requires they provide evidence that they are learners, leaders, collaborators and able to develop curriculum.

Perhaps what teachers like best about FIPR's education program is that it is something they can use. Why? The program was developed with the help of local teachers and continues to grow thanks to their expert input. Teachers who have participated in FIPR workshops and developed integrated teaching units are now helping FIPR define its curriculum. The task is to correlate the information FIPR has to share with the Sunshine State Standards and suggest ways the information can be best used at each grade level. The result will be a Scope & Sequence publication that will allow teachers of all topics and grade levels to see where information on phosphate in Florida and the world fits into their classrooms. Working Version of FIPR Scope and Sequence Chart (pdf file)

Kathi Decker, a member of the team of teachers from Eagle Lake Elementary School in Polk County who attended the 2003 workshop, wrote in a final evaluation on the program that she was "impressed" with the number of experts the teachers were exposed to during the workshop and added that it helped her understand how she can provide "more real-world examples" of required content for her students.

"The amazing part to me," she wrote, "is that I have lived in Polk County all of my life and have never been educated on phosphate mining. That's sad." She added that students need to be encouraged to go into science as a field of study and she is happy to learn that phosphate as a topic can help her show her students the value and local need for scientific expertise. " I loved science in high school," she said, "and no one ever told me that there was a need for scientists in the phosphate industry."

FIPR's program uses the Institute's knowledge and expertise on all aspects of phosphate to teach the teachers. Scientific and technical experts teach teachers about Florida's geology and how phosphate formed here, native environments, how phosphate deposits impacted the State's history and economy, how phosphate mining and processing has evolved, how it is accomplished today and what land reclamation entails. Field trips allow teachers to see what they learn about and fellow teachers show them how the information fits into classrooms at all levels, even kindergarten. These children learned about plant life through units their teachers created with information gained through FIPR's workshops.

FIPR's education program, which started in a back office in the main building, now has a building of its own, which was dedicated during the Institute's 25th anniversary celebration held in November 2003. While the building provides the entire Institute with more meeting and gathering space, it was designed to facilitate classroom teaching and includes a media center and a computer training area.

The building also provides the space needed to develop and house a traveling library of activities that continues to be developed for and by teachers. FIPR's education staff members have been exposed to many great ideas through interactions with various educational organizations and have worked with technical experts and teachers to adapt some of the ideas to fit more closely in the context of Florida's environment and phosphate industry. Some examples include:

Peanut Mining - A classroom activity that lets students practice map-making skills as they learn about how to locate, mine and process deposits of phosphate into a useable product. Equal numbers of shelled peanuts are painted 5 different colors and then hidden around the room. Students are given a map of the classroom and in small groups, are assigned a color of peanut to look for in the room. They place a mark on the map in the appropriate location to indicate where the peanut is. The peanuts are collected, shelled and crushed in a blender. These activities represent mining and beneficiation. Next, other ingredients are added to the crushed peanuts to make peanut butter for economic consumption. This activity is applicable to grades K-6.

Cookie Mining - A classroom activity adapted to let participants experience the steps involved in mining phosphate and reclaiming the land after it is mined. Players make decisions about how and where to mine their land and experience the economic impact of their decisions. Mining decisions must adhere to environmental, health and safety regulations or players suffer consequences, which also usually have a cost. This activity reinforces math, social studies and science concepts. It is applicable to grades 4-12.

Florida's Ancient Oceans - An activity that gives teachers a chance to "push back the desks" and have students step back in time to recreate the formation of Florida. The outline of Florida's shape during different time periods is drawn on a canvas using different colored lines. As a narrative is read aloud, students use blue cloth to represent the ocean. The cloth is moved to each colored line as climate and sea levels change to reveal more or less land. When land is exposed, other students wear signs to represent animals and pantomime interactions within the habitat. This activity is appropriate for grades 4-12. It can be used in conjunction with "Kids Dig It," an interactive exploration of Florida's geologic fossil record that has been adapted to show how phosphate formed as Florida formed.

Midas Miner - An activity that teaches the effects of phosphate mining and reclamation on the environment while educating students about native and non-native plant species. Students wear signs with pictures of native plants on one side and nonnative plants on the other. One student acts out the motions of mining and replanting with a shovel. This activity is appropriate for primary grades K-3.