Teachers' Window into Barrier Island Processes 



By Ann Green • Photos by Michael Halminski 



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It's early in the morning as East Carolina 

 University professor Stan Riggs stands on a 

 wooden platform and surveys the towering sand 

 dune at Jockey's Ridge State Park. 



Before trekking up the beige dune 

 imprinted with shadows and hundreds of 

 footprints, Riggs encourages a group of teachers 

 and students to "envision how much sand they 

 will push down." 



"A lot of people go up this hill each day," 

 says Riggs, a North Carolina Sea Grant 

 researcher. "When you climb the dunes, think of 

 the process and envision the volume of sand you 

 are pushing down. If you put 10,000 people on 

 the hill and each one goes up and down five 

 times, the human force becomes a significant 

 part of the dune dynamics. We are pushing 

 down the dune." 



Over the years, Riggs says, the dune 

 system at Nags Head has shrunk in size from 

 156 feet in the 1950s to 90 feet today. 



The erosion of Jockey's Ridge is just one 

 lesson that Riggs imparts to North Carolina high 

 school science teachers and students during a 

 North Carolina Sea Grant workshop. 



During an eight-day visit to the Outer 

 Banks, Riggs takes 10 teachers and eight of their 

 students from across the state to view barrier 

 island processes and conflicts, including the 

 severely eroding shoreline at South Nags Head. 



"It was fascinating going to South Nags 

 Head," says Flo Gullickson, a Southwest 

 Guilford High School science teacher. "We 

 found a home with an exposed septic system. 

 You could smell the raw sewage. There were 

 lots of sand bags. Some of the homes at South 

 Nags Head are falling in the ocean." 



Teachers and students will incorporate the 

 lessons into earth science materials for North 

 Carolina high school teachers. 



Funded by North Carolina Sea Grant, the 

 "Sea- View" materials will relate to the 

 curriculum goals set in the N.C Standard Course 

 of Study. 



Since the 2000-2001 school year, every 

 entering freshman has been required to complete 

 a course in earth/environmental science for 

 graduation. This makes North Carolina one of 

 only two states in the country to have an earth 

 science graduation requirement, according to 

 Bill Tucci, high school science consultant at the 

 N.C. Department of Public Instruction. 



"North Carolina has become a model for 

 the whole country," adds Tucci. 



Currently, there is not a good textbook 

 available for earth science teachers, according to 

 the project's principal investigator Karen 

 Dawkins. "Earth science books focus primarily 

 on principles of geology with little attention to 

 environmental topics," she adds. "There are 

 probably few issues more critical than those 

 related to our marine and coastal resources." 



A team of high school teachers and 

 students, university faculty, and experts from 

 various state agencies will develop Sea- View 

 earth science lessons that will be in print, on 

 CD-ROM and the Web. 



Coastal Hot Spots 



To learn about barrier island dynamics, 

 teachers and students investigated issues at five 

 coastal sites: the stabilization at Oregon Inlet, 

 overwash on N.C. 12 between Avon and 



Continued 



12 HOLIDAY 2002 



