Tampa Bay Estuary Program Funds Book for Watershed Watchers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Emily Stehle, APR
(727) 803-79799,, ext. 207
estehle@pieraquarium.org
www.pieraquarium.org 

TAMPA ESTUARY PROGRAM FUNDS BOOK FOR WATERSHED WATCHERS
The Creek, the Kazoo and What You Can Do!

St. Petersburg, FL (May 25, 2010) – A kazoo named Kasey is the latest educational tool being used by The Pier Aquarium to teach watershed stewardship concepts to elementary school pupils. Kasey is the main character in a  new "hot-off-the-presses” book, The Creek, the Kazoo and What You Can Do!

The 44-page book project is a result of a $7,500 mini-grant awarded by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. Written by Tampa author Elaine Fantle Shimberg in verse and charmingly illustrated by Kathy Taylor Zimmerman, The Pier Aquarium’s Artist-in-Residence, the story follows the adventure-filled journey of Kasey the Kazoo.

Kasey is discarded and tossed in Booker Creek, is picked up by Rosie the Spoonbill, falls out of her mouth, meets a turtle named Jess, ends up in a mess (in a pile of garbage), meets baby minnows, and is rescued by a young boy named Lou.

The book is a new component of The Pier Aquarium’s Watershed Watchers program, a partnership watershed science project created in 2005 by teachers and students at Campbell Park Elementary Marine Science Program, the University of South Florida College of Marine Science and Aquarium staffers. The school is strategically located in an active urban watershed adjacent to Booker Creek, which empties directly into Tampa Bay.

Students research the watershed and track its health through a variety of sensors in the creek from their on-campus monitoring station. They student water temperature, water level, pH, dissolved oxygen, wind speed, air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation and conductivity. They also track small and large scale events in their backyard that affect water quality, ecology and water flow in the creek and participate in hands-on experiential programs facilitated by the aquarium’s marine education staff.

Teachers will use The Creek, the Kazoo and What You Can Do! inside and outside the classroom to help their students learn about regional water resources and how their own actions impact them. The book is supplemented by lesson plans for various grade levels developed and written by a team of Campbell Park teachers and the aquarium staff.

It also has sections listing organizations and Web sites with information about national, regional and local conservation and restoration programs and activities, environmental "best practices” and fun activity quiz and coloring pages.

The mission of The Pier Aquarium is to enhance the public’s understanding of the value and fragility of the global marine environment through research, education and personal experiences.

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program
The Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP) is a partnership of local governments and state and federal environmental agencies that was formed in 1990 to develop a conservation and management plan for Tampa Bay. In addition to conducting research and implementing strategies for bay restoration, TBEP also develops programs to educate citizens about ways to prevent water pollution and protect Tampa Bay.

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