Introduction
Everglades became a National Park officially in 1947. The decision was a joint one between the conservationists and scientists that felt that the area was deserving of a national park. Most of these experts had interests in preserving the Everglades’ landscape for the organisms. There was equally a mass population of plants in the area. Before this, the park was just a mere swamp that many people never found attractive ( Lodge, 2016 ).
By 1947, this was new to America; for the first time, a massive track of land deemed to be wilderness had protection with the primary goal of protecting its unique diversity. The emerging issue is that the National park is gradually dying. The chemical fertilizers discharged from the plants farmed to the north of the park, particularly, sugarcane plantations, poison the area. Also, the canal degrades the park by limiting the natural flow of fresh water. The water diversion channels to the towns and cities and at times drown the wild glade to prevent the flooding of urban areas. Invasive animals and plants undercut the native ecology of the area ( Lodge, 2016 ).
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There are no wetlands in the world, which encounters human pressure as Everglades. The National park borders the Florida peninsula’s bottom with a six million populous metropolitan area. In a year, the area is visited by millions of people both local and foreign tourists. The population of the tourists include boaters and angler hunters who take advantage of the endangered diversity. The park is important to Florida since the city sources it food from it yet the invasive species and humans interfere with its existence (Lodge 2016). A restoration of the park would be ideal.
Place-Based Learning
Place-based education, which its abbreviation is PBE, is when the teacher, students, and the adults in the society employs cultural, social, and natural environment they stay as an inquiry-based learning laboratory for the learners to gains skills from a particular subject ( Gruenewald, 2014 ). The Everglades has over 2 million acres of land and some cities that surround the park ( Mitsch, 2016 ). The park is very instrumental in the survival of the residents of these urban areas. The park acts as a carbon sink for these cities. The agricultural activities that take place in the park help in feeding the same residents. The park is home to some of the species including plants and animals. However, some of the human activities, notably, the introduction of invasive species are contributing to the death of the park.
The restore the Everglades Park we must have an implementation plan. The implementation plan will align with the STEM Application. We will begin with the science, where will study the local food chain not only from plants to animals but also to the relevant foods industry ( Zeidler, 2016 ). We want to establish whether the food chain is part of the problem in depleting the resources of the park. For instance, the use of chemical fertilizer is one of the reasons that poisons the park. Nonetheless, this means that there large demand for food in the local people and therefore farmers resort to quicker ways of productions.
We will carry out the wildlife habitat examinations using the latest census from the relevant ministry; this would also help us in the study of the food chain and to what extent the invasive species have damaged the park. We will even get data on the urban trees to know how many species are in the park. Secondly, we will have different technological devices and software’s in our endeavors. We carry our laptops to install the CAD system, which will help us in the planning of the park — for instance, preparation of the farms to keep them off the riparian lands. We will be equipped with our GIS gadget to help in the planning of the trees ( McKinley, 2016 ).
When it comes Engineering we will employ bio-systems engineering in restoring the ecology. For example, in the invasive species, we will figure out which ones pose dangers to the natural habitat and how it can be removed. We will suggest better eco-friendly boats as a means of transport in the water bodies in the park. We propose energy plans for the community to curb the rate of felling down trees for purposes of firewood. For Math, an application of econometrics will come in handy when analyzing the local economy. Moreover, the local census will help us realize how many people use the park and to what extent. When all these are done we successful control the population of the invasive species, control the level of land, water and air population in the park and lastly the level of human activities in the park.
Summary
In 1947, the Everglades became a national park following a directive from scientists and conservation who had the drive preserving the beautiful scenery. There focus was on the landscape that they intended to protect for the living organisms. Prior to this development the Everglades was just a wetland that most people never found attractive. It was that first of its kind for America to conserve because of its unique diversity. However, the national park is slowly dying.
The discharging of the chemical fertilizers from the plantations in the north side of the Everglades poisons the area. There is a restriction of water flow into the park as well by the canal, which degrades the park; much of the water is used by the Florida residents. Invasive animal and plant disadvantage the natural ecology of the park. The park have very many tourists in a year most of which are boaters and angle hunters deplete the parks’ resources. The park is instrumental to Florida and its restoration would be ideal.
The Place-based education involves the students studying the community physically, with the help of the teachers and the community stakeholders more so in natural environments which acts the inquiry-based learning laboratory learners to acquire some abilities in a subject. As mentioned the precursor paragraphs Everglades National park is in the dawn of dying. STEM application will be useful there are chances of changing fate. The scientific approach, we have us studying the food chain of the park. We will also look into wildlife census to establish which species are endangered and on what grounds.
Secondly, we will employ the electronic devices and software’s such GIS gadgets, laptops, and CAD software’s, in the allocation of the trees, taking data, and planning the park respectively. We will use bio-systems engineering in restoring the ecology and come up with environmentally friendly means of transport in the water bodies. Lastly, we will use the math in econometrics in analyzing how the park is relevant to the local economy. Finally, look into the census of the cities that surround the park with an end goal of controlling the traffic into the park.
Conclusion
Everglades is one of the most significant wetlands in the world. The swampy area was made a national park in 1947 following a proclamation of the conservationist and scientists. The two groups were in unison that the area needed protection because of its potential and its unique diversity. The park was not a people’s favorite before this development. People always saw it as nothing more than a swamp. The park is the first wetlands that the American government has put investment in and this made history in the dawn of 1950s.
The national park is dying due to different reasons. The plantations on the northern side of the park discharge chemical fertilizers that poison the area. The canal equally restricts the flow of water in the space. Florida City uses water for domestic and public use. The introduction of new plants and animals in the park is the critical factor to distortion of the ecology. Human beings are not any different in interfering with the Everglades. They visit the area in the name of tourism every year. Most of the tourists are often the boater and the angler hunters who have vested interests in depleting the natural resources of the park. Should the Everglades national park do away with the invasive species? I think the park should remove all the invasive species off the area. We could find them their suitable habitat to help save the park.
References
Gruenewald, D. A. (2014). Place-based education: Grounding culturally responsive teaching in geographical diversity. In Place-based education in the global age (pp. 161-178). Routledge.
Lodge, T. E. (2016). The Everglades handbook: understanding the ecosystem . Crc Press.
McKinley, E. (2016). Session G: STEM and Indigenous learners.
Mitsch, W. J. (2016). The Role of Created and Restored Wetlands in Mitigating N and P Pollutants in Agricultural Landscapes: Case Studies in the Florida Everglades, Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri Basin, and Laurentian Great Lakes. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts .
Zeidler, D. L. (2016). STEM education: A deficit framework for the twenty first century? A sociocultural socioscientific response. Cultural Studies of Science Education , 11 (1), 11-26.
