History of the INVISTA Wetland Environmental Science Education Encounter

In 1997, a collaborative partnership between the Victoria Independent School District and the INVISTA Victoria, Texas manufacturing site was formed to develop an outdoor environmental classroom at INVISTA's newly constructed wetland. At the time, this collaborative produced the seventh on-site industrial constructed wetland education program in the United States. In October 1998, the Wetland Environmental Science Education Encounter (WE SEE) was launched. The word "Encounter" was chosen because students "encounter" science and nature through hands-on learning. The program is not a "field trip" but an extension of the science classroom.

The WE SEE program is held in an outdoor, partially enclosed education center located in the heart of the wetland. The 53-acre wetland is a dynamic, thriving, living ecosystem where laboratory and field experiments are conducted. The education center that can accommodate up to 55 students is in close proximity to an education pier with an access point for water samples and wetland viewing. Within the wetland itself there is a nature trail, a boardwalk to carry visitors over the surface of the wetland waters, and a wildlife viewing blind.

The award winning program's educator, John Snyder, is a forty year veteran educator with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in Education. The program is for upper elementary through high school grade levels, and also includes a college level program. Since the first student group visited the Education Center in October 1998, Mr. Snyder has conducted programs for more than 75,000 students and teachers from the local and regional school districts.

While at the wetland, the students learn about science, nature and environmental stewardship through hands-on investigations that incorporate the variety of science education disciplines that correlate with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skill (TEKS) standards, including soil dynamics, microbiology, water chemistry, zoology, entomology, and ichthyology. Lessons are meant to teach students skills-not data. The hands-on lessons utilize every aspect of the water, soil, plants, and animals in the wetland environment. Texas has mandated through TEKS requirements that each student receive 40% of their science instruction through laboratory experiences. The wetland education program enriches students' education and enables schools to reach this goal.

The 4th through 12th grade curriculums at the WE SEE are designed to insure that trips to the wetland are for educational purposes and not just for site seeing or student rewards. During their encounter students find, observe and identify plants and animals in the wetland. The curriculum is tailored to individual teacher needs in order to assist them in meeting the TEKS standards for their students, including the 40% hands-on requirement. Prior to their class's visit to the center, teachers identify and document the specific TEKS elements they wish to accomplish when their students visit the wetland. John Snyder develops the appropriate investigations for the TEKS requirements for their specific grade level. The Wetland provides an entire ecosystem that is rich in diversity and concentration of species. Biologists, birders and environmental consultants recently identified more than 207 species of birds, 65 species of water dwelling, or hydrophilic plants, 8 species of trees and 17 species of shrubs in the wetland. Students come to smell the flowers, but it doesn't stop there. They also look at the flowers pollen in a microscope, identify the plant species, collect and press the leaves, identify adaptations to a wetland habitat, and view cell structures that make up the plant.

The primary water source for the constructed is the water stream from INVISTA's state-of-the-art above ground biological treatment. Prior to entering the wetland, the water stream meets the Texas State standards for surface water discharge. The wetland provides a more natural water-polishing step before the water is discharged to the Guadalupe River. The wetland was developed, designed and built with input and guidance from the site' Wetland Advisory Team consisting of engineers, scientists, wetland experts and wildlife specialists, as well as local community members. The wetland brought business objectives, environmental stewardship and education together. Ground breaking for the wetland began in August 1996 and it was commissioned on April 12, 1998.