BRACKISH (Biodiversity, Relationships, and Aquatic Chemistry Knowledge in Saline Habitats) was a three-day, place-based education program that helped participating eighth grade students become more aware, knowledgeable, and appreciative of the area in which they live. The program took place at the Grand Bay NERR (GNDNERR), an estuary located in Moss Point, MS with approximately 18,000 acres of protected coastal, terrestrial, and wetland habitats.

The overall goal of this program was to utilize place-based learning to improve science and environmental literacy in students from Pascagoula and Moss Point, Mississippi. To address the project goal, the program was split into three parts. On the first day, the program team visited participating schools, providing students with basic knowledge of the GNDNERR, species’ adaptations, and the importance of water quality and other abiotic factors in the survival of estuarine organisms. During the second day, students were given the opportunity to explore the estuary aboard the GNDNERR’s 36ft passenger vessel, Ms NERR. While visiting, students utilized scientific instruments (i.e., YSI Pro-Solo handheld devices, refractometers, secchi discs, dissolved oxygen kits) to gather water quality data and sampled species with various nets (i.e., trawl, cast and dip nets) that could later be identified with field guides created by the BRACKISH team. On the final day of the program, the program team returned to the school where students were introduced to mock role play scenarios that were directly related to water quality issues in their community and participated in student-led discussions. This activity challenged them to critically think about human impacts on the environment and encouraged them to work together to find solutions to the environmental problems.

As a result of this program, there was significant improvement in post-test scores for most participating schools, suggesting that students retained and applied environmental science concepts after participating in the program. The success of the program has led to it being integrated into GNDNERR's regular education programming, where NERR education staff bring BRACKISH lessons to K-12 audiences. Program implementation, lessons learned, and evaluation results will be discussed during this session.