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SPHS Magnet

Site Visit Information 

     Field trips are a very important part of the magnet. How
can one study the environment without being IN the environment?? It's more than textbooks now… The district sets strict deadlines for paperwork so make sure your child meets those and wears appropriate clothing. Parents can pay for trip
in cash to the teacher or online at the www.southplantation.org website with a credit card.
     We always need chaperones to take an airboat ride or sit
on the shore, so register at www.getinvolvedineducation.com 
​so we can call you. Information about trips can be found below.

​

2019-20 Field Trip Information Forms

Experimental Science

mac_exp_sci_1_programs_cost_final_print_purple_2019.pdf
File Size: 347 kb
File Type: pdf
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yea_program_handout_2019_-_page_1.pdf
File Size: 386 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

yea_program_handout_2019_-_page_2.pdf
File Size: 239 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Magnet Students Return to the Seminole Reservation

     The very first year of the magnet program, upperclassmen toured the recently built Ah-Tha-Thi-Ki Museum on the Snake Road off Alligator Alley. They also worked alongside members of the trip to remove exotic, invasive plants beside the mile-long nature walkway. When juniors in the Cambridge program, it had changed a lot.
     They returned in December to a refurbished walkway and added a wildlife study at the Billie Swamp Safari nature preserve. In addition to the ride where they saw, deer, black bears, an ostrich, water buffalo, bisons and many other animals, the enjoyed a holding skunks, alligators and feeding a deer.

Freshmen go 'Slogging' as They Study the Evergades

Upperclassmen Learn and Have Fun at Birch State Park

     Students in Experimental Science, spent the day at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park on Fort Lauderdale Beach. They had the chance to collect and analyze water samples, identify flora and fauna of the park. help clean up the beach and explore the waterways by canoe.

     Students worked with personnel from YEA! (Youth Environmental Alliance as they studied the local environmental issues and used what the learned throughout their years in the magnet, especial the Small Craft Safety from their HOPE-Water Safety PE class as freshmen!

Youth Environmental Alliance Brings Wetlands to Campus

Weedology Kicks off the 2019 School Year

     Teachers continued to utilize longer classes due to block scheduling for on-school activities. Freshmen learned the basics of identifying native and invasive plants through the first event, Weedology, learning from personnel at the Youth Environmental Alliance or YEA!    
     After lectures about invasive plants and the opportunity to study samples close up, students 
took their learning to the South Plantation campus so they could remove the weeds.
     Throughout the day, numerous classes with students in every grade worked to clear out the invasives starting around the magnet building. Later in the year more native plants will be added to the gardens that were begun in the previous two years.

YEA! Partnership Helps Make SPHS Campus Go Native

     Bringing what is learned in the classroom to actual sites is part of the curriculum of Experimental Science 3 Honors classes.
   The 3-part hands-on, place-based educational experience consists of two school-based experiences and one off-site field trip delivered by the Youth Environmental Alliance (YEA!).
     All programs tie directly to the curriculum and provide new and engaging ways to learn key content.  School-based programs will be delivered on campus during normal instructional time.

Cry of the Water    
     In the fall, YEA! personnel provided an interactive classroom experience that engaged students to use Florida's ecosystems as case studies to facilitate their awareness and empower 
them to make conscious decisions about protecting the planet.​
Site Visit: Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
     For the second step students spent all day in the field to learn more about local flora, fauna, and ecosystems; engage in sustainable fishing practices and take part in ecosystem restoration by enhancing habitats for pollinators.

Think Globally, Act Locally
    Culminating the program students engaged in habitat stewardship on school grounds.
​     After learning the principles of Florida-friendly landscaping, students identified an area on campus in need of remediation and transformed it into a “NatureScape” featuring native plants that are both wildlife and people friendly. 
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Field Trips Through the Years 
Learning Stewardship By Being in the Environment 

Freshmen Finish Swimming Assessment for 2018

   Just as the weather began to turn colder in October, freshmen dove into the pool at Fort Lauderdale High's Aquatic Complex after a short bus ride.
   First they had to show they knew how to swim, and then they had to swim a distance unaided, float on their back for a predetermined time and tread water for several minutes.
   After they proved their competence, they 
divided into teams and swam relay races. Then the all had the chance to go off the diving board.
   Those who had difficulty swimming, were taught to swim by the coach and magnet coordinator - a certified swim instructor. Some student returned for addition lessons to make sure if they fell out of a canoe they could save themselves.
​   No one complained about the cool weather because they stayed in the pool.

Freshmen Get Wet Slogging in the Everglades

     Florida's rainy season created deep water for the freshmen as they traveled to Holiday Park to experience the Everglades up close and personal.
     After a general orientation including a historical interactive presentation, the students broke into two groups: one went slogging and the other went a airboat ride and data collection.
     On the boat, they identified and counted
wildlife including numerous birds. They they sampled and tested the quality of the water at three different locations miles apart.
     When thye returned to the outdoor lab, the identified invertebrates found in the water they collected.
     The sloggers broke new ground in a deeper section of Holiday Park creating very wet students.

​Visiting History Miami Museum

     Freshmen in Honors English spent the day in Miami learning more about the history of South Florida. Special emphasis covered the Everglades and the influence of local Native Americans.
​   Students in Jessica Reeves' classes examined ancient bones, shards and relics from Florida's earliest inhabitants as part of the magnet English curriculum.
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Sophomores Review Restoration and Agriculture

     Part of the Everglades Restoration curriculum covers how farming has affected the water in the Everglades.
     After a year's absence, students returned to tour the Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) on US 27 as they observed the Best Management Practices (BMPs) of U.S. Sugar based in Clewiston.
     An informative tour of the STA managed by the South Florida Water Management District (not normally open to the public) gave them a first-hand look at how the pumps distributed the renewed sheet flow of water to the southern 
Everglades. SFWMD personnel explained what had to be in in the event of hurricane or drought conditions. 
     Students observed the return of wildlife to the area as the cleaner water flowed south.
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     Then they boarded the bus and went to the sugar cane fields where they learned how the BMPs of U.S. Sugar have helped improve the water quality beyond what is prescribed by federal regulations.    
     They sampled fresh-cut cane and toured the Clewiston museum before returning to school.

Juniors Spend the Day Working at Birch State Park

   As the King Tide raised the waters of South Florida, Juniors in Experimental Science 3 became extremely wet as they went fishing in the Intracoastal and restored the habitat of the land.
   After they reviewed fishing regulations they learned as freshmen, they had a morning of successful catch-and-release fishing.
   Next they reviewed their lessons about the exotic 
plants that constantly try to take over the 
local landscape as well as the native vegetation including mangroves who help combat the rising tides.
​   After lunch and a nature walk, they spent the rest of the day removing the exotics and replacing them with native plants before returning home wet but satisfied. They worked alongside personnel from YEA!: Youth Environmental Alliance and teacher, Dr. Jody Berman.

Freshmen Complete Water Safety/HOPE Curriculum

     In the fall, freshmen completed a swimming assessment program at Fort Lauderdale High's aquatic complex. In May, they completed the second half of the magnet physical education (HOPE) class with small craft safety. Over three days, all the ninth graders went to Broward
College's Tigertail Lake with Coach Kincaid and polished their canoeing skills from paddling to rescue.
​     All students needed to be prepared for the trips over the next three years in the Everlades' River of Grass.

Juniors continue to explore Everglades National Park

     For the first time in the 14 year history of the magnet program, all the students in the Research 3 and 4 classes toured Everglades National Park from the Flamingo entrance at Florida Bay to the main visitor's center on one trip.
     As they made stops along the way to observe the different habitats and wildlife, they used their senses to explain what they learned about the park first hand instead of in textbooks. 
     Students also needed to document their writing with photographs at each location and they used cameras as well as their phones to do so.
     The two busloads of students started at opposite ends of the park and ate lunch along the way. Before returning home they stopped at a popular stand to enjoy smoothies and milkshakes as well as tropical food.

Freshmen Begin Environmental Study at Shark Valley

     Just before the Thanksgiving break, the 160 magnet freshmen spent the day in the Everglades at Shark River Valley Slough. Three trips were needed for all the students to attend.
     After watching the National Parks video on the bus, the students completed a worksheet covering the Bobcat Boardwalk and took the 17-mile tram ride. Students saw alligators of all sizes, Blue 
Herons, Tricolored Herons, Ibis, Anhingas, Red Shouldered Hawks, Turkey Vultures and other birds and reptiles.
     Observations were the theme of the day. Instead of the traditional data-filled worksheet, students practiced their observation skills beginning on the bus ride and throughout Everglades National Park.

Research I/II Students Tour Cane Fields

PictureJudy Sanchez
     For the past 14 years, freshmen in the first theme class of the magnet, Research 1 and II, have toured the U.S. Sugar Corporation in March. 
     Guided by Judy Sanchez from U.S. Sugar, students saw how the Storm Treatment Area adjusted the water flow to the Everglades, helping to purify the water coming from the Kissimmee chain of lakes.
     

     Then they went to Clewiston and observed a harvest of sugar cane fields. In the planned burn of the cane fields, the leaves were burned off before the cane was harvested and sent to the plant via train. At the mill, the sucrose was extracted, and the sugar was stored in large warehouses before being purified. 
     Students collected sugar from the warehouse and took home stalks of the cane.

Research Juniors Help Miramar Pinelands Park

     On three different days in January 2015, students in the Research 3-4 classes including dual enrollment, helped Broward County Parks personnel remove non-native invasive plants from Miramar Pinelands.
     The 157 acres of Miramar Pinelands encompasses a unique combination of wetlands, flatwoods, prairies and slash pine forests. The    
juniors learned more about native plants as they helped remove the most invasive species. This three-day clean up focused on reducing the number of Rosary Pea and Balsam Apple plants. Read the newspaper story: 
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/plantation/fl-cn-invasives-0208-20150205-story.html

Limnology Seniors Travel to Riverwoods

     The Everglades Watershed begins in central Florida at the head of the Kissimmee River. Through the years the river's flow was changed due to population and economic needs at the expense of water quality and the flora and fauna of the Everglades. 
     However, with the focus on Everglades Restoration, the oxbows of the river returned due to the removal of dams that were built to make the river a straight canal for commerce.
     At the end of January 2015, 15 seniors in the Honors Limnology class had the opportunity to see the restored habitat at Riverwoods (FAU's    
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Center for Environmental Studies) to study how the new changes in the flow affects the wildlife. (Limnology is the study of freshwater ecosystems.) 
     During the two-day trip, they tested the water quality of the river, counted wildlife, dipped for aquatic invertebrates, and studied the landscape and wetland plants. After dinner they enjoyed a wildlife presentation about snakes and alligators before departing to the Kissimmee Prairie for star and moon gazing with an astronomer. 
     The day ended with a campfire and  s'mores.   

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Wheelabrator turns trash into electricity

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     As part of the Honors Environmental Science curriculum, sophomores and juniors to see how Wheelabrator South Broward turns household waste into power. For 12 years, what the facility does has been an important part of the magnet program. 
     After a video, plant professionals showed the students the facility from the crane room to the control room while explaining safety features and career opportunities. 
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AP Environmental Science students study at Zoo Miami

   More than 150 AP Environmental Science students studied the biodiversity at Zoo Miami in November 2013. In addition to completing a worksheet covering the different habitats in the zoo student documented their visit by completing a photo project.

Coastal Explorations with the Science Eye

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   In early November, sophomores and juniors enrolled in Honors and AP Environmental Science explored the tide line and coastal habitat at John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania. The strong winds in early November made data gathering difficult, but the students continued their sampling and analysis under the guidance of the Science Eye professionals.

   The trips involved three areas: understanding tides, winds and currents; what is caught in the tide line as the high tide recedes; and the flora of the sandy habitat.

  • Home
  • Applications
  • About Us
  • Alumni Tidbits
  • Courses 9, 10, 11
  • Senior Courses
  • Field Trips
  • Events
  • Awards and Honors
  • Clubs
  • Meet our Teachers
  • F.E.R.M. for Parents
  • FAQ
  • Partners & Links
  • Contact Information