Baylor School of Education Students Develop New Bear Habitat Curriculum

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WACO, Texas (July 23, 2014) – As many as 20 school groups visit Baylor’s Bear Habitat in one week. And each group receives a guided tour conducted by student members of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce—the official keepers of the live bear mascots. Chamber members have been sharing their bear knowledge with visitors for decades, but when Chamber wanted to develop a more formal program for school groups, they turned to the School of Education for help.
“It’s much more than we expected,” said Dr. Martha Lou Scott of the new curriculum developed by SOE students. Scott, associate vice president for student life and Baylor’s liaison with the bear trainers and the USDA, holds a BS in education from Baylor and an EDD in Educational Psychology. “They completely designed curriculum for different age groups and then added the ‘bear box,’” she said.
Over the spring semester, a team of three education majors, led by senior Alex Farrell, worked to develop lesson plans for K-2, 3-5, and secondary grades. Farrell, a May 2014 graduate, suggested the “bear box,” a collection of hands-on artifacts to supplement the lessons. Farrell has a particular interest in developing curriculum for museums, and she did an internship in the spring at Waco’s Cameron Park Zoo, where hands-on materials are popular.
The bear box includes a replica bear claw, tooth, skull, and paw, plus a real pelt. Farrell said it helps kids to have something tactile as part of the lesson. “For younger kids, it’s harder to think abstractly,” she said. “So if they can see the actual three-dimensional paw print, it’s easier for them to understand how big it actually is.”
But the hands-down most-asked-about item in the “bear box” is the fake bear poop, according to Chamber bear trainer David Hornbeak, who graduated in May with a BA in Speech Communications and Political Science.
“Believe it or not, poop is one of the questions we always get. Where do they poop? What do you do with it? Things like that,” Hornbeak said. (They triple bag it and throw it away.) “There’s an art form to scooping it,” he added. “You’ve got to do it just right.”
While the bear trainers know a lot about bears, the education students brought a different perspective, said Dr. Sandi Cooper, professor in the SOE’s Department of Curriculum & Instruction, who recruited the team of SOE student volunteers. “Our students were able to build fun lessons that connect to the TEKS [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills] that teachers need to cover for science-related topics about animals and their habitats,” she said.
Hornbeak said the new curriculum will help Baylor attract even more school groups when fully implemented this fall. “We needed a program that was well written and well defined, where teachers know exactly what’s going to be taught so they can incorporate it into their teaching for the rest of the day,” he said. “It really helps solidify what we’re doing here, and it gives it some validity, too.”
Helping Farrell with the curriculum were recent SOE graduates Bryce Kunkel and Kevin Sikes, who is also a Chamber member. Also on the team were SOE students Jordan Barlow, Paige Koester and Rachel Vaughn.
The Chamber bear team also includes students Nolan Bay, Ross Jackson and Patrick Neitzey.
Clint Patterson, BA ’05, MSEd ’07, who is the Training Advisor for the Bear Program and an advisor for Chamber, said the partnership between the Division of Student Life and the School of Education was an example of the high-caliber students at Baylor. “Both teams united in a common goal and shared a deep passion for their school, all while elevating the Bear Program’s educational mission,” he said. Patterson is Baylor’s Coordinator of fitness and was a student member of Chamber.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT BAYLOR SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

The Baylor School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and consists of four departments: Curriculum and Instruction (preparation for classroom teachers and specialists); Educational Administration (post-graduate preparation for school leadership); Educational Psychology (undergraduate and graduate programs for those who are interested in learning, development, measurement, and exceptionalities); and Health, Human Performance and Recreation (preparing for sport- and health-related careers, athletic training and careers in recreational professions, including churches).The School of Education enrolls more than 1,000 undergraduate students and 300 graduate students, employs 70 faculty, and is one of the few school s in the State of Texas that offers a yearlong teaching internship.