Seminole Ridge High School marine science teacher Shawna Ahmad says if you make learning fun, students will remember what they've learned.
"We've gone snorkeling, to a state park, we've gone to SeaWorld for behind the scenes academic tours," Ahmad said.
Now she's taking a dozen students in her college-level classes on a field trip to Iceland. "It was in one of my lessons. we were talking about plate tectonics and the mid-ocean ridge, how 200 feet of it is exposed above sea level."
Ahmad says the students will learn more about the culture and go whale watching. "We will go to a geothermal spring where we will see the waterfall in the background on the glaciers and yet we will be sitting in 95-degree water."
The students are ready.
"I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about the environment because they have a black sand beach and different animals," said senior Joshua Hermance.
"What I am looking forward to is going to the glaciers because it's going to be a breathtaking experience," said student Olivia Shand.
There will be more than taking in the sights; they will have a test when they return.
"When they come back into the structure of a classroom they are actually going to teach a lesson on everything that they learned," Ahmad said.
"It's going to help them increase their speaking abilities, their confidence to present to a group of peers and I can't wait to watch them grow in that academic aspect," she added.
The students are paying their own way and also fundraising. Their trip is in mid-November.
