The world is a wide and wild place.
This week, roughly 800 BCSD elementary school students spent a morning exploring the natural world at NatureScope in Old Santee Canal Park.
Students from Berkeley Elementary, Bowen's Corner Elementary, Devon Forest Elementary, Foxbank Elementary, Hanahan Elementary, Moncks Corner Elementary, Philip Simmons Elementary and Whitesville Elementary got to enjoy educational and interactive shows by the South Carolina Aquarium and Santee Cooper.
Additionally, students learned more about environmental science, conservation efforts and local environmentally friendly companies with exhibits by:
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Berkeley County Soil and Water
Nucor Steel - Berkeley
Berkeley 250
Berkeley County Recycling
Vector Management
South Carolina Wildlife
South Carolina Waterfowl
Powerhouse Recycling
Boeing
Santee Cooper Biological Services
Keep Berkeley Beautiful
Put on by Berkeley County Kids Who Care, a local non-profit focused on environmental science education, the winners of the non-profit's environmental science project competition were also announced at the event. All first place winners received $500 to support more environmental science education efforts in their schools.
Berkeley Elementary and Moncks Corner Elementary won third and second place, respectively.
This year, there was a three-way tie for first place! Congratulations to Devon Forest Elementary, Hanahan Elementary and Bowen's Corner Elementary on all taking the top spot. DFE's project allowed fourth grade students to try out composting with a "Bottle Biome." HES fourth graders focused on recycling with their "Recycling Rangers" project, and BCE second graders took a crack at constructing an inclusive playground with "All Friends Can Play."