PHIPPSBURG

Phippsburg Elementary School plans to add a new educational touch tank for its fourth-grade classroom.

The touch-tank teaching program will help teachers educate their students about biodiversity, marine science, local economics and most other subjects, school officials said.

Jennifer Bevans, the fourth-grade teacher who maintains the touch tank, explained why she considered replacing her broken touch tank with a Touch Tanks for Kids classroom model:

“I was at the Augusta Children’s Discovery Museum and was reminded by their touch tank that I need one for my fourth-grade classroom in Phippsburg,” Bevans said. “We used to have a tank and it was a huge part of our fourthgrade ocean curriculum. However, after many repairs, it finally stopped working. Last year was my first year teaching the ocean unit without the tank, and it proved to be difficult.

“The kids really benefit from not only having the hands-on experiences with the creatures, but also being able to simply observe the tank and record their thoughts in scientific notebooks.”

In order to add the touch tank to the fourth-grade classroom, the school needs to raise $9,000.

The school has submitted a grant application to Touch Tanks for Kids, a Mainebased nonprofit group that is committed to improving environmental education in American schools.

The school is applying for additional grant funding and asking the public to show its support through a targeted fundraising appeal.

The addition of a new touch tank to the fourth grade will help to Phippsburg Elementary School advance its mission to set high standards and goals for students and to encourage personal challenge and growth within a collaborative environment, Bevans said.

For more information, call Bevans at 389-1514 or email jbevans@rsu1.org.