One of my favorite things about teaching marine science is watching students find their own voice when it comes to ocean advocacy. This past unit, I offered an extra credit opportunity for students to express what they’d learned through art and the results genuinely blew me away! From paintings to sculptures to digital illustrations, these …
What does it look like when a high school student steps into the shoes of a marine conservationist? This spring, my Honors Marine Science students found out — and the results were nothing short of remarkable. Every year I look for a project that pushes students beyond memorizing vocabulary and into genuine scientific thinking. This …
Read more “When Students Become Scientists: Conservation in the Classroom”
There’s something so magical about getting up in the morning and knowing you’re going to do something fun, educational, and good for the planet. This weekend the Marine Science Club and I went out to Robinson Preserve to go paddle, sight see, and clean up the mangroves! For this wonderful adventure, we went to Robinson …
Christmas time means lots of things to different people, but to us it means it’s FISHMAS! And this year we celebrated in style at the Christmas in Cortez Festival put on by our friends at the Florida Maritime Museum! Set in the heart of historic Cortez the festival was full of Christmas cheer, local agencies, …
This week we returned to one of our favorite field sites — Emerson Point Preserve — with a new group of curious student scientists, a new location (The Point!!), and several awesome stations planned! After months of in the classroom labs and activities, we were so excited to explore a real estuary and get our feet wet! This place …
As an educator who’s passionate about bringing real-world science into the classroom, I was thrilled to attend the recent teacher preview event at the brand-new Mote Science Education Aquarium (aka Mote SEA). This impressive facility, built by the renowned marine research outfit Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, opens a fresh chapter in marine science education for Florida—and I’m …
When you think of essential ecosystems, especially in Florida, what do you think of? Usual responses are beaches and coral reefs, the typical tourist pamphlet places. But there’s some ecosystems arguably more crucial to our economy, lifestyle, and overall environment. If you’ve heard from me before you can probably already guess where this is going… …
It’s the first outing of the new school year and we had one of the best gatherings ever! We went into the outing full of questions about weather, water quality, and how many planned on coming but came out with nearly twenty kids, a great collection of juvenile critters, and so so much fun! The …
It’s back to school week here in South Florida and I have spent the last month redecorating, relearning, and revamping my classroom vibes and engagement skills to prepare for my new kiddos to come back this past week! So if you’re trying to plan out what you think your students need, what you need, and …
Are you aware of sharks? From tiny little sharks that only grow up to 4 feet like the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo).. To the calm, lazy, nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) that lay under rock overhangs, who sit and relax, even when we dive up close… To the sharkiest looking sharks the sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) …