Education Experiences:
From Awareness to Stewardhip
Reef Institute's vision is to save the ocean; it will take passionate people to make this happen. TRI seeks to change the approach of conservation through both nurturing better stewards of the ocean and taking distinct action to save our seas. This is why our approach to education moves someone from becoming aware of coral issues to being better stewards of the seas. Awareness, knowledge- building, decision making, and stewardship are our pillars of education. Due to bio-security, we do not offer field trips to our facility. However, we still provide your group a unique, immersive experience. We offer many options for children and adults!
For more information on any of our programs and pricing, please fill out the form below.
Awareness:
At this level of education, the goal is to help your group become “aware” of coral issues.
What Is Coral Conservation: Adult Talk
What Is Coral Conservation: Adult Talk
Invite our Executive Director or coral biologist to speak to your group, club, or career development day. This talk introduces adults to coral conservation and what they can do to get involved.
Becoming A Scientist: Student Talk
Invite one of our coral biologists to speak to your group, club, or career development day. This talk introduces students to the many careers that can affect marine conservation.
Educational Tables:
Invite the Reef Institute to set up a table to share information with your conference, festival or event about our work, and coral conservation in Florida. Request general information or an interactive coral education activity.
Virtual Tours:
Get a personal virtual tour of The Reef Institute's coral holding facility. An online classroom brings one of The Reef Institute's Coral Biologists virtually into your classroom or group anywhere around the world! Students will learn what it takes to care for coral and see coral conservation in action. This tour can stand alone for distance experiences. It can also be added to our other ventures and in-classroom activities. (Limited to groups of at least 10)
Knowledge Building
Moving closer to stewardship involves more time in learning. These activities take more time and attention to learn in a deeper setting.
Coral Conservation 101:
Our Mobile Coral Lab can be a single lesson that comes onsite to your classroom, group, or after school program to expose students to coral through hands on learning. This single session is 30, 45, or 60 minutes depending on the time available. The primary goal of this lesson is an overview of coral conservation in Florida and how students can get involved.
Peanut Island Field Excursion:
Our Peanut Island Field Excursions are for Fifth Grade through High School students. This station-based field trip seeks to expose students to ocean conservation through the eyes of a coral biologist. It starts and ends with a ferry ride to the island. This trip can include snorkeling, coral and fish identification, and many other topics! To optimize snorkeling, we consider the tides when scheduling what days we do our Peanut Island Field Excursions. With groups of more than 12, we create small groups and rotate through activities to keep the student-to-instructor ratio small.
Beach Learning Excursion:
Have a favorite local beach? We can come to you! We will deliver hands-on lessons on the beach, including beach ecology, ecosystem interconnectivity, fish identification, and lagoon studies.
Citizen Science (Peanut Island)
As a citizen, you can do science! Citizen Science days are spent with other community members and the Reef Institute staff gathering data for a more extensive monitoring project at Peanut Island. This experience runs once a month. Don't worry about knowing what data you will be collecting. Our Coral Biologists will teach you what you are looking for and how to do our monitoring. It would be best to be comfortable being in the water snorkeling for long periods. The calendar is ever changing, so please reach out for information on how to get involved.
Decision Making:
The next step in our journey to becoming true care takers of the reefs, is through extensive learning activities. These programs are multi part series or experiences, that build off of each other. Those involved are able to learn how to move from learning about coral, to truly becoming change makers.
Mobile Coral Lab:
Our Mobile Coral Lab is a multi-part series that covers what coral is, why it is essential, the decline of coral in Florida, and what we can do to save coral and the ocean. The Reef Institute will come to your classroom, group, or afterschool program in multiple lessons. TRI will work with your group to create a series of classes.
Expanded Experience:
Our Expanded Experience combines our Mobile Coral Lab and Peanut Island Field Trip. A scientist starts with a land-based lesson in your classroom or group. The second lesson is our Peanut Island Field trip. This allows students to spend more time in the field during the Peanut Island trip. This includes snorkeling, ecosystem interconnectivity, and collecting data in a marine environment. The final part of this experience is a virtual tour of The Reef Institute coral holding facility. A live video call will connect one of The Reef Institutes' Coral Biologists or Aquarists to the students in your class or group. Students will learn what it takes to care for coral and see coral conservation in action. Throughout the experience, students will also learn about human impacts on coral reefs and what they can do to save coral and the ocean
STEWARDSHIP!
At our deepest level we offer full partnerships with organizations, to create programs built around your needs. Please reach out about partnership opportunities to build long term collaborative programming for your organization.