School & Group Presentations
Let us bring the Gulf of Maine to you! We'd love to come to your school, library or other location to conduct an interactive program about marine life, and teach your students about whales tide pool animals, and whale research!
Presentation topics may include, but are not limited to:
Get "Eaten" by an Inflatable Whale!
Presentation featuring our life-size inflatable fin whale. The students can even go inside!
Our whale is a replica of a finback whale,
the second-largest animal on Earth! It's one thing for us to tell people about the size of these amazing animals, but now students
(and adults) can really get a sense of how
big they are.
The whale is made out of plastic and inflates within about 5 minutes using a house fan.
It is about 60 feet long and we only set it up inside. Please make sure that you have a space that's at least 60 feet long (diagonal
dimensions are okay) and about 20-25 feet wide. Most school gyms and multi-purpose rooms work well for this presentation.
The program includes an age-appropriate introductory slide show lasting approximately 30 minutes. Students will also get to see and touch real whale baleen and other artifacts. Then they will watch the whale inflate, and go inside the whale! Inside the whale, there's time to answer questions and figure out how many students it takes to fill up the inside of a finback whale. Following the presentation, we can be available for a question-and-answer session and trivia game. We can also set up 2-3 stations for the students to rotate through, making for a fun, interactive day (see our All-in-One Marine Biology Day below)!
Program rates (subject to change depending on your unique situation): $175 for first hour, $125 for each additional hour, plus mileage. We can accommodate approximately 60 students in one hour. Please include 15 minutes for set-up.
Traveling Tide Pools!
Go tide pooling without leaving the school!
Experience live tide pool animals and plants at our traveling tide pools station. Selection of critters may vary, but can include crabs, sea stars, mussels, barnacles, periwinkles, sea anemones and more.
The program varies according to the number of students, but includes an age-appropriate introductory slide show lasting approximately 30 minutes and then students will see the marine life in smaller groups.
Program rate (subject to change): $200 for first hour, $150 for each additional hour, plus mileage. We can accommodate a max. of 60 students per hour. Please include 15 minutes for set-up.
Marine Biology Day – experience the best of our most popular programs!
Our all-in-one marine biology day includes an initial assembly program with a slide show, then three stations for students to visit within their classes: our inflatable whale (which they can go inside!), live tide pool animals and plants, and a hands-on station featuring real whale bones, baleen and other artifacts. We'll have our researchers/educators there throughout the day to satisfy your students' curiosity about whales and other marine life!
Interactive presentation lasts approximately 30 minutes, then groups will have 10 minutes at each station.
Program rates: $250 for first hour, $150 for each additional hour, plus mileage. We can accommodate 5-6 classes of up to 20 students per hour. Rates include the additional educators necessary for a successful Marine Biology Day. Please include 30 minutes for set-up.
New! Bag It Screening
s your class learning about the marine environment, pollution, fossil fuels, chemistry, human health, or conservation? Would you like to show your students a free screening of an award-winning documentary, along with a discussion of local conservation opportunities?
Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation was recently awarded an educational grant from Reel Thing Productions to screen Bag It: Is your life too plastic? in the community and at local schools.Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he tries to make sense of our dependence on plastic bags. Jeb's journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? Although his quest starts out small, Jeb soon learns that the problem extends past landfills to oceans, rivers and ultimately human health.
he DVD includes two versions; one cut of the film is 45 minutes, and the other is 65 minutes and also includes a discussion on the way plastics affect human health. A Blue Ocean Society staff member or volunteer would show this movie in your classroom, and then hold a discussion about ways to get involved locally, and small changes in daily life that can make a big difference for the environment and human health.
Marine Debris Presentation and Beach Cleanup (more info on cleanupshere). We'll come to the school with a presentation about marine debris and why we need to keep our beaches clean, and then meet you at the beach for a beach cleanup so that your students can participate in a conservation project!
Integrating Our Educational Programs into your Curriculum: Pre-and Post-Program Activities
Communication & Reading Activities
In association with a presentation, have students read abook about whales or tide pools (contact us for resources) and discuss it or write about it.
Have students pick a whale or other marine animal, write a summary of its natural history or a story about it, and draw or create a model of their species.
Assign a book reading about whales. Contact us for examples.
Have students select a whale species or marine conservation issue and write a report or give a PowerPoint presentation about it.
Explore ocean careers. Have students email us questions about what it’s like to be a marine biologist. Explore the connections between subjects like chemistry, physics and biology to ocean careers.
Have students design a class newsletter about the marine environment, and interview scientists to assist them in writing articles.
Scientific Research & Analysis, Mathematics Activities
Take a whale watch excursion with your students. There’s no better way to learn about these animals than to experience them in the wild! We work with reputable companies that have years of experience working with student groups. On board the boat, your students can sharpen their observation skills, assist in our research by filling out data sheets and participate in onboard measuring activities. Contact us for sample data sheets you can copy!
Book a tide pool excursion with us and have students research their own tide pool! Students also report their results to their classmates during this program, helping them learn about communication.
Participate in a beach cleanup, where we collect real scientific data on marine pollution! Or, use our beach cleanup data online to investigate pollution in NH. What items are most prevalent? What beaches seem to be the most polluted? Is there a difference in types of trash between different beaches?
Visit WhaleNet at whale.wheelock.edu to access whale watch data your class can study.
Have students draw or create a model of a whale and identify major body parts.
Have students create an ocean food web for the Gulf of Maine.
Have students outline common migration areas for Gulf of Maine whales on a map. Humpback whales and right whales are good species to use as they have definite migration destinations and routes!
During a tide pool excursion or our tide pools program, have students take measurements: measure different organisms using different units, test water salinity, measure water temperature. Ask us if you would like these activities available during your program!
Discuss different whale species and compare sizes and weights using inches, feet, meters, pounds and kilograms. Have students guess the weight of the largest and smallest whale. Which whale is the biggest? Which is the smallest? Who has the thickest blubber layer?
Google “whale sounds” on the Internet and play them in your classroom. How do different species sound different? Many of our programs also feature whale sounds.
Pick several whale species and investigate local and worldwide populations. Have students create a bar graph charting the species. Which ones are lowest in number? Are any endangered? Discuss what threats there might be to the endangered species and what students and/or the government might be able to do to help them.
Print out photos of humpback whale flukes and have students discuss how researchers might tell them apart. Have them design their own “whale catalog”, ordering the whales in a logical manner.
Conservation, Government, History & Citizen Action
Adopt a creature: Adopt a humpback whale, fin whale, basking shark or ocean sunfish for your class to learn about throughout the year!
Design a button, bumper sticker, poster, etc. to influence peers regarding a marine conservation issue (e.g. design a button or slogan encouraging people not to litter
Conduct a beach cleanup. Contact us for information on our free beach excursion!
Research current events and threats to the oceans and have students write a letter to their government representatives. Sample topics: sonar testing and whales, protecting right whales, balloon releases, litter laws…
Have a recycled materials costume show.
Lead a discussion on how to reuse different trash items to keep them out of the landfills.
Million Year Old Lunch: Set up a table with items to pack a lunch. Half of the items should be reusable like a cloth bag, cloth napkin, thermos, Tupperware container and the other half should be things that will become trash like paper napkin, plastic or paper bag, individually wrapped food rather than food from a bulk container, etc. Ask the students to pack a lunch that is good for the environment and generates zero trash.
Take an Isles of Shoals trip which features educational stations on marine ecology (featuring live tide pool animals and plants); history, seamanship and culture. Visit www.islesofshoals.com for details.
Traveling Tide Pools!
